Prairie Homebrewing Companions

The Award of Brewing Program (AoB) has been established by the Prairie Homebrewing Companions (PHC) to promote an awareness of world beer, mead, and cider styles and the technical knowledge necessary to produce them.

Experienced beer judges will assign a BJCP reference score, and may provide opinions, further feedback, and suggestions for improvement.

Entering

Judging will be performed at each regular monthly meeting and at certain other club events throughout the year. Entering is easy!

1. Notifying the AOB Administrator via email a day or two in advance of submission is greatly appreciated. Provide name(s) of brewers, date, style, and any style specifics in the email.
2. Fill out an AoB Registration Form with only the BJCP Style/Category and judging Date fields filled out. If specified by the style guidelines, any special ingredients, base style, or style specifics (e.g. carbonation/sweetness/alcohol for a mead) should also be noted in the registration form.
3. On the Judging day, bring the completed AoB Registration Form and brew sample to the meeting for judging (typically held at 7p). Beverages with an original gravity of less than 1.080 require a two-liter sample (or 6-pack, if bottled). Beverages with an original gravity of 1.080 or greater may provide a one-liter sample.

Judging Process

The Judges (consisting of at least one Recognized BJCP judge and another experienced judge) will return a copy of the Registration Form and communicate their impressions of each beer tasted so the brewers can make improvements and / or adjustments in recipes or techniques. The judges will also provide a BJCP “reference score” with their results so they might determine just where the panel feels the beer might fit in the range of overall quality. After the beer has been sampled by the judging team it should be made available to everyone in attendance for the People’s Choice competition.

The beer judged with the highest score and the winner of the People’s Choice competition will each receive a prize, typically in the form of a brew-related gift certificate.

Style Guidelines

The AoB is based on the (Beer Judge Certification Program) BJCP Style Guidelines. The AoB uses the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines for beer, and 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines for meads and ciders:

• BJCP 2021 Beer Guidelines (PDF)
• BJCP 2015 Mead Guidelines (PDF)
• BJCP 2015 Cider Guidelines (PDF)

Awards

A certificate will be presented to the program participant upon fulfillment of the requirements necessary to reach a given level in the program. These awards serve as the PHC’s acknowledgement of the participant’s achievement and as a means of thanking the participant for their involvement in the program. Special awards are given at various levels as noted below.

Levels

AoB Winners

Grand Master of Brewing

Wayne Fehrenbach, Dick Nilles, Dennis Reimer, Eric Sanders

Master of Brewing – 3rd Degree

Jason Huck

Master of Brewing – 2nd Degree

Dave Batcheller, Adam Hoffert, Tony Huseby, Jon Lewis, Tyler Mangin , Corbin Rapp, Rick Reilly, Susan Ruud, Ray Taylor, and John Wilkinson

Master of Brewing

Ben Amundson, Paul Frank, Bill Nagle, Andrew Paulsen, Tom Paulson, Ron Stroh, and Paul Vogel

Accomplished Brewer – 2nd Degree

Jeffery Barbari, Dustin DeTar, and Tom Roan & Nancy Bowser

Accomplished Brewer

Randy Behrens, Tyler Benson, Rick Brandvold, Jon Caro, Lucas Graunke, Karl Gunderson, Paul Held, Ethan Hennings, Mike Isley, Karl Johnson, Aaran Joneson, Jon Lacher, Tim Lamey, Dustin Lamppa, Steve Leno, Jim Marback, Perry Mertz, Vince Rokke, Tom Rudolph, Bob Ruud, and Ray Sanders

Recognized Brewer

Alan Boll, Al Boyce, Steve Deibel, Steve Donaldson, Carl Eidbo, Preston Forsberg, Lucas Graunke, Jason Halvarson, Kristi Halvarson, Greg Kempenich, Steve Klocke , Joel Mac Derid, Tyler Laber, Dave Manning, Jason Middlestead, Dave Partlow, Mike Peterson, Will Rader, Andy Schaaf, Austin Schmitz, Sarah Staudt, Eric Swanson, Dennis Vosgerau, Mickey Walker, Vi Walker, Andy Werder, and Emily Wold

Other Awards

Dennis Reimer Brewer of the Year Award

Given to the brewer who advanced the most beers in the program during the prior year. This award is a memorial to Dennis Reimer who was a huge supporter of the AOB program having attained the rank of Grand Master before he passed away in 2005.

Dave Batcheller (2009), Dustin DeTar (2019), Paul Frank (2008), Adam Hoffert & Tom Paulson (2013), Jason Huck (2014), Tony Huseby (2021), Jon Lewis & Tyler Mangin (2017), Dick Nilles (2020), Corbin Rapp (2018), Rick Reilly (2007), Tom Roan & Nancy Bowser (2010, 2011, 2022), Eric Sanders (2012, 2015), Paul Vogel (2006), John Wilkinson (2016)

AoB Judge of the Year Award

The Award of Brewing program could not exist without judges. Judges volunteer their time to evaluate each entry and are awarded 2 points for the first beer they judge at each event and 1 point for each entry thereafter. The judge with the most points is awarded Judge of the Year honors and receives a plaque to commemorate the achievement.

Jon Lewis (2017, 2018, 2019), Tyler Mangin (2017), Dick Nilles (2020), and Corbin Rapp (2021, 2022)

Further Questions

The complete PHC AoB Rules and Guidelines are available for download.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact the AOB Administrator.