The Wootown Brewers are a homebrewing club based in Northern Maryland. We encourage members to brew and enjoy better beer through the fellowship and guidance of other brewers. In light of this goal, our club sponsors an annual local homebrewing competition known as “Barley Legal.”
The inaugural Barley Legal was held in October 2010, and it celebrated the great tradition of German beers. Sponsors in the homebrewing, craft-brewing, food and beverage industries donated prizes that made the competition a triumph. Over 50 judges, stewards and volunteers participated in evaluating over 100 beer entries. Through a combination of donations, long-term planning, tight management, volunteerism and organization, Barley Legal not only drew a surprising number of participants its first year, but also recouped all expenses against our club fund!
Barley Legal participants took home branded merchandise, glassware, yeast, hops, shirts, posters, gift certificates, and many more amazing prizes, donated by companies and organizations such as yours. We received a great amount of positive feedback on the quality and variety of the items that were awarded, a factor we know contributed to our successful first year. However, we are gearing up for our second year, and we humbly ask for your help.
The Wootown Brewers proudly announce our second BJCP-sanctioned brewing competition, Barley Legal 2: Better in the Dark. Our themes this year are dark beers and Halloween. The judging will be held on Saturday, October 15th, 2011. The competition is open to all styles of beer, and while we try and keep the contest fun, rest assured that as a BJCP-sanctioned contest all judging and awards follow strict rules. While we are looking to build on the successes of the previous year, we need attractive prizes to draw the kind of participation that craft and home-brewers talk about, and want to be involved with.
We know that times are tough and budgets are tight, but please consider contributing to what we believe is a worthwhile contest promoting the creation and enjoyment of better beer. While we love higher end items such as equipment, ingredients, and merchandise, we would welcome any item you would feel comfortable contributing. We sincerely hope you will support us in our effort to organize a unique and dynamic homebrew competition.
Thank you in advance for your uncompromising generosity.
Competition Organizers
bjcpcomp@wootown.org
About the BJCP
The BJCP, or Beer Judge Certification Program, is a 25 year-old organization with the purpose of promoting beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills. The BJCP certifies and ranks beer judges through an examination and monitoring process. The BJCP has administered the Beer Judge Examination to 5,562 individuals worldwide. 3,292 are currently active judges in the program, with 507 holding the rank of National or higher. Since the BJCP started keeping detailed records, its members have judged over 543,912 beers and it has sanctioned over 4,029 competitions. For more information, visit http://www.bjcp.org .