NC Brewers Cup Competition
Register your entries by Sunday, August 6!
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 22, 12pm - 4pm
Wednesday, August 23, 9am - 4pm
Entry Drop-Off Location:
Pro Chiller Systems Inc.
319 Farmington Rd.Mocksville, NC 27028
Please direct all shipments to:
Attn: Lisa Parker
3451 Hawk Ridge Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
** SHIPPED ENTRIES MUST ARRIVE BY END OF DAY SUNDAY, AUGUST 20. We are not responsible for entries arriving after this date. **
General Rules
Entrants must be the producer of the beer.
Beer entries must be produced in NC by a commercially permitted brewery.
All entries must be NC ABC product/label 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 $35 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.
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 2023 version of the Brewers Association Style Guidelines found here.
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.
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 NC produced products.
Winners
Medals (gold, silver, bronze) will be awarded to the top 3 winners of each designated style category. If warranted, an honorable mention in the category will additionally be recognized but does not receive 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. Points are tabulated to determine a winner.
The NC New Brewery of the Year (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 during NCCBC.
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