National Homebrewers Conference Names 2015 Winners

Recognizing the most outstanding homemade beer, mead and cider produced by homebrewers worldwide, this year’s competition saw 7,663 entries from 3,170 homebrewers located in 50 states, the District of Columbia and 12 other locations around the world entered in the first round of the competition. In the final round of competition at the National Homebrewers Conference, 949 entries were evaluated by some of the top beer judges in the country. Over its 37-year history, the National Homebrew Competition has evaluated 118,911 brews. The first competition, held in 1979 in Boulder, Colo., judged 34 beers.

Winners of this year’s National Homebrew Competition include Oskar Norlander, Peter Salmond and Erik Norlander as Homebrewer of the Year with their Geuze; Brett Glenna as Cidermaker of the Year with his Common Cider; and Donald Boyle and Stephen Boyle as Meadmaker of the Year with their Semi-Sweet Blueberry Honey Traditional Mead. Mark Schoppe won the Ninkasi Award as the winningest brewer in the competition. Gold, silver and bronze medals were presented in 28 style categories.

A complete list of 2015 National Homebrew Competition winners can be found here.

“Each year we look forward to the AHA National Homebrewers Conference as an event for the community to come together and toast homebrewing’s best of the best, all while educating and inspiring each other,” said Gary Glass, director, American Homebrewers Association.

The conference also offered attendees the opportunity to hone their homebrewing skills by learning from a variety of expert speakers—92 in total—providing 56 distinctseminars across 14 educational tracks. Tomme Arthur, best known for co-founding Port Brewing Company and The Lost Abbey, keynoted the event. Attendees were also able to enjoy a series of events where they sampled each other’s brews and commercial craft beers. The Homebrew Expo & Social Club, Welcome Reception and Club Night were opportunities for participants to try craft beers and meads from homebrew clubs and breweries nationwide, while brewing up new friendships with their fellow hobbyists.

In 2016, homebrewers will meet in Baltimore from June 9-11 for the 38th rendition of the event.

The National Homebrewers Conference is made possible by the generous support of its sponsors.