Aotearoa Home Brewing Classic
Thank you for your interest in the Aotearoa Home Brewing Classic organized by .
You only need to register your information once and can return to this site to enter more brews or edit the brews you've entered. You can even pay your entry fees online if you wish.
Judge and Steward Registration is Open
If you have not registered and are willing to be a volunteer, please register.
If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.
Rules
1. All samples submitted become property of the Brewing Education Trust and will not be returned. It is the entrant’s sole responsibility to ensure entries reach us safely. The competition organisers are not responsible for any entries damaged in transit or handling.
2. To be eligible all entries must reach the shipping location by the Entry Shipping close date, or a designated drop-off point by the Entry Drop-off close date.
3. No requests for day-of-competition entries or special handling will be accepted, except for in-style pouring instructions for stewards.
4. Each entry requires 2 bottles containing at least 500ml volume. Other vessels (e.g. cans, plastic bottles) may be used instead of glass bottles providing the volume requirements are met. Larger bottles (e.g. 2 x 750ml) are fine to enter. Entries consisting of equivalent volumes in different numbers of bottles (e.g. 3 x 330ml, 1 x 1000ml) WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Due to issues with leaks in previous years FLIPTOP BOTTLES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Additionally, we strongly recommend using PET bottles. Some dropoff points will only accept PET bottles this year, please check carefully.
5. Entries will be sorted into award/judging categories by style family according to appendix A(3) of the 2021 BJCP guidelines. Ciders, meads and other non-beer beverages are not part of this competition.
6. Entrants are restricted to a maximum of 5 entries initially. Entrants may enter 2 beers per judging category, but only one per sub-style. e.g. you may enter an Irish Stout and an Imperial Stout, but not 2 Irish Stouts.
7. If necessary, the competition organisers reserve the right to cap entry numbers to a manageable number without notice. Currently the competition is capped at 300 entries.
8. Commercial beer is not eligible for entry.
9. The same beer may not be entered more than once per competition.
10. The competition organisers will not reassign entries into different styles, all entries will be judged as the style it was entered. For advice on the most appropriate styles, contact the competition coordinators.
11. Prizes involving brewing a commercial batch are subject to recipe, process, and scheduling approval by the commercial brewer. If a suitable recipe cannot be derived from the original homebrew, another may be negotiated.
12. All co-brewers must be registered for every entry, with one person designated as the main brewer. Any prizes will be awarded/delivered to the main brewer only. Teams of brewers are subject to the same entry restrictions as individuals.
13. Entries/entrants found breaching the rules may be disqualified at the organiser’s discretion. No disqualified entries will be returned or refunded.
14. Commercial brewers may enter, however the beer must be made entirely at home using commonly available home-brewing ingredients and processes (e.g. no producing wort at work, then taking it home). Kit beers, fresh wort kits and brew on premises beers are fine to enter. Commercial brewers and competition staff/organisers may enter and win awards, but are ineligible for any award prizes or spot prizes. Prizes will be given to the runner-up in these cases. Judges may enter and may win awards and prizes.
15. Entry fees must be paid in advance for an entry to be eligible for judging. Available payment methods are debit/credit card via Paypal, or Paypal account.
Entry Acceptance Rules
Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 2
Entries are open to all New Zealand residents aged 18 or over. Minimum volume for entry; 2 bottles, each with a minimum volume of 500ml. Two bottles are required in case of breakage, single bottle infections, or Best Of Show taste-offs.
Due to issues with leaks in previous years FLIPTOP BOTTLES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Additionally, we strongly recommend using PET bottles. Some dropoff points will only accept PET bottles this year, please check carefully.
Entry Fee: $15 per entry. Entry fees must be paid before the start of the competition to be eligible for judging. Each bottle must be labelled with the label generated by the registration software.
Each entry will receive 2 or 3 BJCP-style judge scoresheets. Beers will be judged according to the BJCP 2021 guidelines. The competition covers styles 1-34 and the local style X5 - NZ Pilsner.
Competition Official
You can send an email to any of the following individuals via Contact.
- Ahbc Committee — Competition Coordinators
Sponsors
the Brewing Education Trust is proud to have the following sponsors for the Aotearoa Home Brewing Classic.
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Judging Sessions
Session 1 - Squashgym - Morning
20/09/2025 09:00, +12.
Session 2 - Squashgym - Afternoon
20/09/2025 13:00, +12.
Session 3 - Squashgym - Morning
21/09/2025 09:00, +12.
Account Registration Open
Account registrations accepted 18/07/2025 18:00, +12 through 05/09/2025 17:00, +12.
Registrations for judges or stewards accepted 18/07/2025 18:00, +12 through 20/09/2025 09:00, +12.
Entry Registration Closed
Entry Drop-Off Closed
Please pay attention to the notes provided for each drop-off location. There could be earlier deadlines for some drop-off locations listed, particular hours when entries are accepted, certain individuals to leave your entries with, etc. All entrants are responsible for reading the information provided by the organizers for each drop-off location.