Help for First-Timers at Dixie Cup
- Click on Register from the menu on the left side. The Dixie Cup Registration page explains some things about registering for the competition.
- Start by clicking on the red link that says "Online Registration System" to go to the official competition entry pages.
- These are the basic steps:
- Enter your personal information (name, address, club),
- You can register to help with judging at the same time. See Judging for details.
- Enter your beer (name & style),
- Pay the fees (PayPal or check),
- Print the bottle labels and attach labels to your bottles
- Deliver or ship your entries to a drop-off location.
- The first page of the competition entry has some information you'll need to know. Everything in red is a link. Read it.
- The first thing you need to do is to register. Under the Enter Your Brews heading, click on the link "registration process" . The first question that you are asked is if you are willing and able to judge or steward. We would LOVE to have your help, so please say yes and show up at one or more of the judging sessions (listed under Events). Choose Yes or No and you are then shown the registration form.
- Enter your email address twice. This is used to contact you in case one of your bottles gets broken, to send you scans of your score sheets, or in case there is some question about your entries.
- Enter your name and address information. Use the drop-down menus to show your choices for Drop-off location and club name.
- Enter your AHA Member Number. If you don't have one, leave it blank, but then you will not be eligible for some opportunities if you happen to win a category.
- For the "CAPTCHA" field, it doesnt work, type the word CRAP in there and press [Enter] on your keyboard. This is to keep Bud-Lite drinking bots out of our system.
- Finally, click on [Register], the next screen will come up: "My Info and Entries". Now that you are registered, you need only to log in to reach this point if you need to come back to the entry screen at a later time.
- The first part of the page gives you a chance to edit your information you entered earlier. The reason this is here is because sometimes entrants will make many entries over several days' time so they come back to this page each time they want to make more entries.
- Scroll on down to the heading Entries and click on the link that says "Add an Entry".
- This brings up the "Add an Entry" screen where you will type in the name of your co-brewer if you had one, type in the name of your beer (make us laugh) and then specify the correct style of the beer. Part of the beauty of this type of competition is that your beer is evaluated in comparison to a known style as described in the BJCP Guidelines. This makes it so that the judging is largely unbiased on personal preference and is objectively considered against the published description of the style. This means it is important to enter your beer in the appropriate category, but it also means that you can enter the same beer in two or three categories because there are some styles that can cross-over style boundaries. This is totally OK and people can sometimes win two medals for the same beer in different categories.
- If you enter a Specialty category you will be required to explain your beer. The form will change if you enter the category for one of these beers. Read the explanation and then type in a brief description in the field using fewer than 51 characters. This information is critical for the judges to properly evaluate your beer.
- Click on [Submit Entry]
- You are taken back to the general entry page and now you see a table below your personal information that lists your first entry.
- Continue making entries using the "Add an Entry" link just above the entry table. You can enter as many beers as you want, but no more than two per medal category per person. The Entry Table will expand as you enter more beers.
- When you are finished making entries, click on the "Pay Your Fees" link to pay the fees. The easiest method is to use PayPal (it's easy for you and for us because we can quickly provide refunds if something gets screwed up), but if you're old-school, send a check along in a plastic zipper bag so that it doesn't get wet and mushy from the condensation.
- NOTE: Follow the instructions that pop-up on the screen. You'll need to return to the Dixie Cup site after paying with PayPal to actually complete the transaction. (Weird, but true)
- Click on the link to "Print Entry Form/Bottle Labels" that is in the entry table. You'll need to do this for each separate entry in the Entry Table. The entry form is shown. You do not need to fill it out with anything more than what is already filled in for you. Read it over and make sure it is OK. If not, exit by clicking on the "X" in the upper right corner to return to the Entry Table where you can edit your entry information.
- If the form is OK, scroll down (using the slider bar on the right) to see that there are four boxes with bottle labels. Scroll back up and click on the blue "Print" link in the upper right of the form. If you have a standard printer, you will get two pages, one with the form and the second with the labels. Close the form by clicking on the "X" in the upper right corner of the form.
- Cut the labels out and use three of them for your bottles (only two are needed for First Time Entrants and XXXII Specialty Beer).
- Cool Trick: Put your label inside a snack-size zipper plastic bag and then wrap two rubber bands around the label and the bottle. That way the label stays dry and won't run/streak if it gets wet, and the labels will stay attached even if one rubber band breaks. DO NOT use tape. It is impossible to remove from the bottles.
- Now package your bottles in a sturdy box for delivery to your drop-off location. Write "DIXIE CUP" on the outside in big letters. If you plan to ship your beers, go online and look for "shipping beer" for many excellent descriptions on how to do this.
- Good luck and I hope you win a medal!! If you run into any trouble on the website, you can call the IT person or the competition coordinator whose names and contact information are on the Dixie Cup homepage.
If you have made it through these instructions, please remember the most important one: Have Fun!