Rules

Need to know what you need to do to enter the Washington Beer Awards? Below you'll find a high level summary of the important aspects of the competition. For the complete entry details, you can download a full copy of the rules here (brewers should familiarize themselves with the complete rules prior to entry).

General Washington Beer Awards Rule Summary

(Rules for special awards may vary slightly. Please read the full rules for details.) 

Eligibility & Pricing

  • Brewers must own a licensed commercial brewery in the state of Washington to participate in the Washington Brewers Awards. Beers submitted must have been brewed in and commercially available in the state of Washington in a facility located in Washington which has a Brewers Notice on file with the TTB (U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau).
  • $50 per entry.

Registration

  • The online registration period will be from June 28th through July 19th. All entries must be registered online.
  • Breweries may enter up to 10 entries (and one Pro-Am entry and Collaboration beeer entries). Breweries with multiple locations may register up to 10 beers per location or they may enter all of their beers under one location (up to 10 total). Each registered location will be treated as a unique brewery for the brewery of the year awards.
  • Beers will be entered into the online registration tool derived from the currently published Washington Beer Awards Style Guidelines derived on the Brewers Association website as of May 20th of the competition year.
  • Additional information is required with many categories noted in the Brewer’s Association Style Guidelines. It is the responsibility of the entrants to properly complete this information in the “Specialty Information” section.
  • In order to be eligible for a “Brewery of the Year” award, the breweries must specify their previous year’s production volume.

Confirmation of Entries

  • Confirmation of entries and categories will be sent to you via e-mail by July 22nd. Please review the confirmation message carefully and ensure that all information is correct. You must confirm or submit any changes to your entries by July 25th.

Payment

  • After confirmation, entrants will be invoiced for their entries and mailed a standard license agreement.
  • Check payments made out to “Washington Beer Awards” must be received by August 23rd. They must be mailed to: Washington Beer Awards, PO Box 26398, Federal Way, WA 98093

Submitting Beers

  • You must provide at least six (6) 12-ounce containers, four (4) 22-ounce containers, or the equivalent of at least 72 ounces for each entry. Acceptable package sizes must be between 10 and 32 ounces. You must send at least 4 bottles of each beer being judged, regardless of package size. All entries must be bottled or canned.
  • After confirmation of entries, you will be e-mailed bottle labels to print out and label your entries. These bottle labels should be affixed to the bottles or cans using clear packing tape. Labels should be affixed below the shoulder of the bottle.
  • All beers must be mailed or delivered to the published drop sites on the Washington Beer Awards website.
  • Beers must be received between August 9th and August 23rd. Late entries will not be accepted.

Judging

  • All beers will be judged in accordance with guidlines derived from the Brewer’s Association Style Guidelines published as of May 20th of the competition year.  Modifications may be made by the competition organizers to accomodate market and competition needs.
  • A minimum of 8 (eight) entries is required in a category for that category to be eligible to be judged independently. The competition organizers reserve the right to merge categories into hybrid award categories at their discretion to ensure that awards are provided in meaningful categories with enough entries to provide healthy competition.  Brewers will be notified of the award category mergers.
  • Beers will be judged by a panel of judges in a blind format. No information will be provided to judges that could tie the entry to a specific brewery.

Post Competition

  • Awards will be presented at an Awards Ceremony following the competition (currently planned at the Washington Craft Beer Summit planned in early November). Details will be posted on the Washington Beer Awards website. Awards will be mailed to entrants not able to attend the Awards Ceremony.
  • Judge tasting notes and awards will be mailed immediately following the ceremony to the brewery addresses specified in the registration process.
  • All decisions from the Washington Beer Awards are final.