Thank you for your interest in the West Coast Best Coast 2026 organized by Beer Boars.

You only need to register your information once and can return to this site to enter more brews or edit the brews you've entered. You can even pay your entry fees online if you wish.

If you are willing to judge or steward, please return to register on or after Friday 16 January, 2026 10:00, GMT.

Rules

This competition is open to any amateur homebrewer age 18 or older. NB This competition is only for amateur brewers, if you own or run a commercial brewery then please do not enter as you will be disqualified. If you are a brewer at a commercial brewery owned by someone else then you are free to enter any beer you have personally brewed at home, however, may be excluded from winning some prizes at the discretion of the company offering the prize, e.g. a brew day at a commercial brewery. 

For brewery owners and commerical releases please see details of our Pro-Brewer and Commercial cateogory details lower down this page. 

All mailed entries must be received at the mailing location by the shipping deadline - please allow for shipping time.

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 organisers are not responsible for mis-categorised entries, mailed entries that are not received by the entry deadline, or entries that arrived damaged.

The competition organisers 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.

Entries will be assessed against the BJCP Style Guidelines 2021 available via this link PDF.

However, the emphasis is on West Coast styles and the judges will be scoring in favour of beers that have a signature “west coast” expression  - so please take note when selecting your hops. 

What defines a West Coast style compared with other IPA or APA styles? There isn’t an exact  BJCP definition but will be looking for clear, bitter and hoppy. Flavour and aroma wise we typically expect one or more of pine, resin, citrus and tropical fruit.  

Brewers are not limited to one entry in each category but may only enter each subcategory once.

For styles that are not currently included in the BJCP guidelines, including but not limited to West Coast Pils, TIPA & QIPA please enter in the 'Other West Coast Styles' category. Unlike other categories, you may enter more than one beer in this sub-category up to your entry limit. However, they should be distinct styles from one another. For example a TIPA & Black TIPA, or a TIPA & West Coast Pils. 

The competition committee reserves the right to combine overall style categories based on the number of entries. All possible efforts 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.

Bottles will not be returned to entrants.

Entry fees are not refundable. 

Pro-Brewers / Commerical Brewery Competition

Pro-Brewers / Commerical Breweries may enter our separate Pro-Brewer West Coast Competition. These may include commerical releases, experimental or pilot kit batches not yet released. This will be run separate to the homebrew competition with all entries being judges in one category. Pro-Brewer entries are not eligable for prizes or best in show places, but will receive medals and or certificates for winning entries. 

The Pro-Brewer category is free for breweries to enter, but we would require 6-12 cans / bottles of the beer being entered. 2-3 cans / bottles will be used for judging. The remainder would be used for prizes for winning homebrew entries. 

Pro-brewers may enter an unlimited number of beers, however we would still require 6-12 cans / bottles per beer entered.

If you wish to enter this category please do not sign up using the main entry form, please email hello@beerboars.co.uk for more information.

Entry Acceptance Rules

Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 2

Each entry will consist of 2 x 330ml to 500ml bottles or cans that are completely clear of all identifying information, including labels and embossing. Printed caps are allowed but must be blacked out completely.

If bottling your entries, brown glass or PET bottles are preferred. Green and clear glass will not be be accepted. 

Bottles or cans will not be returned to contest entrants.

All requisite paperwork (labels) must be submitted with each entry and can be printed directly from this website. Please attach the barcode directly to the bottle and cover it with clear tape. We find the wider clear parcel tape is good for labels.

Please consider condensation when labelling your bottles, for example waiting until the bottle is at ambient temperature before taping on the 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.

Failure to comply with the entry requirements above will see the entry disqualified. We will attempt to still judge the beer and provide feedback but it will be disqualified from winning any awards or progressing to Best of Show rounds. 

Competition Officials

You can send an email to any of the following individuals via Contact.

• Stew Horne — Head Judge
• Simon Thompson — Head Steward
• Rick Woolliss — Communications

Sponsors

Beer Boars is proud to have the following sponsors for the West Coast Best Coast 2026.