Ladies and Gentlemen Start Your Beers!!!

The due date for entries to the 2007 Dixie Cup competition is September 28th. Late entries will be accepted up until October 5th, but will be charged more then $7.

This year’s special Dixie Cup beer style is Gruit Ain’t Moot!, based on the Medieval beverage.

To qualify for entry, the beer must be at least 1.060 OG and must be unhopped. Bitterness must be achieved through the use of spices, herbs, heather tips, etc. Brewers must list the special non-malt ingredients used as well as any specialty brewing methods. Only ales and braggots are permitted. If your gruit has a base beer style, you must specify it on the entry form.

For additional information or brewing tips, we recommend Randy Mosher’s Radical Brewing,(amazon|powells|b&n|abe) Sam Calagione’s Extreme Brewing,(amazon|powells|b&n|abe) and Stephen Buhner’s Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers.(amazon|powells|b&n|abe)

Some of the herbs used “back in the day” can have some interesting, and bad, side effects, so be careful!

Note: This category does not count towards personal or club points and will not be considered for Best-of-Show. Therefore, only two bottles are needed.

This seems to be a perfect category for one of the Renspace family to win. I have a feeling that we probably know more about which herbs and spices to add to a beer to make it just right. Not to mention that fact that a fair number of us can read Middle English, and can more readily find a medieval brew that is traditional.

Add a comment if you plan on joining, or start a forum thread with a recipe you might use for such an event.

Check out their website at: http://www.crunchyfrog.net/dixiecup/