Get ready… the All Idaho Hausbrau battle is coming up, and we want your beer!

The mission of the All Idaho Hausbrau is twofold. For one, the contest helps put the hobby of homebrewing in a more public light. It is a hobby that is just as rewarding as it is fun. Being able to hold an event where the public gets to sample some of the best homebrew in the valley is a unique thing and we believe can serve help spread the hobby. The more homebrewers the better! (especially when the zombies come)
Secondly, our goal is to promote the use of organic ingredients in the hobby of homebrewing. We feel that as homebrewers, we have an intimate relationship with beer than most beer drinkers don’t get. We are just one step away from the grain in the field. When dealing with such primary ingredients we believe it is important to get the best possible ingredients. To us, this means using barley that has not been treated with industrial pesticides and herbicides. We follow this ideal and hope to make other homebrewers care about what chemicals have been used in the production of their barley.

Whether you are a homebrewer or simply a beer lover, we encourage you to partake in the Idaho Hausbrau public event, held at The Stonehouse this May. Sample great beer, eat great food, and voice your opinion about the beers you’ve sampled through an open public judging***

And for those homebrewers ready to undertake the challenge, here are the rules:

Eligibility

*Contest is open to all Idaho residents
*Beer must be brewed at home, commercially produced beer or “Brew on Premises” beers will not be eligible
*Contest is open to Contest staff, volunteers, judges (not allowed to judge a category they enter, safeguards taken), and contest stewards
*Each brewer may enter as many categories as they would like as many times as they wish

Entries

*Entry fee will be $6.00 for the first beer and $3.00 for beers thereafter
*Enter as many beers as you would like
*Entries into the non-organic categories must consist of three (3) 12 oz bottles
*Entries into the organic category must consist of eight (8) 22oz bottles, this large amount is what allows us to hold a public judging session (plus you get dinner and beers on the house!)
*To ensure anonymity during the public event all bottles must be capped with either silver or gold bottle caps, all markings must be blacked out
*Each beer must have a bottle ID label attached with a rubber band (no tape or glue)
*Swing top (Grolsh style) caps will not be accepted
*All labels MUST BE REMOVED to further help with anonymity

Entries are due before 5:00 PM on May 15 and can be dropped off at any of the following sponsor locations:

-Nampa Brewers Center
-Brewers Haven
-Brew Connoisseurs
-Boise Co-op
-The Ram (Boise location only)

All checks are payable to “Treasure Valley Organic Homebrew Contest” (TVOHBC to save ink!)

*All entries into the organic category MUST have an accompanying receipt proving the purchase of certified organic grain
*Organic entries MUST also include the recipe to ensure that at least 95% of the grain used was organic
*Entrants in the organic category MUST have current AHA membership for complete prize eligibility

Although hops do not need to be organic for a beer to be Organic (according to the FDA) 100% organic beers are encouraged

Categories

All beers will be judged according to their BJCP definitions, categories are:

*Non-Organic styles
*14B American IPA
*8C Extra Special Bitter/English Pale Ale
*13C Oatmeal Stout
*5A Maibock/Helles
*16C Saison
*6B Blonde Ale

*Organic Challenge (for the grand prize!)
*10B American Amber Ale

Organic grain availability

Organic grain are available quite a few locations around the valley, such as Boise Co-op, Nampa Brewer’s Center, Brew Connoisseurs and Brewer’s Haven . Boise Coop stocks the following (all organic):

Weyermann malting
-pils malt
-wheat malt
-rye malt

Briess malting
-2-row
-munich
-chocolate
-crystal 120
-crystal 20
-organic LME

In addition to these locations, there are plenty of on-line grain sources as well. Here’s a few to get you started:
www.breworganic.com
www.northernbrewer.com
www.morebeer.com

***Public event details

As mentioned above, the Idaho Hausbrau public event will be held at The Stonehouse in Boise, Id. 709 E Park Blvd, on May 22 2010. The event will consist of an open, public judging session of beers entered into the organic category. Following the public judging session, an awards ceremony will be held announcing winners in all categories. Food and Beer will be provided for those who pay the full entry fee.

*Admission to the event (includes Beer and Dinner) will be $10
*To participate in the public judging event, judging cards will be available for $5 and will entitle you
to 10-15 samples (depending on total number of entries submitted)
*Attendees are allowed to share a judging card
*Brewers who enter into the organic category will receive free admission to the event but will not be able to get friends and/or family in for free
*Doors will open at 5:00 and the open public judging session will continue until ~6:30
*Attendees who purchase both an entry fee and a judging card ($15 total) will receive one free raffle ticket, additional tickets will be available for purchase (proceeds donated to charity)

Judging

*Judging will take two forms, open public judging and closed door BJCP sanctioned judging
*Closed door BJCP judging will consist of all categories.
*First place (and maybe second, judge’s discretion) finishing beer in all non-organic categories will proceed to the Best of Show (BOS) round
*Judges will pick the top three finishers in the BOS
*All beers will be judged together, establishing a first second and third place finisher
*Open public judging will consist only of beers entered into the organic category
*All entrants will receive their judging evaluations by mail
*All decisions made by the contest organizer are final

Prizes

Prizes will be awarded for the following finishing places:
*First, second, and third in all non-organic categories
*First, second, and third in the BOS round (non-organic beers)
*First, second, and third in the BJCP sanctioned round of judging entries into the organic category
*First, second, and third in the open public judging
Grand prize will, among other things, include a chance to brew your winning recipe on the brew system at the Ram with the brew master, be available on various taps around town, and be entered into the GABF Pro-Am contest in Denver CO!

Shipped entries

Shipped entries can be shipped to:
Boise Co-op, attn: Ander Sundell
888 W. Fort St.
Boise, ID 83702

Make sure you do a bit of research on how to mail beer and be sure to pack it well!

Further information

For further information that is not included here feel free to contact Ander at andersundell@gmail.com

Thank you for your participation and good luck!!!