Dennis Mitchell of Chandler was presented a bronze medal at the 38th annual American Homebrewers Association (AHA) National Homebrew Competition. The award was announced June 11 at the Homebrew Con 2016 awards banquet held at The Baltimore Convention Center.
Mitchell won a bronze medal for his Dunkels Weissbier (dark wheat beer) in the German Wheat & Rye Beer category. Mitchell is homebrewer and member of the Arizona Society of Homebrewers (ASH). He is also a grand master-level beer judge certified by the Beer Judging Certification Program (BJCP).
“I am beyond excited to have won a bronze medal at the National Homebrew Competition,” said Mitchell. “For me, this really helps validate all of my hard work over the years trying to become a better brewer. It also shines a light on the amazing homebrew community in Arizona, as many fellow homebrewers have helped me learn along the way. Finally, I have to thank all the support from the Arizona Society of Homebrewers and all their awesome members. I’m honored and humbled to bring home this award for the club. Congrats to everyone who made the final round and let’s go win some more medals next year!”
The 2016 National Homebrew Competition had a total 7,962 entries from 3,396 homebrewers located in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and 13 other countries. A total of 484 homebrew clubs entered.
The first round took place at 12 regional sites across the country. The top three entries at each site in each of the 31 brew style categories advance to the final round of the competition, held every year at the National Homebrewers Conference, which—in 2016 for the first time ever—went by its new name, Homebrew Con. This year, the final round of judging took place June 9 at Homebrew Con, where 1,074 entries were evaluated by the judges.
“The American Homebrewers Association is thrilled to congratulate Dennis Mitchell on his bronze award,” said Gary Glass, director, American Homebrewers Association. “He beat out many outstanding competitors at the National Homebrew Competition—the world’s largest international beer competition—and that’s something to be extremely proud of.”
The AHA National Homebrew Competition recognizes the most outstanding homemade beer, mead and cider being produced by homebrewers worldwide. Over its 38-year history, the National Homebrew Competition has evaluated 126,873 brews. The first competition, held in 1979 in Boulder, Colo., judged 34 beers.
A complete list of winners at the National Homebrew Competition can be found here: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/competitions/national-homebrew-competition/winners/
About ASH
The Arizona Society of Homebrewers (ASH) is a non-profit membership organization whose mission is to preserve and promote the time-honored tradition of homebrewing by informing and educating others and practicing the art form. Since its founding in 1995, the club and its nearly 500 members have made a positive impact on the local community through volunteerism, philanthropy, brewing education and other activities.