Front Street Brewery welcomes home brewers

Local beer brewers, hop to it! The registration deadline for the fourth annual Lower Cape Fear Homebrew Competition is February 10, and the suds must be submitted by February 11.

The event, presented by Front Street Brewery in downtown Wilmington, gives home brewers an opportunity to show off the quality of their beverages. All submissions will be judged by a panel of beer brewing experts; the Best in Show brew will be sold at Front Street Brewery.

“A lot of breweries hold these types of events to stimulate creativity among the home brewing community,” said Christopher McGarvey, Front Street’s assistant brewer. “It also gives us a chance to do something different.”

Although competitors may deliver their brew in a variety of containers, the quantity must be equivalent to a six-pack of 12-ounce bottles.

“We use some of it for our judges to sample and score, and the rest is available for the other brewers to taste at our event February 18,” McGarvey said.

McGarvey said that, in rating the brews, the judges follow beer style guidelines that are used for national competitions. Each entry will be scored according to a set of objective criteria and evaluated against other beers of its own style. In addition to the Best in Show, there are awards in six other categories, whose winners will receive a medal.

Based on the number of entries in last year’s competition, McGarvey expects between 75 and 100 home brews in this year’s field. The registration fee is $20 per entry.

McGarvey said that Front Street Brewery plans a new competition in the fall: a friendly brew-off among teams from local churches. Money raised will be donated to Lower Cape Fear Hospice.

“[Also,] there will be brewing courses this spring so that people can learn how to brew before submitting their beer in the fall,” he said.

To learn more or to register for next week’s competition, visit http://www.nchomebrewing.com/2012-lower-cape-fear-competition-front-st-brewery.