- All entries will receive BJCP judges notes.
- All entries will be judged for the beer and for the packaging.
- All winners will receive a physical medal and a digital seal for use on packaging and promotional materials.
The National Honey Board is in search of the best beers made with honey for the 2023 Honey Beer Competition.
The Honey Beer Competition is a BJCP sanctioned competition hosted by the National Honey Board to recognize the best honey beers in the country.
The Honey Beer Competition is open to all active breweries operating within the United States that commercially produce honey beers in the following categories: general ale, general lager, Belgian-style ales, fruit, vegetable and spice beer, stouts and porters, IPAs, braggots, wheat beers, sours, barrel aged, hard seltzers, ciders and other. Multiple entries per category will be accepted.
Registration for the competition is free! However, all registrations must be submitted by the entry deadline June 30, 2023. Each brewery may submit multiple entries per category into the competition as long as the styles are within our guidelines. The 2023 Honey Beer Competition will be limited to 300 entries. All applicants must complete the required entry form below to be considered registered for the competition.
Each entrant is responsible for shipping costs.
Please note that your shipment must arrive before the final shipping date for the competition organizers to ensure they are judged. Late entries are subject to not being judged.
Smoke beers, pilsners, amber lager, helles, Oktoberfest beers, Vienna lagers, Maerzen, Dunkel, Bocks, Dopplebocks and other general lagers.
Golden / blonde ales, kolsch, pale ales, red ales, scotch ales, cream ales and other general ales.
American amber ale, American brown ale and California common.
Belgian-style blond or pale ale, Belgian-style witbiers, saisons, Biere de Garde, Belgian-style dubbels, Belgian-style tripels, Belgian-style quadrupels and other Belgian-style ales.
American-style fruit beers, fruit wheat beers, Belgian-style fruit beers, pumpkin beers, herb and spice beers and other fruit and vegetable beers.
American-style IPAs, Double IPAs, specialty IPAs and other IPAs.
A blend of mead and beer with a sweet flavor profile, or a beer where 25% of the fermentables come from honey.
Brown porter, robust porter, American-style stouts, oatmeal stouts, imperial stouts, cream stouts and other porters and stouts.
American-style wheat beer, German-style wheat ale and other wheat beers.
Beers in this category include established historical beers made with honey, and/or brewing traditions from any era or part of the world that don’t fit within another beer style defined within these guidelines. Examples include Kotbusser, Kvass, Gruit, Sahti or others.
American-style sour ales, brett beers, fruited American-style sour ales, Mixed culture brett beers, gose, Belgian-style lambic our sour ales and other sour beers.
Chocolate beers, coffee beers, strong beers, experimental beers, barley wines and other unclassified beers.
Any lager, ale or hybrid beer that has been aged for a period of time in a wooden barrel or in contact with wood.
Hard seltzer, spiked seltzer or hard sparkling water made with honey.
No subcategories available.
All beers will be entered into this category and judged on the use of honey and honey bee imagery in the name, graphics and description of the beer.
*Categories may be combined if there are not enough entries to judge in that category. In the event of combined categories, judges will be advised of the original category and instructed to judge the entry according to the original category.
Entrant represents and warrants that its Submission is original and created solely by Entrant and that the exercise of the rights granted by Entrant to Sponsor shall not infringe on the rights of any third party. Entrants will indemnify Sponsor, Released Parties and any licensee of Sponsor against all claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable counsel fees and legal expenses) arising out of any breach or alleged breach of these terms by Entrant. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Sponsor has the right to post any or all of the Submissions at random on its website as examples; posting any given Submission is in no way indicative that the Submission will be selected as a winner.