There is less than a month left to enter the 2023 Brewers Choice Awards. Here esteemed judges Melissa Cole, joined by John Keeling and Paul Davies, share their advice on what makes a great entry.

Entering awards can sometimes feel like howling into the wind… trust me, I know this from personal experience, so, with that empathy in mind, here are some hints and tips from me, and other judges, on how best to maximise your entry to the awards. 

My personal top tip is: prove it! As lovely as it is to hear about personal journeys and how much you’ve grown – and don’t get me wrong, that is important – we see too many entries that lack actual material impact statements, percentage growth figures, HACCP implementations, efficiencies gained, markets cracked, innovations mastered and genuine differences made. 

Also, I’d like to see more entrants talk about what they are doing to make a difference in the industry, what advocacy are you doing? Are you involved in more than just the usual circle jerk of collaborations, are you reaching out to help people who aren’t so automatically accepted in the craft beer world to help elevate them? Have you put an equality programme in place? Anything like that would be welcome. 

“Don’t enter beers you don’t 100% believe in.”

John Keeling

My fellow judge John Keeling has some wise words too: “Win or lose ask for feedback, winning is just the icing on the cake but taking on board feedback from judges (and customers too) is just as important.

“Don’t enter beers you don’t 100% believe in. Decide in your mind what makes your beer a winner. Then stick to your guns no matter whether you win or lose and always celebrate with your team if you win.”

And, as a man who has been told that his ESB ‘isn’t to style’, he also adds: “Remember judges are not always correct.”

Another judge, Paul Davies of AleHunters, adds: “I’m always amazed we don’t get more entries, this has to be the only free competition to enter that I know of. However, even then people don’t send the beers properly packaged and we’ve even had out of date ones, for most styles, fresh is always going to be best.

“Also, read the brief and make sure you are entering the right category.”

So, there you have it, start working on your entries now and, don’t forget, it’s free to enter and here’s how: https://www.brewersjournal.info/awards/