Black Rock Emerging Brewers Comp 2026
Welcome to the Dunedin Craft Beer & Food Festival's Black Rock Emerging Brewers Competition!
Thanks to our mates at Black Rock, we are thrilled to bring back the Emerging Brewers competition for its third year. This is for novice brewers brewing for the very first, or nearly first, time! To be eligible for the the Emerging Brewers Competition, entrants must have only been brewing for less than two years.
Please note this competition will NOT be judging according to strict BJCP Guidelines. Though the judges may still use this as a judging resource, they are open to all brewing types - not just extract-based brewing. Entries are limited, so don't be shy!
ENTRY FEE:
Each brew entered is $10, with a maximum of 2 brews per person. Payment needs to be done online during the entry process - so make sure you get these in before 8pm on Sunday 11th October!
HOW TO ENTER:
This is a 3-step process
* STEP 1 (NOW): Fill in the details for your brews below. If you have special instructions for the judges (e.g. request that the judges roll a bottle of Belgian Wit before serving) please include these in the special instructions section.
Heads up, If you've come direct to here without an expression of interest, you won't be eligible for the free Black Rock starter kit!
* STEP 2: Make sure each bottle has the bottling label attached (details below)
* STEP 3: Package them brews up and send to Dunedin's Malt House (details also below)
* Important, Hit the deadlines, or miss out (AND remember the number of entries is limited, so get in quick!)
BOTTLING LABEL:
A bottle label needs to be attached to EACH entry. If you are entering more than one brew, please ensure it is clear which entry relates to which label. 2 bottles per brew are required for judging - please attach a label to each bottle.
Click Here for Label
DROP OFF:
All brews must be dropped off or couriered to:
Dunedin Malt House
596 Hillside Road
South Dunedin
Dunedin
ATTN: DCBFF Emerging Brewers Comp
Online entries must be received no later than 8pm Sunday 11th October 2026
All brews must be delivered by 5pm Thursday 15th October 2026
RULES AND T&C'S:
Your entries must be brewed by you on homebrewing equipment. To be eligible for the the Emerging Brewers Category, entrants must have only been brewing for less than two years and/or have never entered a BJCP style competition in the past.
You can download the full T&C's Here
GRAND PRIZE!
The Best Emerging Brewer, brewer of the overall winning beer (best beer as chosen by our panel of judges) will get the opportunity to develop a recipe with staff from Black Rock and to then brew for the Black Rock Stall at next year’s Festival. Whilst not guaranteed, the aim for the Best Emerging Brewer is that in addition to being sold at the 2026 Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival, the resulting brew will also be available for sale through Black Rock Tap rooms.
Note:
A few years ago now, NZ Customs approached us and made us aware that under NZ law, homebrewed alcohol is only supposed to be intended for personal consumption. We worked together with them to get an exemption for all entrants to this competition. But we do need to provide full details of the volumes and alcohol percentages of the alcohol entered into the competition.
So it really speeds up this whole process if you make sure you enter the volumes of the bottles you will be using for each brew and enter the ABV for each brew.
Good luck and get brewing!