[THC] First Round NHC judging in Indy this year

[Linda Swihart]

NHC = National Homebrew Competition
and
NHC = National Homebrew Conference.

Only the context sets them apart, and not always.  First round NHC 
judging should be clear.  (2nd round NHC judging takes place at the 
NHC.  Is that clear?)

The competition is always a bit exciting (get yer entries ready!), and a 
huge undertaking and fun to judge because it's been run so well.  But 
now it's all the more exciting in that it's in Indiana.  First time as 
far as I know.  Paul Edwards, you reading this?  Has there ever been a 
first round in IN?

Joe Formanek (our Midwest Region AHA rep) wrote me today to ask if I 
knew where it was.  That was weird because it's always been organized by 
his club (UKG) up in the west suburbs somewhere since I started judging 
(2004, not exactly forever).  The UKG folks are fairly involved in the 
World Beer Cup up there in April, and somehow Ron's offer to host NHC 
first round in Indy just snuck in there and worked out perfectly.

It's on the BJCP competition calendar for April 24:
http://www.bjcp.org/apps/comp_schedule/competition_schedule.php
Probably that's as carved in stone as things get, 99% anyway.

Ron and the FBI have been an amazing powerhouse of judge education and 
the advancement of brewing and beer appreciation in Indiana.  And we 
need to line up with offers of help for judging this first round.   I'm 
sure that some of the Chicago area judges will turn out, but I'll bet 
Indiana seems like a long ways away to some of them, and they may have 
been a little spoiled by never having to travel very far or stay in 
hotels in order to judge.   Plus they've got the WBC there earlier in 
April and that's going to be a lot of work.

Mark your calendars.  As they say at Breckenridge "... this is fun!"

Linda