Best Judging

Below are ranked the competitions providing the best judging feedback out of 89 ranked USA competitions. These competitions are rated Excellent or Great by the entrants of the competition through anonymous survey results.  

Note a minimum of 3 surveys is required to be included in this list.

1st Place (14.0 / 15 points) - KCBM

"Great judging gifts, wonderful food for judges, staff and during the awards ceremony."

"Highly qualified judges."

"They have highly ranked judges attend."

"Great judges, great feedback."

"I love sending my beers here to get the excellent feedback."

"They also have a lot of high ranking judges who participate, so the feedback is excellent."

"I love sending my beers here to get the excellent feedback"

2nd Place (13.0 / 15 points) - Commander Saaz

"The judging was very effective; mixed use of sliders and commentary. All of the commentaries included some note on the major issues facing the beers and how the beer would be improved. ."


3rd Place (12.67/ 15 points) - America's Finest City Homebrew Competition

"All my entries were judged by BJCP ranked judges (Recognized or higher). Judge comments were accurate."

" It is exceptionally well judged. Every one of my entries was judged by a certified judge or above. Several of my entries were judged by master and grand master judges. Every  time I enter this competition, I receive feedback that helps me to refine my beers. In fact, I will be re-brewing 3 beers based specifically on AFC judges' commentary."

"Comments were brief but to the point and HELPFUL"


4th Place (12.62 / 15 points) - Indiana Brewers Cup

"Judging seemed to drop off this year.  Otherwise well judged."

5th Place (12.56 / 15 points) -  SNERHC

"Fantastic judging by some highly qualified judges"

"Most judges were BJCP. "

"...quick feedback, above average judges,"

"very good judges; great and helpful feedback;"

6th Place (12.60 / 15 points) - Sower's Cup

"Most judges were BJCP."

"Quick feedback, above-average judges."

"Wonderful judging gifts and food for judges and staff."

"Very good judges; great and helpful feedback."

"Fantastic judging by some highly qualified judges."


7th Place (12.5/ 15 points) - Valkyrie's Horn

"Very detailed feedback from judges and great scoresheets."

"...meticulously executed with great supervision and coordination on each area from the pool of BJCP Mead certified judges, accountable stewards,..."

"I judged this competition for the first time.  It was an outstanding experience!  They provided education as well as gifts, opportunities to socialize, mead share nights and more.  They really go above and beyond to express their appreciation"

8th Place (12.4 / 15 points) - Cactus Classic

"The competition was extremely well judged. Of my scoresheets, there were only 4 non-bjcp judges; most scoresheets had at least 2 bjcp judges. Well done!"

"The number of certified, national, and grand master judges participating in this event was impressive. I only had 3 judges that were not certified."

"Quality judging, scoresheet from President of the BJCP"

8th Place (12.1 / 15 points) - Drunk Monk Challenge

"Inconsistent Score Sheets."

"Contradictory comments galore on the same scoresheet by same judge. A couple of terrible judges. Otherwise decent comp/judging. "

"Fantastic judging! All in person!!"

"Well managed and well judged."

"Just all around well run competition with consitent judging and quality. "

"Judging had some major improvements this year for my entries."

"A bit of difficulty with legibility but decent feedback"

10th Place (12.0 / 15 points) - Liquid Poetry Slam

10th Place (12.0 / 15 points) - Greg Noonan Memorial



10th Place (12.0 / 15 points) - Coconut Cup



10th Place (12.0 / 15 points) - Winterbrew



14th Place (11.6 / 15 points) - Sweetheart's Revenge


"I felt the judging was fair with great feedback"


15th Place (11.27 / 15 points) - 8 seconds of Froth

"Well run and they provide well for the judges/stewards/staff. Always on the top of my list of comps to judge and/or steward. Judging is usually very high quality"

"Great communication and feedback"

"Extremely well judged, and the judging qualifications were fairly impressive: professional brewers, certified, national, master, and grandmaster judges -- very nice mix. There were non-certified judges, of course, but all were paired with certified or above judges. This competition is part of a very competitive circuit, the Front Range, and it is able to draw very talented homebrewers and judges into the competition."

"Great feedback from judges that was helpful in retooling recipes and future category entries. "

16th Place (11.25 / 15 points) - Spirit of 76

16th Place (11.25 / 15 points) - North Georgia Homebrew Competition


18th Place (11.0 / 15 points) - Foam Cup

"Well above average judging."

"Good food between judging sessions, fun awards banquet, several national judges "

"Great judges"

"they take care of judges and stewards well, good food,'

"The judging pool was top notch and provided a mix of Master and Grand Master judges that gave valuable feedback."

18th Place (11.0 / 15 points) - Redcoat Challenge


18th Place (11.0 / 15 points) - Dogg Dayzz




21st Place (10.94 / 15 points) - Alamo City Brew Battle
"Some of the best feedback I have ever received."

"judging was excellent and well managed"




22nd Place (10.86 / 15 points) - Homebrew Alley
"Some of the best feedback I have ever received."

"judging was excellent and well managed"




23rd Place (10.86 / 15 points) - Clash of the Carboys
"I believe that this contest allows too many entries for the number of judges available.  The majority of judging is held remotely on different days.  I'd rather see one large judging event, over one or over 2 consecutive days, and extra judging on other days if absolutely needed.."