NC Brewers Cup Competition
Register your entries now through Sunday, August 4!
The NC Brewers' Cup is the largest craft beer competition in North Carolina. All independent craft commercial brewers in NC are invited to participate in this BJCP-sanctioned beer competition administered by the NCCBG.
The Details
Entry Drop-Off Dates:
Tuesday, August 20, 12pm - 4pm
Wednesday, August 21, 9am - 3pm
Entry Drop-Off Location:
Pro Chiller Systems Inc., 319 Farmington Rd., Mocksville, NC 27028
Shipping your entries? Please direct all shipments to:
Attn: Lisa Parker, 3451 Hawk Ridge Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
*Shipped entries MUST ARRIVE by Sunday, August 18. We are not responsible for entries arriving after this date.*
General Rules
Entrant must be the producer of the beer.
Beer entries must be produced in North Carolina.
All entries must be produced in North Carolina and be NC ABC approved.
All entering breweries must qualify as independent craft, per NCCBG (ie. less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.)
All entries (bottles/cans/crowlers) must include an official Entry Identification Label and a No-Charge Donation invoice. Both forms are auto-generated based on your online registration, and will be sent to you via email.
Online registration is required prior to dropping off/shipping your entry.
Entrants must submit two (2) samples (cans/bottles/crowlers) of each entry in the competition.
8.Entry fees are $37 per entry. Credit card payment is collected during the online registration process.
9. Entry limit: A brewery can enter a maximum of 10 entries into the NC Brewers Cup competition. (Breweries must enter a minimum of 6 entries to be considered for NC Brewery of the Year or NC New Brewery of the Year.)
10. All beer entries must possess the characteristics generally attributed to and conforming to the consumer understanding of “beer”. At least 51% of the fermentables must be derived from grain. Mead, cider, spirits, seltzers, hard soda, hard water, and kombucha are not eligible for the competition.
11.Breweries may use the same beer brand for multiple entries. (For example, if a beer is entered into the "Stouts" category, but also meets the definition of the "NC Home-Grown" category.) Entrants must still submit two (2) samples for each entry registration.
Judging
All entries will be judged by a pair of judges, including at least one certified BJCP or Cicerone beer judge.
Entries will be judged according to the Brewers Association 2024 Beer Style Guidelines.
Entries will be accepted into 36 NCBC categories. The NCCBG reserves the right to combine categories for medal distribution, based on the number of entries received.
Regardless of NCBC medal category, all entries will be judged blind according to the Brewers Association category style guideline for the associated subcategory entered into.
If judges believe that no beer in the category meets the quality and style-accuracy criteria, they may elect not to award a placement medal. For example, judges may award a beer with a silver or bronze medal and yet not award a gold medal.
Entries will be accepted for a 36th category: "NC Home-Grown": To qualify for this category, 55% of the beer's dry-weight ingredients must be sourced from North Carolina produced products.
Winners
Medals (gold, silver, bronze) will be awarded to the top 3 winners of each designated style category. If warranted, a honorable mention in the category will additionally be recognized, but does not receive a medal. If judges believe that no beer in the category meets the quality and style criteria, they may elect not to award a medal.
The NC Brewery of the Year is the competition's top prize and will be awarded the NC Brewers Cup trophy. Breweries are awarded points based on medals won. (See criteria for awarding points below.)
We will also recognize NC New Brewery of the Year (Especially for breweries who have opened over the past two years, this special group of entrants will be awarded points based on medals won. Points are tabulated to determine a winner.)
All winners will be recognized at the NC Industry Awards Banquet in Winston-Salem on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.
Brewery of the Year + New Brewery of the Year: Entry Criteria and Point Tabulation
Breweries must submit at least 6 entries to be considered for the NC Brewery of the Year and NC New Brewery of the Year awards.
Breweries will be considered for "NC New Brewery of the Year" if their open (and in production) date is within two years of the competition judging date.
Breweries will be awarded points for each category medal won: Gold - 6 points; Silver - 5 points; Bronze - 4 points
In the event of a tie based on total points, the following criteria will be taken into consideration to designate a winner:
Total number of entries
Total number of Gold medals won
Honorable Mentions awarded
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