The Craft Beer Association (CBA) will hold "The Asia Beer Cup 2015" (ABC2015) in Tokyo on 25th-26th of April, 2015.
Mission
The mission of the ABC is to create greater consumer awareness and to encourage development around the Asia and Oceania about the quality and diversity by the various beers available. The ABC, which started in 1998 and has been held every year since, is the most historical competition in the Asia.
Traditionally, this competition has been named "The Japan Beer Cup" and registered by only Japanese breweries. As we see the expansion of Asia/Japanese craft beer market by quality and diversity, we started to open doors to beers and breweries in the Asia and Oceania.
In 2014, the competition was held in Taipei. 25 judges from 9 countries evaluated 149 beers of various beer styles from 6 countries. You can find the results here.
The difference from "The International Beer Cup" is in the group of judging beers with 12 beer categories. The qualified judges giving out gold, silver, and bronze awards for the beers which satisfy not only the requirements from the "Beer Style Guideline" with 105 beer styles but also the comprehensive evaluation such as balance, drinkability and overall impression.
It makes the medals more valuable and capable of effectively appealing to the consumers.
The Asia Beer Cup 2015 is expecting more than 300 beers from 10 countries and will be judged by more than 40 judges from 10 countries.
The winners will be announced on Saturday, 6th of June at the Great Japan Beer Festival Tokyo 2015 at The Garden Hall in the Yebisu Garden Place, Tokyo.
(Award winners will be announced immediately after judging.)
The Craft Beer Association, which was founded in 1994 by Ryouji Oda, is an independent organization based in Ashiya city, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, with 20 years of experience in organizing successful beer competitions, events and seminars.
Competition Details
[Schedule]
* Beer Registration
16th of February - 1st of April, 2015
* Judging
25th - 26th of April, 2015
at The Garden Hall in the Yebisu Garden Place, Tokyo
* Award Winner announce (without color of medals)
It will be announced immediately after judging on CBA Web-site, http://beertaster.org/
* Award Ceremony
6th of June
at the Great Japan Beer Festival Tokyo 2015
(at The Garden Hall in the Yebisu Garden Place, Tokyo)
[Organizer]
"The Asia Beer Cup 2015" Exective Comitee
The Craft Beer Association
Judging Method
1. A judge team is composed of 5 to 7 judges. The qualifications of judges of "The Asia Beer Cup" are one of following.
....a. Member of The Craftbeer Association who are certified as "Beer Judge".
....b. Brewer who is currently working for a brewery and have brewing experience for more than 3 years.(The brewer cannot judge the category which includes their beer.)
....c. International judge who have judging experience of WBC, IBA(formally BIIA), AIBA or EBS.
....d. Person who is certified as having same skill of above "a", "b" or "c" by The Craftbeer Association.
2. The judges judge the beers using a blind test with only a number of the samples. The name and brand of the beers are hiddin for the judges.
3. The judges taste the samples individually, then the judges have a discussion.
4. The judges use the "Beer Style Guideline 1408" as a standard of the competition. The beers which does not conform to the guideline, or has a off flavor for the style are excluded.
5. The judges make decisions of the color of the medals for each category with evaluating the appearance, flavor and balance of the beers which passes the 1st step using the standard. Gold, Silver or Bronze medals of a category is generally given only for 1 beer. The case of "not applicable" is possible. The standards for the color of the medals are following.
...."Gold". The beer which completely follows the Beer Style Guideline and has the world no.1 class appearance, aroma and flavor.
...."Silver". The beer which highly follows the Beer Style Guideline and has the outstanding appearance, aroma and flavor.
...."Bronze". The beer which follows the Beer Style Guideline and has the excellent appearance, aroma and flavor.
Beer Registration (Bottle / Can beers)
Brewery and Beer Eligibility:
The Brewery must be fully licensed for the manufacture and commercial sales of beers. Breweries in planning and home brewers are not eligible to register. Beer registered in the ABC must be brewed and commercially available in Asia and Oceania.
Registration is available online from 16th of February 2015.
[Registration Form]
To register please complete our online registration by selecting following URL:
Please register from this FORM.
*Please see the "Beer Style" for registration on the guideline on following URL.
*If you can not register from online form, please see this page.
Registration will be closed on 1st of April 2015.
[Fees]
The cost to participate in the competition is 17,000 JPY per one bottle or can beer registration.
*Payment dead line: 3rd of April 2015.
[Notice]
Number of beers per brewery: Not limited
Number of bottles/cans per 1 beer registration for the completion: 6 bottles/cans per 1 registration.
Judging samples must be arrived at the CBA's refrigerated warehouse between 13th and 17th of April except Judge's hand-carry on 24th of April
[Transportation]
For transportation of registered beers (Bottle/Can), CBA offers 3 options as below.
1.CBA-DHL Service:
Please contact your local DHL office, and arrange transportation to the CBA's refrigerated warehouse.
Transportation cost is shown below per 1 entry (including of all import costs/duties)(6 bottles/cans per 1 entry are required).
Payment method should be made to the CBA together with beer registration fees.
* Note: CBA-DHL service is not allowed China, please choice "2. By our arrangements".
-Transportation cost is 24,000 JPY (including of all import costs/duties) per 1 entry as Area 1 (Asia, Oceania)
2.By your arrangements
* You shall make your own transportation arrangements to CBA's refrigerated warehouse.
* You will pay the competition registration fees only to the CBA.
* You should understand you need to pay local Japan importation tax as well as transportation fees.
3.By your hand carry
* You will bring yourself on 24th of April if you will be judge at ABC 2015.
Beer Registration (Keg beers)
Brewery and Beer Eligibility:
The Brewery must be fully licensed for the manufacture and commercial sales of beers. Breweries in planning and home brewers are not eligible to register. Beer registered in the ABC must be brewed and commercially available in Asia and Oceania.
Registration is available online from 16th of February 2015.
[Registration Form]
To register please complete our online registration by selecting following URL:
Please register from this FORM.
*Please see the "Beer Style" for registration on the guideline on following URL.
*If you can not register from online form, please see this page.
Registration will be closed on 1st of April 2015.
[Fees]
The cost to participate in the competition is 19,000 JPY per one bottle or can beer registration.
*Payment dead line: 3rd of April 2015.
[Notice]
Number of beers per brewery: Not limited
Amount of beers per 1 beer registration(1 keg) for the completion: 2 liters per 1 registration(1 keg).
Judging samples must be arrived at the CBA's refrigerated warehouse between 13th and 17th of April except Judge's hand-carry on 24th of April
You have to send a coupler to dispense your beer if the coupler of your keg is not the "S(Asahi) type " or "Kirin type"
[Transportation]
For transportation of registered beers (Bottle/Can), CBA offers 1 option as below.
(Unfortunately we cannot become a consignee for the kegs because of the regulation by Japanese government. We apologize for the inconvenience)
1.By your hand carry
* You will bring yourself between 13th and 17th of April to the CBA's refrigerated warehouse (or on 24th of April at the hotel if you will be judge at ABC2015).
Contact
If you have any question, please contact to
The Craftbeer Association the "ABC 2015" team by email.
info@craftbeerassociation.jp
