Best of the Bay 2026
Entries
Judging
Entry Registration
Account Registration
Judge Registration
Steward Registration
Entry Drop-Off
Entry Shipping
Rules
If you are willing to judge or steward, please return to register on or after Sunday, March 1, 2026 12:00 AM, PST.
This competition is an AHA-sanctioned event and open to any amateur homebrewer age 21 or older.
All mailed entries must be received at the mailing location by the shipping deadline; please allow for shipping time. The shipping location is closed Sundays and Mondays; if possible, try to schedule your shipment to show up on another day of the week.
All entries will be picked up from drop-off locations a day or two after the drop-off deadline.
All entries must be handcrafted products, contain ingredients available to the general public, and made using private equipment by hobbyist brewers (i.e., no use of commercial facilities or Brew on Premises operations, supplies, etc.).
The competition organizers are not responsible for mis-categorized entries, mailed entries that are not received by the entry deadline, or entries that arrive damaged.
The competition organizers reserve the right to combine styles for judging and to restructure awards as needed depending upon the quantity and quality of entries.
Qualified judging of all entries is the primary goal of our event. Judges will evaluate and score each entry. Each flight will have at least one BJCP judge.
Brewers are not limited to one entry in each category but may only enter each subcategory once. Maximum entries per brewer is limited to four (4).
Members of Bellingham Homebrewers Guild receive a 50% discount on entry fees. Go to our website for membership info: https://bellinghamhomebrewersguild.org/. Members - contact competition organizers for discount code!
The competition committee reserves the right to combine overall style categories based on number of entries. All possible effort will be made to combine similar styles. All brews in combined categories will be judged according to the style they were originally entered in.
The Best of Show judging will be determined by a Best of Show panel based on a second judging of the top winners.
Bottles will not be returned to entrants.
Entry Acceptance Rules
Each entry will consist of three 12- to 22-ounce capped bottles or corked bottles, or 12- or 16-ounce cans, that are void of all identifying information, including labels and embossing. Printed caps are allowed, but must be blacked out completely.
12-oz brown glass bottles are preferred; however, green and clear glass will be accepted. Swing top bottles, corked bottles, and cans will likewise be accepted.
Bottles will not be returned to contest entrants.
All requisite paperwork must be submitted with each entry and can be printed directly from this website. Entry paperwork should be attached to bottles by the method specified on the bottle label (rubber band preferred).
Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients that must be specified. Failure to note such ingredients may impact the judges' scoring of your entry.
Entry Info
Entry Limits
- Entry Limit:
- 225
- Entry Limit – Paid:
- 225
Entry Limits Per Participant
- Entry Limit Per Participant:
- 4
- Per Style Entry Limit:
- 1
Pay Entry Fees
After creating your account and adding your entries to the system, you must pay your entry fee(s). Accepted payment methods are:
- Credit/debit card and e-check, via PayPal
BJCP 2015 / 2021 Styles Accepted
Indicates that the style's entry limit has been reached and no more entries of that style will be accepted.
| 1A American Light Lager | 1B American Lager | 1C Cream Ale |
| 1D American Wheat Beer | 2A International Pale Lager | 2B International Amber Lager |
| 2C International Dark Lager | 3A Czech Pale Lager | 3B Czech Premium Pale Lager |
| 3C Czech Amber Lager | 3D Czech Dark Lager | 4A Munich Helles |
| 4B Festbier | 4C Helles Bock | 5A German Leichtbier |
| 5B Kölsch | 5C German Helles Exportbier | 5D German Pils |
| 6A Märzen | 6B Rauchbier | 6C Dunkels Bock |
| 7A Vienna Lager | 7B Altbier | 8A Munich Dunkel |
| 8B Schwarzbier | 9A Doppelbock | 9B Eisbock |
| 9C Baltic Porter | 10A Weissbier | 10B Dunkels Weissbier |
| 10C Weizenbock | 11A Ordinary Bitter | 11B Best Bitter |
| 11C Strong Bitter | 12A British Golden Ale | 12B Australian Sparkling Ale |
| 12C English IPA | 13A Dark Mild | 13B British Brown Ale |
| 13C English Porter | 14A Scottish Light | 14B Scottish Heavy |
| 14C Scottish Export | 15A Irish Red Ale | 15B Irish Stout |
| 15C Irish Extra Stout | 16A Sweet Stout | 16B Oatmeal Stout |
| 16C Tropical Stout | 16D Foreign Extra Stout | 17A British Strong Ale |
| 17A1 Burton Ale | 17B Old Ale | 17C Wee Heavy |
| 17D English Barley Wine | 18A Blonde Ale | 18B American Pale Ale |
| 19A American Amber Ale | 19B California Common | 19C American Brown Ale |
| 20A American Porter | 20B American Stout | 20C Imperial Stout |
| 21A American IPA | 21B Specialty IPA | 21B1 Belgian IPA |
| 21B2 Black IPA | 21B3 Brown IPA | 21B4 Red IPA |
| 21B5 Rye IPA | 21B6 White IPA | 21B7 Brut IPA |
| 21C Hazy IPA | 22A Double IPA | 22B American Strong Ale |
| 22C American Barleywine | 22D Wheatwine | 23A Berliner Weisse |
| 23B Flanders Red Ale | 23C Oud Bruin | 23D Lambic |
| 23E Gueuze | 23F Fruit Lambic | 23G Gose |
| 24A Witbier | 24B Belgian Pale Ale | 24C Bière de Garde |
| 25A Belgian Blond Ale | 25B Saison | 25C Belgian Golden Strong Ale |
| 26A Belgian Single | 26B Belgian Dubbel | 26C Belgian Tripel |
| 26D Belgian Dark Strong Ale | 27A Historical Beer | 27A1 Kellerbier |
| 27A2 Kentucky Common | 27A3 Lichtenhainer | 27A4 London Brown Ale |
| 27A5 Piwo Grodziskie | 27A6 Pre-Prohibition Lager | 27A7 Pre-Prohibition Porter |
| 27A8 Roggenbier | 27A9 Sahti | 28A Brett Beer |
| 28B Mixed Fermentation Sour Beer | 28C Wild Specialty Beer | 28D Straight Sour Beer |
| 29A Fruit Beer | 29B Fruit and Spice Beer | 29C Specialty Fruit Beer |
| 29D Grape Ale | 30A Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer | 30B Autumn Seasonal Beer |
| 30C Winter Seasonal Beer | 30D Specialty Spice Beer | 31A Alternative Grain Beer |
| 31B Alternative Sugar Beer | 32A Classic Style Smoked Beer | 32B Specialty Smoked Beer |
| 33A Wood-Aged Beer | 33B Specialty Wood-Aged Beer | 34A Commercial Specialty Beer |
| 34B Mixed-Style Beer | 34C Experimental Beer | LSX1 Dorada Pampeana |
| LSX2 IPA Argenta | LSX3 Italian Grape Ale | LSX4 Catharina Sour |
| LSX5 New Zealand Pilsner |
Drop-Off Locations
Entry bottles accepted at our drop-off locations Wednesday, July 1, 2026 8:00 AM, PDT — Wednesday, July 22, 2026 8:00 PM, PDT.
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.
1430 E Main Ave #1430C Puyallup WA 98372
253-286-7607
17511 68th Ave NE B, Kenmore, WA 98028
425-892-8425
940 S Spruce St, Burlington, WA 98233
360-293-0424
1010 C St., Suite 107, Bellingham, WA 98225
(360) 366-8065
Shipping Info
Entry bottles accepted at our shipping location Wednesday, July 1, 2026 8:00 AM, PDT — Wednesday, July 22, 2026 8:00 PM, PDT.
Ship entries to:
Beach Cat Brewing, Southpaw
1010 C St., Suite 107, Bellingham, WA 98225
Packing and Shipping
Carefully pack your entries in a sturdy box. Line the inside of your carton with a plastic trash bag. Partition and pack each bottle with adequate packaging material. Please do not over pack!
Write clearly: Fragile. This Side Up. on the package. Please only use bubble wrap as your packing material.
Enclose each of your bottle labels in a small zip-top bag before attaching to their respective bottles. This way it makes it possible for the organizer to identify specifically which entry has broken if there is damage during shipment.
Every reasonable effort will be made to contact entrants whose bottles have broken to make arrangements for sending replacement bottles.
Judging Sessions
Friday PM Judging
Friday, August 7, 2026 6:00 PM, PDT
Awards
Doors open at 11:00 AM
The final categories will depend on entries received. The top entry from each flight will advance to the Best of Show round. In the case of one BJCP subcategory split into multiple flights, a mini-Best of Show will be preformed to determine which beer advances to the Best of Show round.
First-, second-, and third-place BotB Bung Awards will be awarded to all category winners, BoS winners, and Best Beer Name winners at the Awards Ceremony. Winners not present will receive bung awards by mail.
Additional prizes may be awarded to those winners present at the awards ceremony at the discretion of the competition organizers.
The Awards Ceremony is also a homebrew festival put on by the BHG, and all competition participants are encouraged to join us for homebrew, food, and fun.
Awards Ceremony
TBA
TBA
Sunday, August 9, 2026 11:00 AM, PDT
Volunteers
Judges and Stewards
If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.
If you have not registered and are willing to be a judge or steward, please register.
Staff
If you would like to volunteer to be a competition staff member, please register or update your account to indicate that you wish to be a part of the competition staff.
Other Volunteer Info
Judges and stewards are needed for the event. We are planning on having 3 judging sessions as listed on the webiste. When creating your account, you'll have the chance to sign up for the dates you are interested in. Don't hesistate to reach out to the competition contacts if you have any questions.
Sponsors
Contact
Use the links below to contact individuals involved with coordinating this competition:
- – Competition Coordinator
- – Secretary
- – Cellar Master
- – Judging Coordinator