You’ve read about the Puget Sound Pro-Am in the Jan/Feb edition of Zymurgy. Now is your chance to start brewing for the 2008 competition for a shot at GABF gold! The Puget Sound Pro-Am is your best shot with OVER 10 breweries picking their favorite award winning beers from this competition to produce and send to the Great American Beer Festival’s Pro-Am Competition.
This is an AHA/BJCP sanctioned competition aimed at providing award winning homebrew recipes to be brewed by Puget Sound breweries with the goal of capturing a medal from the Great American Beer Festival’s Pro-Am Competition. The Puget Sound Pro-Am is unique in that it will have at least TEN breweries (Big Horn/Ram (2), Rogue, Elysian, Diamond Knot, Rock Bottom (2), Elliot Bay, Big Time, and Iron Horse: one or two more or in work) selecting their favorite homebrew beers from the best of show round to scale up and brew on their systems. Winning beers of AHA members may be sent on to the GABF for a shot at national glory! Not from the Puget Sound area? Having your beer brewed by one of our local breweries might make it worth taking a vacation out to Seattle (I promise you, the summers out here are as fantastic as the beers). Non-AHA members can still enter the competition and win other awards and prizes (the Powerhouse Brewery will not be submitting to the GABF and will be free to pick any entry).
Start dreaming and brewing up your entries today! The brewers will not just be looking for stylistically flawless beers, they will be looking for damn tasty beers. This is a perfect shot for that hybrid beer you make.
Check the competition website at http://www.bewbc.org/pro-am for the latest details including participating breweries, desired styles, contest rules, and links to online registration. Entries (three 10-12 oz brown bottles) are due May 28th with an entry fee of $6 per beer submitted (several drop-off locations accepting entries beginning in May). Judging will be held on May 31st at Larry’s Brewing Supply in Kent (if you are interested in judging, stewarding, or helping with event execution, contact Mark Emiley at markemiley@earthlink.net or register online). Winners will be selected in the weeks following. Check the website frequently for updates on participating breweries and contest details as the competition grows. To have the best shot of having your beer brewed, you need to be an AHA member by the time of the competition, so join today! Invite your friends to join the AHA and submit beers as well (all beers will be judged and ranked regardless of AHA membership). Good luck, and may your wildest brewing dreams come true!
Mark Emiley
PSPA Competition Organizer
