Thank you for your interest in the U.S.Open organized by Carolina BrewMasters, and hosted by Noda Brewing Company.

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.

Entry Registration is Open

247 entries have been added to the system as of 7:59 PM, EDT, Sunday, June 15, 2025. There is a limit of 350 entries for this competition.

227 paid entries are in the system as of 7:59 PM, EDT, Sunday, June 15, 2025. There is a limit of 300 paid entries for this competition.

To add your entries into the system, please proceed through the registration process or log in if you already have an account.

Judge and Steward Registration is Open

If you have not registered and are willing to be a volunteer, please register.

If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.

Rules

The Carolina Brewmasters are again hosting the US Open this year, allowing all BJCP styles, along with Cider and Mead, but limiting total paid entries to 300 to keep judging quality high. We will be using the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines for beer and 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines for Mead and Cider.

On May 26 at 12:00 noon, the entry limit will be six (6) entries per person with an entry limit of 300 paid entries. This means that you need to pay for your entries if you want to guarantee participation in the competition. We are also increasing the bottles per entry this year to 3.

Judging sessions will be held at Noda Brewing Company this year. There will be one weeknight session on Thursday (7/24) and two Saturday sessions (7/26).

Specifics for the Competition:
• US Open Date: July 26, 2025
• Entry Receiving window: June 23 - July 12
• Entry limit per brewer: 6
• Bottles per entry: 3
• Fee per entry: $10
• Total USO Paid Entry Limit: 300
• Registration Window Opens: 5/26/2025 at 12:00 PM EST

This competition is AHA sanctioned and open to any amateur homebrewer age 21 or older.

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

All entries will be picked up from drop-off locations the day of the drop-off deadline.

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

The competition organizers 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. Each flight will have at least one BJCP judge.

Brewers may enter each subcategory only once.

The competition committee reserves the right to combine overall style categories based on number of entries. All possible effort 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 of the flight winners will be performed by a panel of very experienced judges.

Bottles will not be returned to entrants.

We will not be issuing refunds for entries that are paid for but not received.

Entry Acceptance Rules

Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 3

Each entry will consist of capped or corked bottles that are void of all identifying information, including labels and embossing. Printed caps are allowed, but must be blacked out completely.

12oz brown glass bottles are preferred; however, 12 oz green and clear glass will be accepted. Swing top 12 oz bottles will likewise be accepted as well as 12 oz corked bottles. 12oz and 16oz cans will also be accepted. No bottles other than 12 oz size, or cans other than 12 & 16 oz sizes, will be accepted.

Bottles will not be returned to contest entrants.

All requisite paperwork must be submitted with each entry and can be printed directly from this website. Entry paperwork should be attached to bottles by the method specified on the bottle label.

Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients that must be specified, for judges' tasting and allergy awareness. Failure to note such ingredients may impact the judges' scoring of your entry.

Competition Officials

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

• Stephen Ramsey — Registrar
• Mark Rockwood — Competition Organizer
• Constance Ross — Charity Raffle Organizer

Sponsors

Carolina BrewMasters is proud to have the following sponsors for the U.S.Open.

Noda Brewing Company

150 W 32nd St, Charlotte, NC 28206

Noda Brewing Company is our host location this year for the competition.