2026 Sower's Cup
Entries
Judging
Entry Registration
Account Registration
Judge Registration
Steward Registration
Entry Drop-Off
Entry Shipping
Rules
If you are willing to judge or steward, please return to register on or after Saturday, July 18, 2026 9:00 AM, CDT.
This competition is AHA sanctioned and open to any amateur homebrewer age 21 or older.
All mailed entries must be received at the mailing location by the shipping deadline - please allow for shipping time.
All entries will be picked up from drop-off locations the day of the drop-off deadline.
All entries must be handcrafted products, containing ingredients available to the general public, and made using private equipment by hobbyist brewers (i.e., no use of commercial facilities or Brew on Premises operations, supplies, etc.).
The competition organizers are not responsible for mis-categorized entries, mailed entries that are not received by the entry deadline, or entries that arrived damaged.
The competition organizers reserve the right to combine styles for judging and to restructure awards as needed depending upon the quantity and quality of entries.
Qualified judging of all entries is the primary goal of our event. Judges will evaluate and score each entry. The average of the scores will rank each entry in its category. Each flight will have at least one BJCP judge.
Brewers are not limited to one entry in each category but may only enter each subcategory once.
The competition committee reserves the right to combine overall style categories based on number of entries. All possible effort will be made to combine similar styles. All brews in combined categories will be judged according to the style they were originally entered in.
The Best of Show judging will be determined by a Best of Show panel based on a second judging of the top winners.
Entry Acceptance Rules
Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 2
Each entry will consist of capped or corked bottles that are void of all identifying information, including labels and embossing. Printed caps are allowed, but must be blacked out completely.
Two 12-oz brown glass bottles are preferred; however, green will be accepted. Swing-top bottles will likewise be accepted, as well as 12oz and 16oz cans. For Mead entries only, 187ml bottles will be accepted.
Bottles will not be returned to contest entrants.
All requisite paperwork must be submitted with each entry and can be printed directly from this website. Entry paperwork should be attached to bottles by the method specified on the bottle label.
Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients that must be specified. Failure to note such ingredients may impact the judges' scoring of your entry.
This year's special category is an homage to the US Semiquincentennial (or Bisesquicentennial or Sestercentennial) - "Fruited: Red, White and/or Blue". The category is open to all styles, but must be made using fruit that is red, white and/or blue.
Entry Info
BJCP 2021 / 2025 Judging Styles
Indicates that the style's entry limit has been reached and no more entries of that style will be accepted.
| 1A American Light Lager | 1B American Lager | 1C Cream Ale |
| 1D American Wheat Beer | 2A International Pale Lager | 2B International Amber Lager |
| 2C International Dark Lager | 3A Czech Pale Lager | 3B Czech Premium Pale Lager |
| 3C Czech Amber Lager | 3D Czech Dark Lager | 4A Munich Helles |
| 4B Festbier | 4C Helles Bock | 5A German Leichtbier |
| 5B Kölsch | 5C German Helles Exportbier | 5D German Pils |
| 6A Märzen | 6B Rauchbier | 6C Dunkels Bock |
| 7A Vienna Lager | 7B Altbier | 8A Munich Dunkel |
| 8B Schwarzbier | 9A Doppelbock | 9B Eisbock |
| 9C Baltic Porter | 10A Weissbier | 10B Dunkels Weissbier |
| 10C Weizenbock | 11A Ordinary Bitter | 11B Best Bitter |
| 11C Strong Bitter | 12A British Golden Ale | 12B Australian Sparkling Ale |
| 12C English IPA | 13A Dark Mild | 13B British Brown Ale |
| 13C English Porter | 14A Scottish Light | 14B Scottish Heavy |
| 14C Scottish Export | 15A Irish Red Ale | 15B Irish Stout |
| 15C Irish Extra Stout | 16A Sweet Stout | 16B Oatmeal Stout |
| 16C Tropical Stout | 16D Foreign Extra Stout | 17A British Strong Ale |
| 17A1 Burton Ale | 17B Old Ale | 17C Wee Heavy |
| 17D English Barley Wine | 18A Blonde Ale | 18B American Pale Ale |
| 19A American Amber Ale | 19B California Common | 19C American Brown Ale |
| 20A American Porter | 20B American Stout | 20C Imperial Stout |
| 21A American IPA | 21B Specialty IPA | 21B1 Belgian IPA |
| 21B2 Black IPA | 21B3 Brown IPA | 21B4 Red IPA |
| 21B5 Rye IPA | 21B6 White IPA | 21B7 Brut IPA |
| 21C Hazy IPA | 22A Double IPA | 22B American Strong Ale |
| 22C American Barleywine | 22D Wheatwine | 23A Berliner Weisse |
| 23B Flanders Red Ale | 23C Oud Bruin | 23D Lambic |
| 23E Gueuze | 23F Fruit Lambic | 23G Gose |
| 24A Witbier | 24B Belgian Pale Ale | 24C Bière de Garde |
| 25A Belgian Blond Ale | 25B Saison | 25C Belgian Golden Strong Ale |
| 26A Belgian Single | 26B Belgian Dubbel | 26C Belgian Tripel |
| 26D Belgian Dark Strong Ale | 27A Historical Beer | 27A1 Kellerbier |
| 27A2 Kentucky Common | 27A3 Lichtenhainer | 27A4 London Brown Ale |
| 27A5 Piwo Grodziskie | 27A6 Pre-Prohibition Lager | 27A7 Pre-Prohibition Porter |
| 27A8 Roggenbier | 27A9 Sahti | 28A Brett Beer |
| 28B Mixed Fermentation Sour Beer | 28C Wild Specialty Beer | 28D Straight Sour Beer |
| 29A Fruit Beer | 29B Fruit and Spice Beer | 29C Specialty Fruit Beer |
| 29D Grape Ale | 30A Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer | 30B Autumn Seasonal Beer |
| 30C Winter Seasonal Beer | 30D Specialty Spice Beer | 31A Alternative Grain Beer |
| 31B Alternative Sugar Beer | 32A Classic Style Smoked Beer | 32B Specialty Smoked Beer |
| 33A Wood-Aged Beer | 33B Specialty Wood-Aged Beer | 34A Commercial Specialty Beer |
| 34B Mixed-Style Beer | 34C Experimental Beer | LSX1 Dorada Pampeana |
| LSX2 IPA Argenta | LSX3 Italian Grape Ale | LSX4 Catharina Sour |
| LSX5 New Zealand Pilsner | RWB76 Ode to the Semiquincentennial: Red, White and/or Blue (fruited) (Custom Style) | C1A Common Cider |
| C1B Heirloom Cider | C1C English Cider | C1D French Cider |
| C1E Spanish Cider | C2A New England Cider | C2B Applewine |
| C2C Ice Cider | C2D Fire Cider | C3A Fruit Cider |
| C3B Spiced Cider | C3C Experimental Cider | C4A Common Perry |
| C4B Heirloom Perry | C4C Ice Perry | C4D Experimental Perry |
| M1A Dry Mead | M1B Semi-Sweet Mead | M1C Sweet Mead |
| M2A Cyser | M2B Pyment | M2C Berry Mead |
| M2D Stone Fruit Mead | M2E Melomel | M3A Fruit and Spice Mead |
| M3B Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Mead | M4A Braggot | M4B Historical Mead |
| M4C Experimental Mead |
Drop-Off Locations
Entry bottles accepted at our drop-off locations Monday, August 17, 2026 5:00 PM, CDT — Friday, September 11, 2026 9:00 PM, CDT.
Please pay attention to the notes provided for each drop-off location. There could be earlier deadlines for some drop-off locations listed, particular hours when entries are accepted, certain individuals to leave your entries with, etc. All entrants are responsible for reading the information provided by the organizers for each drop-off location.
Jake's Cigars & Spirits
101 N 14th St Ste 1, Lincoln, NE 68508
(402) 261-5944
2929 N 204th St #107, Omaha, NE 68022
402-991-6655
Shipping Info
Entry bottles accepted at our shipping location Monday, August 17, 2026 9:00 AM, CDT — Tuesday, September 8, 2026 5:00 PM, CDT.
Ship entries to:
Jake's Cigars & Spirits
101 N 14th St Ste 1, Lincoln, NE 68508
Packing and Shipping
Carefully pack your entries in a sturdy box. Line the inside of your carton with a plastic trash bag. Partition and pack each bottle with adequate packaging material. Please do not over pack!
Write clearly: Fragile. This Side Up. on the package. Please only use bubble wrap as your packing material.
Enclose each of your bottle labels in a small zip-top bag before attaching to their respective bottles. This way it makes it possible for the organizer to identify specifically which entry has broken if there is damage during shipment.
Every reasonable effort will be made to contact entrants whose bottles have broken to make arrangements for sending replacement bottles.
Judging Sessions
Session 1 - Turbine Flats
Tuesday, September 22, 2026 6:00 PM, CDT
Session 2 - Turbine Flats
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 6:00 PM, CDT
Session 3 - Turbine Flats
Thursday, September 24, 2026 6:00 PM, CDT
Session 4 - Park Center Banquet Hall
Friday, September 25, 2026 6:30 PM, CDT
Session 5 - Park Center Banquet Hall
Saturday, September 26, 2026 8:30 AM, CDT
Session 6 - Park Center Banquet Hall
Saturday, September 26, 2026 12:30 PM, CDT
Awards
The awards ceremony will take place once judging is completed.
Places will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each category/table.
The 1st place entry in each category will advance to the Best of Show (BOS) round with a single, overall Best of Show beer selected.
Additional prizes may be awarded to those winners present at the awards ceremony at the discretion of the competition organizers.
Awards will be available for pick up that night and electronic scoresheets will be made available after the ceremony concludes. Awards not picked up will be sent back with members of the winner's homebrew club or mailed back to participants. Results will be posted to the competition web site after the ceremony concludes.
Volunteers
Judges and Stewards
If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.
Other Volunteer Info
Volunteer information coming soon!
Contact
Use the links below to contact individuals involved with coordinating this competition:
- – Competition Coordinator