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.

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.

General Lagers

Smoke beers, pilsners, amber lager, helles, Oktoberfest beers, Vienna lagers, Maerzen, Dunkel, Bocks, Dopplebocks and other general lagers.

General Ales

Golden / blonde ales, kolsch, pale ales, red ales, scotch ales, cream ales and other general ales.

Amber/Brown Ales

American amber ale, American brown ale and California common.

Belgian-Style Ales

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.

Fruit, Vegetable and Spice Beers

American-style fruit beers, fruit wheat beers, Belgian-style fruit beers, pumpkin beers, herb and spice beers and other fruit and vegetable beers.

IPAs

American-style IPAs, Double IPAs, specialty IPAs and other IPAs.

Braggots

A blend of mead and beer with a sweet flavor profile, or a beer where 25% of the fermentables come from honey.

Stouts and Porters

Brown porter, robust porter, American-style stouts, oatmeal stouts, imperial stouts, cream stouts and other porters and stouts.

Wheat Beer

American-style wheat beer, German-style wheat ale and other wheat beers.

Historical Beer

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.

Sours

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.

Other Beers

Chocolate beers, coffee beers, strong beers, experimental beers, barley wines and other unclassified beers.

Barrel-aged

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

Hard seltzer, spiked seltzer or hard sparkling water made with honey.

Cider

No subcategories available.

Design / Packaging

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.

• Fill out the registration form on the following page by June 30, 2023 (The 2023 Honey Beer Competition will be limited to 300 entries)
• Submit at least three 12oz bottles or cans to: [shipping address to be announced at a later date]
• Breweries may submit multiple entries per category, but each beer may only be entered in one category.
• Beers must be brewed with honey at some point in the brewing process
• Brewery must be operational, which means that it must be actively brewing beer in a licensed/permitted location
• Brewery must have a federal TTB (U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) Basic Permit/Brewers Notice
• Beers must be commercially available
• Beers must be available in the United States
• Entrants will be responsible for shipping costs
• Shipments must include a note or label inside the box that includes the brewery’s name, name of beer and category which you wish to compete

The Honey Beer Competition will take place in St. Louis, Missouri in August of 2023. The judging will be closed to the public.

The Honey Beer Competition seals will be awarded on a merit basis by a majority vote. Judges are asked to evaluate the beers in silence until everyone on the panel has finished their evaluation. A moderator records the judges’ votes.

Beers are presented to judges in a blind tasting format. Judging is absolutely anonymous; no beer bottles are visible to the judges at any time until the competition is over. No judge may evaluate a product in which he/she has a stake or ownership. Judging is not based on personal preference, but by product adherence to the guidelines as set by the Beer Judge Certification Program.

The judges’ decision is final and awards will not be changed after the judging is finished.

• Submission must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright or trademark infringement
• Submission must not disparage sponsor or its competitors, administrator, any other person or party affiliated with the program or any other person or entity
• Submission must not contain material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortuous, defamatory, slanderous or libelous
• Submission must not contain material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age
• Submission must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations in any state where submission is created.

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.

Submissions generated by script, macro or other automated means are void. In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of an online entrant, such Entry will be deemed to be made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is deemed as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an internet access provider, service provider or other online organization that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. Neither Sponsor, Administrator, nor its agencies are responsible for late, stolen, illegible, misdirected, or non-delivered entries; or for lost, interrupted or unavailable satellite, network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website or other connections availability, accessibility or traffic congestion, or miscommunications, or failed computer, network, telephone, satellite, or cable hardware, software or lines, or technical failure, or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions, or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors of any kind, whether human, mechanical, electronic or network, or the incorrect or inaccurate capture of Entry or other information or the failure to capture, or loss of, any such information. Neither Sponsor, Administrator, nor its agencies are responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by website users, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Program and assume no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect or delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or tampering with or hacking of website.

Any attempt by an entrant or any other individual to deliberately damage any online service or website, tamper with the voting process, or otherwise undermine the legitimate operation of the Program is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and/or other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Correspondence with the Entrants regarding Entries is only obligated to the Winners.

Participation in this Awards Program constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and the Sponsor’s and Administrator’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to this Program. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.