Valkyries Horn Home Mead Competition Volunteer Info

Judges and Stewards

If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.

Other Volunteer Info

BOTTLE SORT is Sunday, February 16, 10am:

Minnetonka Community Center
14600 Minnetonka Blvd.
Shady Oak Room (2nd floor, West side of building)

If you volunteer at the bottle sort, you may bring your entries with you!

PLEASE SIGN UP HERE FOR JUDGING AND STEWARDING SESSIONS FOR THE AMATEUR AND THE COMMERCIAL COMPETITION.

You may enter the competition AND volunteer. Judges are prevented from judging in their entered categories.

Volunteers that sign up for two consecutive sessions will be provided with the corresponding meal.

VOLUNTEER/JUDGING LOCATIONS and TIMING:

FRIDAY 3/7 @ FORGOTTEN STAR BREWERY
38 Northern Stacks Dr.
Fridley, MN 55421-2798

• 3/7 Judging 9:30-11:00am
• 3/7 Judging 11:00-12:30pm
• 3/7 Lunch 12:30-1:30pm
• 3/7 Judging 1:30 - 3:00pm
• 3/7 Judging 3:00 - 4:30pm (Reserve capacity based on total judges available)
• 3/7 Social outing at ??? 5:00-7:00pm
• 3/7 Party room bottle share 8:30pm +

SATURDAY 3/8 @ FORGOTTEN STAR BREWERY
38 Northern Stacks Dr.
Fridley, MN 55421-2798

• 3/8 Judging 9:30-11:00am
• 3/8 Judging 11:00-12:30pm
• 3/8 Lunch 12:30-1:30pm
• 3/8 Judging 1:30-3:00pm

EDUCATION:
3/8 3:00-5:00pm, Wood Aging Tasting:

• One 50 gallon batch of Wildflower donated by Gardner Honey
• Twelve wood species with 5 month contact and 1 month contact time
• One control sample
   
• 3/8 3:30-4:30pm BOS
• 3/8 5:30-7:00pm BANQUET sign up below
  
• 3/8 7:00pm Awards
• 3/8 8:30pm Party room bottle share (hotel)

BANQUET SIGNUP (by 3/3/25, 5:30pm):

Sign up and pay for your meal in advance by 3/5/25.
Cost is $30 per person and includes:

Walleye, long grain and wild rice, garden salad with grape tomatoes, cucumber, and assorted dressings, steamed Normandy vegetable blend with broccoli, cauliflower, yellow/orange carrots, dinner roll and small bite desserts.

USE THIS LINK TO ORDER:
         https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/E9MDPN6XJZSU4

DISCORD SERVER to arrange social activites:

https://discord.gg/rEqTpFvS

T-Shirt signup by 2/19/25:
Volunteers will receive a T-Shirt, along with custom logo glassware and two commemorative meads as a thank you for volunteering. You must sign up using the form linked below to receive your T-Shirt. No signup = no shirt.

Judging - What to expect:

• Judges are asked to bring a laptop or tablet for electronic scoresheets.
• All entries will be judged "blind".
• All judging will be in-person (not remote/virtual).
• Judges will be served entries with a label and pertinent entry information by stewards. There will be no bottles at the judging tables.
• Flights will be 7 entries maxium (6 or less in most cases) to reduce palate fatigue and ensure the highest quality feedback from our judges.
• BOS judging will be done by a panel of 5 very experienced judges.
• Every entry will have at least one Mead Certified judge, very experienced mead maker/judge or professional assigned.

Stewards - what to expect:

• We will need stewards for in-person judging.
• Stewards will pour samples and deliver mead to the judging tables.
• We need plenty of stewards. Sign up!

Accomodations:

LivINN Hotels
5201 Central AVE NE
Fridley, MN 55421

763-571-9440
www.livinn.com

We have secured a block of rooms at a nice hotel 3.1 miles from the competition venue. Rate is again just $99 per night plus taxes. All rooms are located facing an indoor courtyard and are grouped in proximity to each other. Rate will increase around February 5th.

We have a large private room reserved for bottle share and socializing at the hotel.

Better room rates may be available through the internet or by calling the phone number (all based on demand), take your pick of options.

763-571-9440

You can book directly at the link below until 2/15:

VALKYRIES HORN Hotel block $99/night

LivINN hotel, Fridley MN - Valkyries Horn Mead Competition

Competition Staff:

Staff and volunteers that have access to the database are not permitted to enter the competition. The judge director is also prohibited from entering regardless of database access.
All other Staff and Volunteers are permitted to enter the competition. We follow BJCP guidelines to ensure that our competition results maintain the highest integrity.