Thank you for your interest in the 2025 America's Finest City Homebrew Competition organized by QUAFF, San Diego, CA.

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

446 entries have been added to the system as of 5:04 AM, PST, Saturday, February 22, 2025.

416 paid entries are in the system as of 5:04 AM, PST, Saturday, February 22, 2025. There is a limit of 650 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

America's Finest City Homebrew Compeition ["AFC"] is the largest Homebrew Competition in Southern California

QUAFF was founded in 1989, and is one of the largest Homebrew Clubs in the United States. We began running AFC in 1992 and it has historically been the largest homebrew competition in Southern California.

High Quality Judging: AFC is known for attracting some of the best beer judges around! In 2024, we had 49 participating judges - of which 48 were BJCP ranked, including 6 Grand Master+, 2 Master, 9 National, 29 Certified, 1 Mead Only, and 1 Recognized.

Low Cost & Low Bottle Requirement: We have focused on keeping costs down at $12 per entry and we only require 2 bottles per entry.

Per-Brewer Entry Cap: We have capped initial registration at 4 entries per brewer. 7 days after registration has opened, the per brewer cap will be lifted. There is a maximum of 1 entry per BJCP subcategory, with the exception of mead categories, which have an entry limit of 2 per BJCP subcategory so long as the entries are different enough to be judged as unique entries.

Competition Ban on Cannabis-Infused Entries. All and any cannabis-infused, or ingredient derivative of, beers are strictly prohibited. Any entrant found in violation of this rule will be banned from the competition and subject to additional penalties.

America's Finest City Homebrew Competition is AHA sanctioned and open to any 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.

*For the purposes of this competition, "homebrewer" means anyone who has prepared, fermented, and packaged their entry using homebrew equipment. 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.

AFC will judge entries in 40 tables (34 beer, 4 mead, 2 cider) that align with BJCP style categories. Medals will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place at each table (minimum score of 25 required to medal). 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.

The Best of Show judging will be determined by a Best of Show panel based on a second judging of the top table places.

Bottles, cans, caps, labels, mailers and any gifts sent to us with your entries will not be returned to entrants.

Entry Acceptance Rules

Number of Bottles Required Per Entry: 2

Please package entries in a way that preserves the anonymity of the entrant to avoid any bias during judging.

AVOID using bottles, caps, or other packaging that will identify you as the brewer to the judging staff.

Caps must be silver, gold or black only. Other cap colors will be rejected/disqualified and not judged.

Standard 12oz brown glass bottles are preferred; green and clear glass will be accepted. Swing top bottles, corked & caged bottles, and cans will also be accepted so long as they fit the size parameters. Smaller bottles will be accepted with the understanding that they may not contain enough liquid to allow complete evaluation - submit them at your own risk. Bottles/cans must not exceed 9.5″ tall and 2.75″ in diameter. Bottles or cans of a larger size will be rejected/disqualified and not judged.

Bottles will not be returned to entrants.

An entry label must be attached to each bottle. Labels must be secured to each bottle using a rubberband only (no tape or glue). Labels may be placed in a resealable bag.

Be meticulous about noting any special ingredients that must be specified for the subcategory you are entering according to the 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines. Failure to note such ingredients may impact the judges' scoring of your entry.