It’s that time again… time for the best homebrew contest in the Midwest, the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out. If you’ve never submitted a beer or volunteered at a beer event, this is the one. The clubs do a great job putting on such a huge contest and manage to keep it fun with extras like a great banquet, speakers and lots of extras for volunteers. I hear they have beer, too…

If you’re not a BJCP judge, you can still volunteer to steward. I volunteered as a steward for the first time last year. You follow the instructions, help the judges, check their (sometimes sketchy) math and tabulate score sheets, among other things.

One (of many) cool things with this contest is that they have a “new brewer” category for people who haven’t yet entered a homebrew contest. I got second place last year which brought me a medal and $40 (I think) at Northern Brewer. Not bad.

 I’m writing to invite you to join us for the Mid West’s largest homebrew contest the weekend of January 25-26, 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 2007 contest drew nearly 1000 entries from across the country.

In 2008 we’re awarding more medals and also have more events scheduled around a Belgian beer theme. Highlights include:

-Speaker Stan Hieronymous, author of “Brew Like a Monk”
-The Brewer’s Forum – a Q & A and beer tasting with local pro brewers
-The Indoor Pub Crawl – no steenking buses, we bring the beer to you!
-Belgian-themed banquet
-commemorative beer & glass for all judges & stewards
-judging session food for volunteers

Visit our web site for more details and to sign up to judge or steward.

http://www.mnbrewers.com/events/mashout/

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope to see you at UMMO ’08.

—
Steve Fletty
2008 Judge Coordinator