2010 Abita Home Brewer Contest

[jimmiec]

Got an email earlier announcing their home brewer contest. Can't find any info on the internet but hopefully more info to come soon. I know where I probably will be on Nov 13 and hopefully no good college football games to watch, if so thankful DVRs were created.

Attention home brewers. We’re proud to announce the 2010 Abita Home Brewer Contest, Saturday, November 13, 2010. It’s an open competition for all brew styles and there is no entry fee.

The Grand Prize winner will receive the “Andy Award” named in honor of our first Home brew contest winner Andy Thomas, who created the base recipe for Abita Andygator many years ago. The 2010 “Andy Award” winner’s recipe will be brewed and offered by the Abita Brewing Company as a limited edition draft Abita Select. Other great prizes of home brewing equipment will be awarded to second and third place winners.

All contestants and AHA members are invited to the brewery on November 13. Competing brewers will have an opportunity to taste some of the entries, sample Abita’s beers (including some special cask brews) and food while waiting to learn the winning brew. Contestants need not be present to win. More details and complete contest rules coming soon. Now’s the time to start brewing, your creation could be the next Abita “Andy Award” winner. Good luck & cheers!

Questions? Contact us at friends@abita.com.

[triple-oh_six]

sounds good to me, I'd like to know the entry due date and how many bottles though.

[aleguy]

Might be worth entering just to get a taste of their cask ales. Hmmm, enter to win or just to mess with the judges. Decisions, decisions. . .

[jimmiec]

An update with rules to download at:

http://shop.abita.com/events/sponsored- ... on-111310/

[yeastmeister]

I'm not entering....

"(d) Should your homebrew be selected as the Grand Prize (Andy Award) winner, you and your Co-Brewer must assign any and all patent and intellectual property rights in your brew to The Abita Brewing Company if requested."

and

"2. The Abita Brewing Company, will take the recipe and reproduce, as faithful as possible to the original recipe, on a professional scale with the help of the homebrewer. If you are the Grand Prize (Andy Award) winner, you agree to disclose your complete recipe to The Abita Brewing Company and grant to The Abita Brewing Company an irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to all commercial and intellectual property rights to your winning beer. Entering the Contest, constitutes permission to The Abita Brewing Company and its agencies to use your recipe, the name of your recipe, your name, likeness, picture, signature, voice, audio and video recordings and biographical information in any manner or media whatsoever (whether now known or hereafter devised) anywhere in the world in perpetuity for the purpose of manufacturing, promoting, advertising and trade, of any product by The Abita Brewing Company
without further compensation, unless prohibited by law."

So I enter an award winning beer, and all I get is a lousy trophy, while they get to make money forever on my work. I don't think so.

[triple-oh_six]

I'll probably still enter, bragging rights are good enough for me, chances are that I'll lose anyway.
I plan on attending this, cask beers rock!

[redtail28]

chances are that I'll lose anyway.

[aleguy]

Yeah, I'm with Yeastie. Why should I give away any of my recipes to Abita? If I'm going to have my beer made and sold, my image and name used by a large-ish brewery, then I damn well want to be paid for it. Bragging rights are no good if they screw with the recipe. And the wording makes it sound like they reserve that option if they decide it's too expensive, too difficult or doesn't meet consumer demand for watery rice-based beer.
I used to have some respect for Abita. Not any more. This is a completely ridiculous competition and will strip the winner of what is potentially a very lucrative intellectual property, not to mention his/her right of personality.
Let them come up with their own recipes, or pay for what they're taking!

[triple-oh_six]

Yeah, I'm with Yeastie. Why should I give away any of my recipes to Abita? If I'm going to have my beer made and sold, my image and name used by a large-ish brewery, then I damn well want to be paid for it. Bragging rights are no good if they screw with the recipe. And the wording makes it sound like they reserve that option if they decide it's too expensive, too difficult or doesn't meet consumer demand for watery rice-based beer.
I used to have some respect for Abita. Not any more. This is a completely ridiculous competition and will strip the winner of what is potentially a very lucrative intellectual property, not to mention his/her right of personality.
Let them come up with their own recipes, or pay for what they're taking!

Sam Adams does the same thing, I think there is a $5000 prize though.

[aleguy]

I'm not entering the longshot either! Screw Sam Adams. They may the "first" craft brewery in the US, but I never cared for their beers. And the hair-raising tales of what they've actually done to home brewers who have won is enough to keep me far, far away from them.
On the other hand, If I thought there was a chance I could smuggle out a viable sample of Utopios yeast I might be willing to take one for the team.

[triple-oh_six]

Screw Sam Adams. They may the "first" craft brewery in the US

Anchor Brewing Company was first.

[redtail28]

willing to take one for the team.

That sounds like it will hurt!

[GuitarLord5000]

....And the hair-raising tales of what they've actually done to home brewers who have won is enough to keep me far, far away from them.

I haven't heard any of these tales. What sorta things might you be talking about?

[yeastmeister]

There was some talk back in 2006 and 2007 about the homebrewers not being happy with the commercial representation of their work. But in all fairness, I can't find it mentioned anymore (probably not using the right search terms).

Irregardless, the rules for the Sam Adams contest are pretty similar to Abita.

"The Boston Beer Company, will take the recipe and reproduce, as faithful as possible to the original recipe, on a professional scale with the help of the homebrewer. If the product is brought to market and made available to American beer drinkers, the homebrewer will receive a one time royalty of $5000.00. If you are a Grand Champion of the Contest, you agree to disclose your complete recipe to The Boston Beer Company and grant to The Boston Beer Company an irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to all commercial and intellectual property rights to your winning beer, subject only to your right to receive the $5000.00 one-time royalty. Entering the Contest, constitutes permission to The Boston Beer Company and its agencies to use your recipe, the name of your recipe, your name, likeness, picture, signature, voice, audio and video recordings and biographical information in any manner or media whatsoever (whether now known or hereafter devised) anywhere in the world in perpetuity for the purpose of manufacturing, promoting, advertising and trade, of any product by The Boston Beer Company without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. The Boston Beer Company may withhold payment if it determines that the winner has behaved in a manner that is substantial and damaging to the Contest or to homebrewing."

Basically, if you win, we give you $5000, and we can make as much money as we want off of your recipe, forever. You could technically never make it commercially anywhere else, even if you opened your own brewery, because you signed all your rights away.

I think I would be perfectly happy to enter if they simply tied the compensation to the amount they make off the beer. After all, these contests are money makers for the breweries.

[Mob_Barley]

Here's my 2 cents. I think the credibility, the bragging rights, and plain fun involved in entering and winning a homebrew contest from a major brewery far outweighs any loss of future income or intellectual rights you might incur as a result. Homebrew recipes are a dime a dozen. If you were good enough of a brewer to come up with a recipe that can win a major contest like that, then you should have no problem coming up with several more.

Come on guys, it's not like giving away your first born male child...it's a beer recipe. A few tweaks here or there and the recipe is different enough that you can call it your own again and still win contests or brew it at your "future" brewery.

If you think you have a really great beer recipe, I encourage you to enter it in the contest. The feedback alone is worth the effort. Just in case you don't win, you can take the feedback and make the beer better next time.