On September 19th, 2015, the 6th Annual Bell’s Homebrew Competition Kick-off and Expo at Bell’s beautiful Eccentic Cafe in Kalamazoo, MI. This is a chance for homebrewers to take a Bell’s base beer, and add their own personal touch on it.

There is no registration fee; however, in order to enter the competition you must use Bell’s wort, which is available for free at the Kickoff while supplies last.

The first-place homebrewer will not only be able to brew their beer at the original brewery (the beer will be released on tap at the Cafe), but they will also be going to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado as a guest of Bell’s Brewery. That person will team up with Bell’s for the 2016 Pro-Am Competition and attend both the awards ceremony and member’s only session.

Bell’s will cover the cost of airfare to Denver and back (must be within the continental U.S.) and provide lodging for two nights.

“This competition is a great way to honor how we got our start and it is always exciting to see the level of creativity and skill from our homebrewing community,” said Laura Bell, Vice President of Bell’s Brewery, Inc.

Previous winners are:

2010: Oscar’s Folly, a collaborative IPA from Jarrett Cupp, Bailey Cupp and Paul Gentz.

2011: A Bit of Heat from Geoff Groff, brewed with paradise seeds, rose hips and habaneros.

2012: Manden Med Leen, a black IPA brewed with Belgian yeast from Nick Rodammer.

2013: Proud Mitten, a dry hopped IPA/Pale Ale made with Centennial, Citra and Simcoe hops from David Lyman.

2014: Coffee Mustache, a California Common style beer brewed with coffee from Matt VanNatter.

The winning recipe from 2014, Coffee Mustache, will be tapped at 2 p.m. on Aug. 30 at the Cafe. It recently debuted at this year’s Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison, Wisconsin.

This year’s Expo will run from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and will feature Blichmann Engineering, White Labs, Briess Malt, Foxx Equipment, The American Homebrewer’s Association, Kalamazoo Libation Organization of Brewers (KLOB), Hophead Farms and others.

Sign-up times for wort pickup will begin at 11 a.m. Wort will be distributed beginning around 1 p.m., first come, first served. In past years, more than 200 homebrewers have been able to receive wort.

Competition entries are due to the Bell’s General Store by 7 p.m., Sunday, October 25.

For additional competition details, please visit: bellsbeer.com/blog.

This story came Courtesy of Bell’s Brewery