Thank you for your interest in the 2025 Minnesota State Fair Homebrew Competition organized by The Minnesota Home Brewers Association.

You only need to register your information once and can return to this site to enter more brews or edit the brews you've entered. You can even pay your entry fees online if you wish.

Entry Registration is Open

51 entries have been added to the system as of 6:01 PM, CDT, Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

45 paid entries are in the system as of 6:01 PM, CDT, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. There is a limit of 400 paid entries for this competition.

To add your entries into the system, please proceed through the registration process or log in if you already have an account.

Judge and Steward Registration is Open

If you have not registered and are willing to be a volunteer, please register.

If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.

Rules

2025 Minnesota State Fair Homebrew Competition rules (please read carefully)

The Minnesota State Fair Homebrew Competition is open ONLY TO MINNESOTA RESIDENTS. There is a $12.00 fee per entry. Paid entries from non-residents will be judged, however, they will not be eligible for placing or prizes. NO REFUNDS. NO EXCUSES. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Entries are limited to 400 paid entries. We may consider increasing the number of allowed entries depending on demand AND number of available judges and stewards who volunteer.

The competition committee will determine the final award categories based on the number and styles of entries received. All entries will be judged according to the style in which they were originally entered according to the BJCP Style Guidelines.

A Best Of Show Beer, Best Of Show Mead, and Best Of Show Cider will be determined by a second judging of the winners of each award category.

The Minn-kasi Award will be awarded to the brewer racking up the most points for beer, mead, and cider placing in this year’s competition. The winner will receive a custom-engraved, handcrafted wooden chalice with your name. Do you have what it takes???

Questions? Contact us at homebrewcompmnstatefair@gmail.com for more information before submitting -- and paying for! -- your entries.

PLEASE support our past sponsors as well as your local homebrew supply shops, favorite bars, bottle shops, local breweries, and restaurants! They helped make this competition possible when we needed their support in the past – let’s return the favor and help them now when they need our support.

Minnesota residents of legal age may enter.

Entries must be entered under the name of all brewers who helped.

Entries brewed in commercial facilities are ineligible. This includes AHA Wort Day rallies, free wort or wort shares from commercial breweries, etc.

We will only accept online entries and online payment.

Entry bottles accepted at our drop-off locations found here:

Entry bottles will be accepted at our shipping location found here:

No refunds.

The Minnesota State Fair Homebrew Competition accepts no responsibility for entries that are damaged during shipping or do not arrive at an approved shipping destination within the time limits. Late entries will not be accepted. Should only 1 bottle survive shipping then that entry will not be judged at best of show should the entry make it to that level.

All other entries will be disqualified!

The organizers reserve the right to make a final decision about an entry's eligibility in cases of a dispute.

All entries become the property of the Minnesota State Fair Homebrew Competition. No entries will be returned for any reason.

Questions? Contact us at homebrewcompmnstatefair@gmail.com for more information before submitting (and paying for!) your entries. Sorry, no refunds.

Entry Acceptance Rules

Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 2

There is a PER ENTRANT limit of 10 entries. Each entrant is limited to one (1) entry in each subcategory.

Each entry should be entered according to the appropriate Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guideline:

BJCP 2021 Beer Style Guidelines
BJCP 2015 Mead Style Guidelines
BJCP 2025 Cider Style Guidelines

Additional information regarding the BJCP guidelines can be found at www.bjcp.org

Two (2) bottles are required for each entry. All entries must be bottled in 12 oz. (or less) standard-sized brown or clear bottles. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Non-standard bottles (e.g. 20 oz. "bombers", 750ml corked bottles, swing-top, and yes- even the ones we get every year that are wax-topped) will NOT be judged. No refunds will be given for entries that arrive in anything other than 12-oz. (or less) bottles with crown caps. Bottles must be free of labels or other identifying marks. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Print your labels prior to the end of the entry deadline. Bottles must have the official entry labels printed as part of the online entry process attached to them with a rubber band. (The printed labels will say to use tape. PLEASE DO NOT USE TAPE.)

Questions? Contact us at homebrewcompmnstatefair@gmail.com for more information before submitting (and paying for!) your entries.