Organized by the GRiST Homebrew Club of Arlington, VA, this is a registered BJCP/AHA competition.

The competition is open to all amateur beer makers 21 years of age and older at the time of the competition. All entries must have been brewed at home on a non-commercial system.

All beer categories will be accepted and we will use 2021 BJCP Beer Style Guidelines. Sorry we cannot accept meads or ciders.

The entries accepted between Oct. 7 to 28, 2023. Your beer is not officially entered until payment has been received.
Beer drop-offs / Shipping --  Jay's Brewing, 9790 Center St., Manassas, VA 20110 (drop offs only be accepted during Jay's Brewing business hours) and see competition site for additional options: https://beerawardsplatform.com/nova-classic-2023​

There is a 100 beer entry limit for the NoVA Classic (excluding John Lyon entries) with a maximum of 3 entries per person - either in general competition OR John Lyon entry (see below). Brewers may enter more than one entry in each BJCP category but may only enter each subcategory once.

• ​If you submit a beer as a John Lyon entry, you are NOT allowed to submit a beer as a non-John Lyon entry (general competition). If you do, the beer(s) entered in the general competition will be disqualified, the entry fee will not be returned but will be donated to the John Lyon VFW Post 3150 (like all the other money collected minus expenses).There is no limit for the total number of John Lyon enteries. John Lyon enteries will be judged by fellow veterans and beer judges. Proof of status may be required.

Each entry will consist of two 12 (preferred) to 22 ounce capped, corked, swing top bottles (brown, green or clear glass). Printed caps are allowed, but must be blacked out completely. Canned beers are accepted without artistic labels.

Bottles will not be returned to entrants.

Enclose each of your bottle labels in a small zip-top bag before attaching to their respective bottles. This way it makes it possible for the organizer to identify specifically which entry has broken if there is damage during shipment. No tape or glue.

Be meticulous about noting special ingredients/methods/processes used (fruit, barrel-aging, spices, higher alcohol, etc.). Failure to include such information may impact the judges' scoring of your entry.

The competition organizers reserve the right to combine styles and categories for judging purposes and to structure award categories as they see fit. All possible effort will be made to combine similar styles.  All entries will be judged according to the BJCP categories in which they were entered.

The competition organizers are not responsible for miscategorized entries, mailed entries that are not received by the entry deadline, or entries that arrived damaged.

The greatest of care will be given to the entries prior to the competition, though we cannot guarantee against harm or damage. Any damage caused by the competition will be handled on an individual basis. Our primary goal will be to obtain a replacement for the damaged entry. However, if the entrant is unable to provide an additional entry then a refund will be issued.