The Rules
• There will be 3 regular rounds of competition, with 3 styles in each.
• Limit TWO entries per team, per category, per round (3 teams X 2 entries = 6 maximum entries to be judged.
• Each team will be responsible for at least one entry into each category for rounds 1-3.
• Limit TWO total entries per brewer, ONE entry per category.
• The 4th and final round will be for the winning team and winners of the Mini Best in Show*.
• Collaboration brews:
-You must declare the head brewer, only they will receive individual points for this beer
-Co-brewers cannot judge in a category in which they brewed/assisted
-You must declare if you were involved in brewing any collaborations
-If a team has only one entry in a category, but all individual brewers have submissions,
the team can submit a team-collaboration brew, which will receive TEAM points scored only.
• Styles are based on the 2021 BJCP Guidelines.
• Brewers must submit 32-36oz. of beer for competition nights to ensure enough for judging process. Bring extra if you want to share with everyone.
Ideal packaging for your entries will be in non-distinct bottles, growlers (ie. no stainless steel, branded etc..)
– TWO 22oz generic brown glass bomber, THREE 12oz generic brown glass bottles, ONE 32oz swingtop brown glass bottle or ONE 32oz growler
**The Brew or Cry Challenge is, and always has been voluntary. We hope that you want to have some fun, and that this new format is something that interests all members enough to participate.
Judging
All participants at the meeting are welcomes to judge at a table that has a style that you did not brew. If you would like you can have your judging sheets not count toward the BOC scores. Still enjoy tasting and discussing the beers that are being tasted.
Styles
The board has chosen these 9 common beers/styles for the 2022 competition. This provides a fair amount of choice to all competitors, in each round. The selection of styles increase in difficulty each round, while still leaving options for brewers of all skill levels.
| ROUND 1 – April | |
| Styles | Level |
| German Helles Exportbier (5C) | Advanced |
| Hazy IPA (21C) | Intermediate |
| Helles Bock (4C) | Advanced |
| ROUND 2 – June – Clone Wars | |
| Styles | Level |
| Chimay Red | Clone Wars |
| Hoegaarden Witbier | Clone Wars |
| Smithwick’s Irish Ale | Clone Wars |
| ROUND 3 – October | |
| Styles | Level |
| American Light Lager (1A) | Advanced |
| Old Ale (17B) | Intermediate |
| English Porter (13C) | Basic |
*Additional beer styles may be added if club membership increases enough to necessitate expansion.
**The board reserves the right to reevaluate scoring system.
Teams
Volunteers were placed in the role as team captains. Club members that wanted to participated were then drafted by the captains for team participation.
| ZAK HOLMES | BRYAN TEWS | CHRIS BOLES |
| Matt Boyd | Greg Vander Velden | Don Nell & Janae O’Connel |
| Jason M. | Nate Hughes | Joe Grenchik |
| Adam Joyce | Tony Kapugi | Alex & Cassie Benedict |
| Jim Albrecht | Andy Attwood |
The Final Round
The winning team after 3 rounds will disband to compete against each other for the grand prize and bragging rights as the 2023 Brewer of the Year for the SPWH! Mini Best in Show winners will also invited to final round of the BOC.
The winner of Round 4 will go on to brew that beer at Local Brewery.
Team Points
Team points are calculated based on the average of the top three scores for each team. The team with the highest total through the first three rounds will be moved onto the fourth round to compete against each other and the mini best of show winner from each round.
| Teams | Score (through round 3) |
| Team Holmes | 43.33 |
| Team Tews | 40.67 |
| Team Boles | 38 |
Individual Points
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
| Jim Albrect | 32.8 | 34.8 | 25.7 | |
| Matt Boyd | 40 | 23.7 | 33.3 | |
| Jason Mayerl | 29.4 | 28.7 | 33 | |
| Andy Attwood | 40.8 | 22.7 | 22 | |
| Adam Joyce | 45* | 44* | 37.7* | |
| Zak Holmes | 42.2 | 42.8 | – | |
| Tony Kapugi | 34 | 35.5 | 31.3 | |
| Chris Boles | 35.8 | 18 | 28.3 | |
| Don & Janae | 37 | 21.7 | 36.8 | |
| Alex & Cassi | 31.2 | 25.5 | 30 | |
| Nate Hughes | 25.2 | 24.3 | 39.7 | |
| Joe Grenchik | 41.2 | 37.7 | 27.7 | |
| Bryan T. | 35.8 | 32.3 | 40.3 | |
| Greg V | 27.5 | – | – |
Round 1 Results
| Hazy IPA | German Helles Export | Helles Bock | |||||||||||
| Entry | Name | Avg Score | Points | Entry | Name | Avg Score | Points | Entry | Name | Avg Score | Points | ||
| 1 | Alex & Cassi | 31.2 | 8 | 1 | Chris | 30.5 | 10 | 1 | Tony | 34 | 10 | ||
| 2 | Jim | 32.8 | 10 | 2 | Don | 37 | 14 | 2 | Nate | 25.2 | 6 | ||
| 3 | Andy | 40.8 | 14 | 3 | Bryan | 30.75 | 12 | 3 | Joe | 41.2 | 14 | ||
| 4 | Bryan | 35.8 | 12 | 4 | Greg | 27.5 | 8 | 4 | Jason M | 29.4 | 8 | ||
| 5 | Adam | 45 | 16 | 5 | Matt | 40 | 16 | 5 | Zak | 42.2 | 16 | ||
| 6 | Jason M | 25.6 | 6 | 6 | Chris | 35.8 | 12 |
Round 2 Results
| Chimay Red | Smithwicks Ale | Hoegaarden Witbier | |||||||||||
| Entry | Name | Avg Score | Points | Entry | Name | Avg Score | Points | Entry | Name | Avg Score | Points | ||
| 1 | Jason | 28.7 | 10 | 1 | Jim | 34.8 | 16 | 1 | Tony | 35.5 | 12 | ||
| 2 | Joe | 37.7 | 16 | 2 | Matt | 23.7 | 12 | 2 | Nate | 24.3 | 8 | ||
| 3 | Andy | 22.7 | 8 | 3 | Don | 21.7 | 10 | 3 | Alex/Cassi | 25.5 | 10 | ||
| 4 | Adam | 29 | 12 | 4 | Bryan | 32.3 | 14 | 4 | Adam | 44 | 16 | ||
| 5 | Tony | 33 | 14 | 5 | Zak | 42.8 | 14 | ||||||
| 6 | Chris | 18 | 6 |
Round 3 Results
| American Light Lager | Old Ale | English Porter | |||||||||||
| Entry | Name | Avg Score | Points | Entry | Name | Avg Score | Points | Entry | Name | Avg Score | Points | ||
| 1 | Bryan | 40.3 | 16 | 1 | Tony | 31.3 | 14 | 1 | Nate | 39.7 | 16 | ||
| 2 | Don | 36.8 | 14 | 2 | Jim | 25.7 | 10 | 2 | Alex | 30 | 10 | ||
| 3 | Matt | 33.3 | 12 | 3 | Adam | 37.7 | 16 | 3 | Bryan | 36.3 | 14 | ||
| 4 | Tony | 28.8 | 10 | 4 | Chris | 28.3 | 12 | 4 | Joe | 27.7 | 8 | ||
| 5 | Andy | 22 | 8 | 5 | Jason | 33 | 12 | ||||||
Round 4 Results
Congratulations to Jason Mayerl for winning the 2023 Brew or Cry competition with his Best of Show Pre-prohibition Lager! As winner of the competition, Jason receives a custom-made insulated growler, and will scale his batch up and co-brew with Jeff Scanlan for commercial release at Ooga Brewing Co. in Beaver Dam. Congratulations, Jason!!