You see, just last month we were bestowed the moniker "All-Time Top Brewery
on Planet Earth. The most popular and highest-rated brewery ever." by
BeerAdvocate magazine. Greg made sure we put it up on our homepage
immediately, and he'll be adamant to keep it up there for some time to make
sure no one forgets. A more important thing we can't forget is that there's
only one group we can thank for that, our fans. We've counted on them every
step of the way to tell their friends and appeal to them to demand better
beer. Among those fans, our earliest and most devoted were homebrewers. We
even had them meeting in our building once a month before we opened in 1996.
We all know that homebrewers' creativity and skills are top notch and we'd
like to share that spotlight on the national stage.

For this AHA Rally, we are turning to Southern Californian Homebrew Clubs to
show off their finest creations. We encourage clubs to choose by democratic
process (or gladiator style, whatever works) their two finest beers to enter
into Stone's ProAm March Madness. By Friday, March 6th, your club must
submit the names of those beers to us. Then on Saturday, March 21st at 1pm
we will hold the judging on the grass at the Stone Brewing World Bistro &
Gardens. AHA members will be able to taste and vote for their favorites and
will narrow it down to the top four. From there, a panel of Stone judges
will do a blind tasting to choose their favorite. Then our brewing team will
get the esteemed pleasure to brew with this homebrewer to produce their beer
to be entered into the ProAm Competition at the 2009 GABF. Yes, you heard
right. We want to brew your homebrew on our system!

We're doing the official writeup and posting now for this, but we wanted to
get the word out ahead of time. PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES (below) to get
all the facts and nitty-gritty, and for god sakes - START BREWING!

GUIDELINES:
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-You must be an AHA Member to enter or to taste/judge the day of the rally.
Wouldn't you know it? You can join that day at the door!

-Two beer entries reserved for each Homebrew Club, entries will be opened to
all homebrewers if all 50 slots have not been filled by March 16th.

-Deadline for registration is March 6th. You will need to provide the
following info: Club name, beer name, beer style, abv, draft or bottle
(bottle preferred), brewer's name. We'll provide the form soon. We'll be
encouraging you to drop off your beers early.

-You need to submit six 22oz bottles or twelve 12oz bottles for judging.
Submitting on draft is allowed, but you must bring your own draft system or
bronco pump.

-It is very possible that the winning beer will be selected as the beer that
will be brewed, but that is not a guarantee ­ for instance if the winning
beer is a ³sour beer² it is unlikely that Stone would be able to recreate
that beer for the Pro-Am entry. Regardless, the winning brewer will be able
to select the recipe and work directly with Mitch Steele to create the beer
for entry into the Pro-Am competition.

-Usual bottle entry guidelines apply: Every bottle must be brown or green
glass and be free of paper labels. Raised ³No Deposit² or bottle
manufacturing codes are acceptable. Raised brewery lettering on bottles are
acceptable but not encouraged. Obliterate any lettering or graphics on the
cap with a permanent black marker. Bottles with Grolsch-type swing tops are
not allowed. Corked bottles meeting the above restrictions are acceptable;
however, you must crimp a crown cap over the cork. Bottles with a stopper
and wire cage are acceptable. Bottles not meeting these requirements will be
disqualified.