Brewer/Competitor Applications are Open

Eligibility

1. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE THE CHANCES OF WINNING.

2. This competition is open to individuals who are 21 years of age or older as of the date of entry.

3. Employees of Pepper Jelly Events LLC, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and suppliers, (collectively the “Employees”), and immediate family members and/or those living in the same household of Employees are not eligible to participate. 

4. Only amateur brewers (competitors) will be allowed to participate in this competition. Any person who is employed, or was previously employed any time within the 12 months prior to submitting their application, for a commercial brewery, cidery, winery, or meadery and whose job involved/involves the production of sweet wort or must, moving wort, must, mead, cider or beer, managing fermentation, pitching yeast, monitoring, measuring, or any other process directly related to the production of beer, mead, cider, wine or any other alcoholic beverage, will not be permitted to enter the competition. Additionally, any person who possesses a permit to operate a brewery, winery, cidery, meadery, or distillery or possessed such permit any time in the 12 months prior to applying will not be permitted to enter the competition. People who work in other roles at a commercial brewery, cidery, winery, or meadery, such as packaging, serving, janitorial, marketing, sales, etc, will be permitted to enter the competition. If you work in any role not listed and are unsure of your eligibility, please ask. If you are found to be ineligible at any time, you will be immediately disqualified, permanently banned from future competition and required to forfeit any prizes awarded. 

Contest Rules

1. Applications for entry will be accepted online starting the first week of February. 

2. Only 75 competitors will be entered into the competition.

3. Applications will be approved at the sole discretion of event organizers

4. Each competitor who is approved to participate must furnish beer, mead, graff, cyser, cider, etc of their own creation, to be served at the Hoppy Possum Southern Brewers Cup. 

5. Each competitor must serve their own beer, cider, graff, cyser, mead, etc. during the festival event

6. All samples must be served by an individual who possesses a current and valid Tennessee On-Site Server Permit. 

7. Each entry will compete in either the “Beer” or “Non-Beer” category

8. For the purposes of this contest, "Beer" is considered to be any fermented, undistilled beer, ale or other malt beverage beverage with ABV of at least 1% and no greater than 10.1% and at least 51% of fermentable sugars coming from cereal grain sources. 

9. For the purpose of this contest, “Non-Beer” is considered any fermented, undistilled beverage with ABV of at least 1% and no greater than 10.1% and at least 51% of fermentable sugars coming from sources other than cereal grains. 

10. Wine, as defined by Tennessee State law, will not be permitted entry into this competition. Wine is defined as “the product of the normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of fresh, sound, ripe grapes.”

11. Each competitor is allowed to enter up to three (3) different beers, ciders, meads, graffs, cysers, etc. (entries)

12. Each entry into the “Beer Category” must be a minimum of 10 gallons but competitors are permitted to bring as much as they would like.

13. Each entry into the “Non-Beer Category” must be a minimum of 5 gallons but competitors are permitted to bring as much as they would like.  *Be advised that very popular offerings will be served at a faster rate. Entries of 5 gallons run the risk of being consumed before the end of the event, possibly impacting the number of votes received. 

14. For each eligible entry, the competitor will receive one complimentary ticket to the festival. One entry = the competitor’s ticket, two entries = the competitor’s ticket plus an additional ticket, etc. 

15. Each Competitor will be assigned a 12 foot X 12 foot space to set up their serving area. Competitors who wish to share serving space with another brewer(s) or their club may do so but must indicate this on their application. Clubs with more than four (4) participating competitors may request additional space on a first come first serve basis. 

16. Each brewer must provide all equipment needed to serve their entries. Only ice and a table will be provided to you.

17. Competitors will not be permitted to dismantle or leave their serving area unattended until the conclusion of tasting. 

18. Popular vote, by those in attendance, will determine the top five entries for beer and top three entries for non-beer.

19. Those top entries will then move on to final judging where a panel of 5 judges will determine the winners

20. Winners must be present to receive prize

21. Prize monies for the beer category will be distributed as follows

    1. First place will receive $5,000

    2. Second place will receive $1,600

    3. Third place will receive $800

    4. Fourth place will receive $400

    5. Fifth place will receive $200

22. Prize monies for the non-beer category will be distributed as follows

    1. First place will receive $1000

    2. Second place will receive $700

    3. Third place will receive $300

23. Any and all prize-related expenses, including without limitation any and all federal, state, and/or local taxes, shall be the sole responsibility of the Winner. No substitution of prize or transfer/assignment of prize to others by Winner is permitted. 

24. By participating, the competitor (“You”) agrees to fully and unconditionally follow the homebrew and home alcohol production laws of the state of Tennessee and those of the state in which the competitor produced any alcoholic beverages brought to the event and all federal laws. 

25. The winners will be required to complete an IRS Form W-9

26. Competitors or anyone acting on behalf of a competitor is not permitted to influence or attempt to influence the outcome of the competition in any way beyond sharing their beer and discussing it with attendees and judges. This includes but is not limited to harassment, bribing, or coercion of attendees. Competitors are welcome to invite attendees to taste their entries or ask them to vote for their entries. Competitors may not offer merchandise, giveaways, incentives, or reward attendees with any type of gift or opportunity to win a gift in exchange for votes. Harassment, bribing, or coercion will, at the sole discretion of the event organizer, result in disqualification from the competition. Small promotional giveaways like stickers, key chains, bottle openers, etc. are allowed to be displayed at your booth for people to pick up. However any sort of soliciting votes, eg. handing out items while mentioning voting will be considered a violation of the rules and result in disqualification. Raffles, contests, or any giveaways valued at more than $5 each, will not be permitted.

27. Agreement to Rules: By participating, the competitor (“You”) agree to be fully unconditionally bound by these Rules, and You represent and warrant that You meet the eligibility requirements. In addition, You agree to accept the decisions of Pepper Jelly Events LLC and the appointed judges as final and binding as it relates to the outcome of this competition or any ruling on eligibility. ANY VIOLATION OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES BY WINNER (AT Pepper Jelly Events LLC Staff SOLE DISCRETION) WILL RESULT IN WINNER’S DISQUALIFICATION AS WINNER OF THE COMPETITION, AND ALL PRIVILEGES AS WINNER WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED.

28. Rights Granted by You: By entering this competition, You understand and agree that Pepper Jelly Events LLC, anyone acting on behalf of Pepper Jelly Events LLC, and Pepper Jelly Events LLC’s licensees, successors, and assigns, shall have the right, where permitted by law, to print, publish, broadcast, distribute, and use in any media now known or hereafter developed, in perpetuity and throughout the World, without limitation, your name, portrait, picture, voice, likeness, image, statements about the competition, and biographical information for news, publicity, information, trade, advertising, public relations, and promotional purposes. without any further compensation, notice, review, or consent. 

29. Pepper Jelly Events LLC reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the competition and these rules for any reason. Pepper Jelly Events LLC reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the competition or website or violates these Terms & Conditions.

30. Entry into the competition constitutes permission for Pepper Jelly Events LLC to use participants name and likeness for purposes of advertising and trade without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.

31. Limitation of Liability: By entering, You agree to release and hold harmless Pepper Jelly Events LLC and its subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers, and directors from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim, or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from: (i) such entrant’s participation in the competition and/or his/her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof; (ii) technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunction of any computer, cable, network, hardware, or software, or other mechanical equipment; (iii) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions, telephone, or Internet service; (iv) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Promotion; (v) electronic or human error in the administration of the competition or the processing of entries.

32. Disputes: THIS COMPETITION IS GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, WITHOUT RESPECT TO CONFLICT OF LAW DOCTRINES. As a condition of participating in this competition, participant agrees that any and all disputes that cannot be resolved between the parties, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this competition, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court located in Tennessee having jurisdiction. Further, in any such dispute, under no circumstances shall participant be permitted to obtain awards for, and hereby waives all rights to, punitive, incidental, or consequential damages, including reasonable attorney’s fees, other than participant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e. costs associated with entering this competition). Participant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

33. Winners List: To obtain a copy of the Winner’s name or a copy of these Official Rules, mail your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Pepper Jelly Events LLC 141 Long Branch Dr.Erwin, TN 37650 

34. By submitting an application You, the competitor, have affirmatively reviewed, accepted, and agreed to all of the Official Rules.

    *for the purpose of this application the term “brew” or “brewing” will also refer to cider making, mead making, etc.