IKBG -- building better brews one bottle at a time
The Inter Kingdom Brewers Guild is an organization, that although
not currently spanning all kingdoms, hopes to one day have
representation in every kingdom (with the possible exception of Lochac).
The IKBG is a collection of brewers, who get together at
every possible opportunity to share brews and knowledge amongst
themselves, with the more experienced brewers (as recognized by the
IKBG) being tasked to evaluate, critique, and judge beverages from
all the other brewers who wish to participate.
It is important to understand that the IKBG is not truly a
"guild" in the traditional sense of a guild within the SCA. The
IKBG is not interested in supplanting, replacing, or being "superior to"
ANY kingdom guilds. Every kingdom is encouraged to have their own
guilds, with their own levels/ranks, their own structure, and their
own competitions / tastings / judgings / etc.
The IKBG is also NOT (and has NOT EVER tried to be) an "A&S"
competition in the traditional sense of A&S within the SCA. The
SCA, in all the various A&S competitions, is focused on
"authenticity" and "period techniques". These competitions, and
the preparation for them, strive to enrich a brewer's experience of
"living within the period setting" but can sometimes limit the
opportunities for 'experimentation', especially with regards to the
ingredients.
In contrast, the IKBG, being focused on the product itself and
its drinkability, provides a place for brewers to have their
beverages evaluated by other brewers in a forum that is focused on the
beverage, rather than on the documentation and "authenticity" of the
beverage. We hope that this provides a complementary aspect to the
normal judging that happens in an A&S competition.
The IKBG maintains a database of competitions, and every beverage that has been entered. You can view and query the database, or you can find out more information about the IKBG by reading the FAQ, or looking at the information on the IKBG judging standards and critera.