# HopsAboard is back



## alvaro (18/10/18)

Our third HopsAboard comp is back!

For those that don't know us, we're a home-brew beer competition where the winner gets their beer commercially brewed, canned, kegged and then distributed around Australia. Last round we got our beer into some of Melbourne's most amazing bars; The Local Taphouse, BeerMash, Freddie Whimpoles, Dr Morse, SilverLake Social and Lamaro's Hotel. 

We also got the beer canned and sent to our awesome backers.

To submit your beer or pre-purchase the winning beer head here: https://www.hopsaboard.com/ 

Support us to support home-brewers doing awesome work.


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## altone (18/10/18)

Would have been nice if you'd mentioned this back in September when entries were open.

A bit late for those not in the know. to brew and condition a good beer before closing date in 3 weeks.

Oh well! Maybe the fourth comp.


edit: i just looked at my post and I look like a real negative Nora.

Just meant beer takes time, post up saying "entries open in 1 week" not "entries close soon"


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## Dan Pratt (19/10/18)

altone said:


> Would have been nice if you'd mentioned this back in September when entries were open.
> 
> A bit late for those not in the know. to brew and condition a good beer before closing date in 3 weeks.
> 
> ...



Same thing has happened each time they have run this, little to no notice...


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## moonhead (20/10/18)

Is anyone else a little confused by this competition? I mean the prize is for someone else to take you recipe and turn it into a commercial offering. Doesn't seem like much of a prize to me. 

Is the brewing something the winner does, or does someone go away and brew the beer? Those are completely different "prizes".

I'd be happy with just a trophy and some scoresheet feedback, to be honest, but at $20 (or $50) for an entry, that's not really gong to cut it. (really, why so expensive? Clubs charge $5-10 per entry for comps, and usually make a little bit out of that, there's not a lot of expenses here)

Also, the guidelines in use, is it BJCP or BA guidelines? It has them both listed on the page. (I know they're very similar, but, really, a bit of consistency would be comforting)


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## alvaro (21/10/18)

altone said:


> Would have been nice if you'd mentioned this back in September when entries were open.
> 
> A bit late for those not in the know. to brew and condition a good beer before closing date in 3 weeks.
> 
> ...



Sorry, totally our fault for not giving enough notice - this is a side project run on volunteer time. Not an excuse, thanks for the feedback - we'll keep it in mind for next time. Just in case it's helpful, entries close 11th November.


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## alvaro (21/10/18)

Hi Dan, apologies for not giving enough notice - thanks for the feedback. Will take it into consideration next time. 


Dan Pratt said:


> Same thing has happened each time they have run this, little to no notice...


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## alvaro (21/10/18)

moonhead said:


> Is anyone else a little confused by this competition? I mean the prize is for someone else to take you recipe and turn it into a commercial offering. Doesn't seem like much of a prize to me.
> 
> Is the brewing something the winner does, or does someone go away and brew the beer? Those are completely different "prizes".
> 
> ...



Hi Moonhead, totally understand if this is not your type of competition. We're trying to do something different - not only offer feedback from judges and a trophy, but the chance of your beer to be drank by a lot more people than normal. We charge a fee because, as you might know, brewing is expensive - ingredients, labelling, canning, kegging, taxes, marketing. We don't make a cent out of it - we do it purely for fun and to support home-brewers. 

Re. how it works - whoever wins gets to work with a professional brewer and scale the recipe. Winners can be involved as little or as much as they want. Usually winners have been involved throughout the whole process. Any who, we created this competition as something fun, different and hopefully something that helps home-brewers. I'd love to connect you with previous winners for you to find out what was it like for them.

I'm on [email protected]


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## moonhead (21/10/18)

alvaro said:


> We're trying to do something different - not only offer feedback from judges and a trophy, but the chance of your beer to be drank by a lot more people than normal. We charge a fee because, as you might know, brewing is expensive - ingredients, labelling, canning, kegging, taxes, marketing. We don't make a cent out of it - we do it purely for fun and to support home-brewers.



Clubs do that too, however, still only charging $8-10 per entry. You make you money back from, you know, selling the beer. You're charging $350 a keg, and $90 a case for the beer, that should easily cover the production, excise and marketing costs for most normal beers.


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## alvaro (22/10/18)

moonhead said:


> Clubs do that too, however, still only charging $8-10 per entry. You make you money back from, you know, selling the beer. You're charging $350 a keg, and $90 a case for the beer, that should easily cover the production, excise and marketing costs for most normal beers.



Would love to know how they make it work.


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## moonhead (24/10/18)

The same way every other commercial brewery does selling kegs for $350?


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## marc280 (25/10/18)

Don't know that all the negative comments are really needed.... If you don't like the idea of the comp then don't enter.

It will be too late for me to Brew something, but Alvaro, hope you post back next year and I'll give it a go then.


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## Bomber Rock (20/11/18)

Yeah, I'm not sure about the negativity either. I liked the sound of the comp, so my brew mate and I went ahead and entered a beer. We have been informed we have won and we now get the opportunity to work with a professional brewer on commercial equipment.

Certainly worth the entry price if you ask me. Cheers to the comp organisers for this awesome prize.


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## ShonkytonkBrewer (20/11/18)

Bomber Rock said:


> Yeah, I'm not sure about the negativity either. I liked the sound of the comp, so my brew mate and I went ahead and entered a beer. We have been informed we have won and we now get the opportunity to work with a professional brewer on commercial equipment.
> 
> Certainly worth the entry price if you ask me. Cheers to the comp organisers for this awesome prize.


Congrats. What a fantastic opportunity


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