ACCF 2010 Official Rules

This contest is open to all home brewers. The competition is restricted to non-commercial, home-brewed beer. Beers produced on the premises of commercial brewers including brew-on-premises establishments are not eligible. The Alamo City Cerveza Fest (ACCF) is hosted by the Bexar Brewers, and is an AHA/BJCP sanctioned competition and is a part of the Lone Star Circuit. See Style Guidelines for a complete listing of BJCP categories and subcategories, plus the special Funkiest of Show category that may be entered in the ACCF.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Each entry for the competition must consist of three (3) bottles. To ensure the anonymity of entrants, bottles must meet the standard AHA National competition requirements. Every bottle must be 10 to 14 ounces in volume, brown glass, and free of raised-glass or inked brand-name lettering and paper labels.
If you submit an entry in BJCP categories 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, or 28, then you may submit those entries in a bottle as small as six and one-half (6.5) ounces (but still cannot be larger than fourteen (14) ounces).
Lettering and graphics on bottle caps must be obliterated with a permanent black marker. Traditional “longneck” style bottles are encouraged, while bottles with Grolsch-type swing tops and unusually shaped bottles are specifically not allowed. Corked bottles meeting the above restrictions are acceptable; however, you must crimp a crown cap over the cork. Bottles not meeting these requirements will be disqualified. Brown bottles are encouraged for maximum protection from light. All bottles must be clean with a properly completed entry label attached by a rubber band. DO NOT TAPE OR GLUE ON BOTTLE LABELS!

ENTRY LIMITATIONS
There is a limit of ONE entry per subcategory.

STYLE GUIDELINES
The Alamo City Cerveza Fest will be judging all BJCP beer, mead, and cider styles using the 2008 BJCP style guidelines. The full BJCP category descriptions and specifications are set forth in an extensive document available in downloadable format at the BJCP web site.
The following is a listing of the BJCP categories and subcategories, as well as our special category 29, Funkiest of Show.

1. LIGHT LAGER
1A. Light American Lager
1B. Standard American Lager
1C. Premium American Lager
1D. Munich Helles
1E. Dortmunder Export

2. PILSNER
2A. German Pilsner (Pils)
2B. Bohemian Pilsener
2C. Classic American Pilsner

3. EUROPEAN AMBER LAGER
3A. Vienna Lager
3B. Oktoberfest/Märzen

4. DARK LAGER
4A. Dark American Lager
4B. Munich Dunkel
4C. Schwarzbier (Black Beer)

5. BOCK
5A. Maibock/Helles Bock
5B. Traditional Bock
5C. Doppelbock
5D. Eisbock

6. LIGHT HYBRID BEER
6A. Cream Ale
6B. Blonde Ale
6C. Kölsch
6D. American Wheat or Rye Beer

7. AMBER HYBRID BEER
7A. North German Altbier
7B. California Common Beer
7C. Düsseldorf Altbier

8. ENGLISH PALE ALE
8A. Standard/Ordinary Bitter
8B. Special/Best/Premium Bitter
8C. Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)

9. SCOTTISH AND IRISH ALE

9A. Scottish Light 60/-
9B. Scottish Heavy 70/-
9C. Scottish Export 80/-
9D. Irish Red Ale
9E. Strong Scotch Ale

10. AMERICAN ALE
10A. American Pale Ale
10B. American Amber Ale
10C. American Brown Ale

11. ENGLISH BROWN ALE
11A. Mild
11B. Southern English Brown Ale
11C. Northern English Brown Ale

12. PORTER
12A. Brown Porter
12B. Robust Porter
12C. Baltic Porter

13. STOUT
13A. Dry Stout
13B. Sweet Stout
13C. Oatmeal Stout
13D. Foreign Extra Stout
13E. American Stout
13F. Imperial Stout

14. INDIA PALE ALE (IPA)
14A. English IPA
14B. American IPA
14C. Imperial IPA

15. GERMAN WHEAT AND RYE BEER
15A. Weizen/Weissbier
15B. Dunkelweizen
15C. Weizenbock
15D. Roggenbier (German Rye Beer)

16. BELGIAN AND FRENCH ALE
16A. Witbier
16B. Belgian Pale Ale
16C. Saison
16D. Bière de Garde
16E. Belgian Specialty Ale

17. SOUR ALE
17A. Berliner Weisse
17B. Flanders Red Ale
17C. Flanders Brown Ale/Oud Bruin
17D. Straight (Unblended) Lambic
17E. Gueuze
17F. Fruit Lambic

18. BELGIAN STRONG ALE
18A. Belgian Blond Ale
18B. Belgian Dubbel
18C. Belgian Tripel
18D.Belgian Golden Strong Ale
18E. Belgian Dark Strong Ale

19. STRONG ALE
19A. Old Ale
19B. English Barleywine
19C. American Barleywine

20. FRUIT BEER

21. SPICE/HERB/VEGETABLE BEER
21A. Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer
21B. Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer

22. SMOKE-FLAVORED & WOOD-AGED BEER
22A. Classic Rauchbier
22B. Other Smoked Beer
22C. Wood-Aged Beer

23. SPECIALTY BEER
Anything goes here. However, you must state the base
beer style when submitting a beer in this category,
just as you would if you were entering Categories
6D, 16E, 17F, 20, 21, 22B, 22C, 23, 25C, 26A, 26C
27E, 28B-D.

24. TRADITIONAL MEAD
24A. Dry Mead
24B. Semi-Sweet Mead
24C. Sweet Mead

25. MELOMEL (FRUIT MEAD)
25A. Cyser (Apple Melomel)
25B. Pyment (Grape Melomel)
25C. Other Fruit Melomel

26. OTHER MEAD
26A. Metheglin
26B. Braggot
26C. Open Category Mead

27. STANDARD CIDER AND PERRY
27A. Common Cider
27B. English Cider
27C. French Cider
27D. Common Perry
27E. Traditional Perry

28. SPECIALTY CIDER AND PERRY
28A. New England Cider
28B. Fruit Cider
28C. Apple Wine
28D. Other Specialty Cider or Perry

29. FUNKIEST OF SHOW (non-BJCP)

ENTRY & ELECTRONIC PAYMENT INFORMATION
All entries must be submitted electronically at www.bexarbrewers.org. For each entry, entrants must fill out one (1) entry form (which is done for you if you enter online) and three (3) bottle ID labels. Please make sure that there are bottle ID labels attached to each of your three (3) bottles. We will again be using the Internet payment tool PayPal. With PayPal you can use a credit card to pay entry fees, event fees, and purchase ACCF merchandise. If you are inhibited from registering and paying online please contact organizer directly for accommodation at accf2010@bexarbrewers.org. The entrant must attach each completed bottle ID forms to each of their three (3) entry bottles using a rubber band.

ENTRY FEE
The entry fee is $8 per entry. Remember, there is a limit of ONE entry per subcategory and entries must be registered at www.bexarbrewers.org no later than midnight Saturday, March 20, 2010. Entries must be received by the organizer by Sunday March 21, 2010 at 3:00PM (Austin location) or Monday March 22, 2010 (San Antonio locations). An entry is considered to be received by the Organizer when it actually arrives at one of the drop off points specified, and not when it is submitted by the entrant. The time when you ship entries is irrelevant; all that matters is whether the entries arrive at one of the drop off points on time. NOTE: different drop off points close at different times. Get your entries to the drop off points early to avoid a last-minute rush. Late entries will not be accepted. No exceptions will be made to this rule without prior consent of the organizer.

DROP-OFF POINTS
The organizer has arranged for three drop-off points to which entrants may either ship their entries or deliver their entries in person. Entrants may ship their entries so that entries are delivered to the drop off points beginning on Monday, March 6, 2010 and ending on Sunday, March 21 or 22 (see details above). It is solely the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that entries are delivered to the Organizer. The Organizer does not guarantee that entries shipped to the drop-off points will be timely received by the Organizer, and entrants who deliver their entries to a drop-off point do so at their own risk. The Organizer cannot and will not acknowledge receipt of entries. Entrants should arrange for a return receipt with their shipping company if they wish to confirm delivery of their package. Packages with postage due or C.O.D. charges will be returned to the sender. Use a shipping company such as UPS, DHL, or Federal Express to ship entries. DO NOT SHIP ENTRIES VIA THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE! See the drop-off point page for locations.

PACKING INSTRUCTIONS
If you must ship your entries, we recommend that you allow 2” of packing materials between the borders of the box you use to ship your beer and any beer you enclose within. Fill with packing material. Wrapping each bottle in bubble wrap may also be helpful. Enclose all entries in a plastic garbage bag, and then seal the bag. Do not use US Mail – it is ILLEGAL!!. UPS will accept your package, but not if it is labeled “beer”. You may want to label it “Yeast Samples” or “Kitchen Supplies” or simply “Fragile”.

DISCLAIMER
All decisions of The Alamo City Cerveza Fest Committee and the Judging Staff are to be considered final. Be assured that every effort will be taken to create an uncompromising, blind-tasting environment for the judging of all entries. Entries that do not meet these rules will not be returned. Some awards may not be awarded if the judges deem that the entries submitted have not met the BJCP guidelines for their category. Entry fees that have been submitted for entries that are disqualified will not be refunded. No entries will be returned to entrants for any reason, whether the entries are received late or otherwise. All entries become property of The Bexar Brewers.