All homebrewers are invited to participate in the festival. It doesn't matter if you're a Ninkasi winner or just started homebrewing last week. We want to bring people together, have a great time, and share our beer with people who will appreciate it. Read below for all the event details and how to get in on this event.
Why | Cost | Tickets | Attendance | Schedule | Needs | The Competition | BJCP Judges
- $1000 in cash prizes will be awarded in the homebrew competition! You can only participate in the competition if you bring at least five gallons of beer to share at the event. Rotary is taking a big chance on us so start recruiting friends and family to come!
- Money will be raised to support youth activities in Lakewood.
- Help WAHA reap some rewards. Some of the proceeds will go to WAHA to build jockey boxes and obtain other items to help promote homebrewing in the state of Washington.
- If you bring at least 1-2 gallons of homebrew, cider, or soda to share, you get into the event for free and are allowed to participate in the competition. Or if you bring 2-3 750ml bottles of homemade wine or mead to share, that gets you in as well.
- For legal reasons, this is an invite-only, private event. Basically everyone is welcome but we can’t promote it publicly. Tickets will be available online by invitation. If you are bringing beer to share, you need to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and let us know how many kegs you'll be bringing. Once registered you will get more details for the event and the link to invite friends.
Expected 2010 Attendance: 400 - 500 people
Very Rough Schedule for the 2010 Festival:
- Friday August 13th - 6-7pm - Homebrewers arrive, set up camp, get prepped for the competition
- 7pm - The competition starts with round robin judging; the goal is to get through as many beers Friday night as possible so we have an easy job Saturday
- 9pm and on - Campfire & S'mores
- Saturday August 14th - 9am - Breakfast, homebrewer arrival, setup, judging, golf, etc.
- 11-11:45am - Professional brewer presentation (Speaker and topic TBD)
- Noon - The doors open for Rotarians and other guests
- Noon-5pm - Homebrew tasting, golfing (with longest drive and closest approach competitions), classic car show, keg bowling, volleyball, soda garden for kids, and whatever else we come up with
- 3pm - Homebrew competition awards announced followed by joyous celebration
- 5pm - Round up the Rotarians and get the real party started
- Beer! - Anyone who brings a full 5-gallon keg will get in free. We estimate needing one or two 5-gallon kegs for every 10 people so if we get 500 people, we'll need 50 homebrewers bringing a cornie keg or two each. And more is always better so bring as much as you can. Obviously we want to serve quality beer but if you have some drinkable beer that you just want to clear out to make some space, bring it down. Our goal is to get 100 kegs to the event.
- Jockey Boxes …or pretty much any means to keep the beer cold
- Responsible Volunteers - Whether you're pouring your own beer or helping at the event, we need to set a high standard since this is one of the first big homebrew events after the 5060 legislation passed.
- Tents/Canopies - Hopefully it’s going to be a sunny day and we’ll need some shade.
- Tables, Chairs, etc. - We'll be outdoors so everyone has to bring their own setup.
- Homebrew Clubs are invited to setup club tents and displays.
- Independent Brewers are highly encouraged to come, share beer, compete, and socialize.
- Beer Judges - We’ll be running a competition during the event and announcing a winner that night. If you’re a BJCP judge, you'll get a free lunch for judging. If not, you’re still encouraged to participate and learn about the judging process.
- Firewood, S'Mores Ingredients, S'Mores Beers? - All homebrewers and their family and friends are invited to stay the night and camp. We'll need some firewood or a chainsaw. Firewood might be safer.
- Food - We'll have some food vendors during the day but people are welcome to picnic during that time as well. After they leave we'll be on our own for food so come prepared. There's a grocery store in Orting if you need to grab anything.
- Root beer and other non-alcoholic beverages for kids and people who want to refresh their palates and try new things.
- RVs and Camping Gear - BYO
We are changing things from a standard BJCP competition. We are still going to be a BJCP-sanctioned event. But instead of requiring two or three bottles, having to get them, sort them, anonymize them, and chill them on site, we're doing away with them altogether. Only beers that are pouring are eligible for the competition. When a beer is about to be judged, a steward will come and get the required pour directly from the keg. If you bottle rather than keg, you'll just pour as usual. We feel this way will be easiest to manage during the event, and provide everyone at the festival with a unique experience.
Awards Breakdown:
- Best of Show 1st - $300
- Best of Show 2nd - $150
- Best of Show 3rd - $75
- Best Wine, Mead, or Cider - $150 (wines, meads, and ciders will have a separate Best of Show)
- Most Beverages Served - $125 (1-2 gallon minimum per beverage to qualify)
- Crowd Favorite - $100
- Crowd Favorite Non-Alcoholic Beverage - $50
- Best Rookie Beer - $50 (for anyone who's been brewing for one year or less at the time of the event or this is the first competition they've entered)
We are looking for BJCP judges for the competition. We will probably have modified scoresheets to streamline the process so we don't spend all day judging and no time at the festival. If you are a BJCP judge and want to help out, you'll get into the festival for free and be saddled with the arduous task of drinking beer all afternoon. Woe is you. Email us if you can make it so we can make sure we have a decent head count.
If you have any questions, suggestions, send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or use the contact form.
