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Entry Registration

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Rules

This competition is BJCP and AHA sanctioned and open to any amateur mead maker age 21 or older.

All shipped entries must be received at the shipping location by the shipping deadline - please allow for shipping time.  DO NOT attempt to ship your entries through the United States Postal Service.  Also, DO NOT reference the Michigan Mead Cup on the exterior label of your shipped entries. The label should be addressed to:

The Supply House at Cadillac Straights

c/o Motor City Mashers

27645 John R Rd

Madison Heights, MI 48071

It is also advised that the entry NOT be shipped as ‘perishable’ as that may prompt the shipper to destroy your entry if it cannot be delivered on attempts after business hours. The competition cannot be responsible for a shipping company destroying entries.  

All entries will be picked up from drop-off locations the day of the drop-off deadline.

All entries must be handcrafted products, containing 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 arrived damaged.

The competition organizers reserve the right to combine styles and/or substyles 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. The average of the scores will rank each entry in its category. Each flight will have at least one BJCP judge.

There is an entry limit of SIX entries per person.  Mead makers are not limited to one entry in each category (Traditional, Fruit, Spiced or Specialty) or subcategory (for example:  Dry Traditional, Semi-sweet Traditional, Sweet Traditional) as long as the meads entered in the same subcategory are clearly unique.  For example, a mead maker may enter two Sweet Traditional meads, one with clear Orange Blossom character and one with clear Star Thistle character.  Entering the same mead with different carbonation or sweetness levels in the same substyle is not allowed and does not qualify as "clearly unique". Michigan Only entries may ALSO be entered in another category.  Additional fee and bottles are required for Michigan Only entries.  See the description of Michigan Only for further information.

The competition committee reserves the right to combine overall style or substyle categories based on number of entries. All possible effort will be made to combine similar styles. All meads in combined categories will be judged according to the style and substyle in which they were originally entered.

The Best of Show judging will be determined by a Best of Show panel based on a second judging of the top winners.  Michigan Only medal winners will advance to the Best of Show round unless there is a duplicate entry in another category also advancing to BOS; in this case, only one of the duplicate entries will advance to BOS. In that case, there will be one less category judged in BOS.

Bottles will not be returned to entrants.

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BJCP 2015 Judging Styles

If a style's name is hyperlinked, it has specific entry requirements. Select or tap on the name to view the subcategory's requirements.

35A Michigan Only (Custom Style) M1A Dry Mead M1B Semi-Sweet Mead
M1C Sweet Mead M2A Cyser M2B Pyment
M2C Berry Mead M2D Stone Fruit Mead M2E Melomel
M3A Fruit and Spice Mead M3B Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Mead M4A Braggot
M4B Historical Mead M4C Experimental Mead  

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Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 3

Judging Sessions and Dates

Pre Judging
Friday, September 27, 2024 6:00 PM, EDT

Morning
Saturday, September 28, 2024 9:30 AM, EDT

Mid-Day
Saturday, September 28, 2024 11:30 AM, EDT

Afternoon
Saturday, September 28, 2024 2:30 PM, EDT

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Best of Show

Best of Show will receive special awards from one or more of our sponsors; more info to come. Please visit our sponsors!

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Awards

The awards ceremony will take place once judging is completed.

Medals will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category.  The medal categories are:  Michigan Only, Traditional - Dry, Traditional - Semi-Sweet, Traditional - Sweet, Cyser, Pyment, Berry, Stone Fruit, Other Melomel, Fruit and Spice, Spice/Herb/Vegetable, Historical, Braggot, and Experimental.  However, specific categories for medals will be determined based upon the number of entries in each category and may be collapsed or combined as appropriate.  As an example, Braggot may be moved to another category with every attempt to place those entries in the most appropriate category. 

The 1st place entry in each category will advance to the Best of Show (BOS) round with a single, overall Best of Show mead selected.  In the event the 1st place entry in the Michigan Only category is also advancing to BOS in another category, only ONE advancement will be permitted. In that case, the BOS round will have one less mead judged.

Additional prizes may be awarded to those winners present at the awards ceremony at the discretion of the competition organizers.

Both score sheets and awards will be available for pickup directly following the conclusion of the awards ceremony. Score sheets not picked up will be available for download by the participants; awards will be sent to the winner within two weeks. Results will be posted to the competition web site after the ceremony concludes.  Score sheets for entries not awarded a medal will be scanned and downloaded to the registration account held by the entrant.  Please assure that your email address is correct when registering!

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Awards Ceremony

Brewery Becker Warehouse
397 Washington St., Brighton, MI 48116
Saturday, September 28, 2024 6:00 PM, EDT

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Circuit Qualification

Awards at the Michigan Mead Cup will qualify for the National Meadmaker of the Year Competition through the American Mead Makers Association. https://mead-makers.org/national-mead-maker-of-the-year

Plus, you can brag to your all of your family and friends about the awesomeness of your meadmaking skills!

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