About the Competition: The Midwest Homebrewer of the year competition uses the results from several homebrew competitions throughout the midwest. The homebrewer with the most accumulated points from beer, mead, and cider BJCP category entries wins the Midwest Homebrewer of the Year award.

About the Competition
The Midwest Homebrewer of the Year competition selects the top homebrewer from the Midwest based upon points earned in participating competitions. The homebrewer with the highest Net Score at the end of year wins the title of "Midwest Homebrewer of the Year" and receives significant Prizes. Points are accumulated by winning 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in any of the homebrew competitions in the MWHBOY Circuit. A brewer's accumulated points are multipled by his winning percentage (his ratio of medals to entries) to calculate his Net score, upon which the competition's rankings are based. For a detailed description of the competition rules and the formula used to calculate a brewer's Net Score, please visit the Rules page.
The 2024 competition year has been finalized and Dan Acheson is the 2024 Midwest Homebrewer of the Year!
Sign up now to include your homebrew competition in the 2025 Midwest Homebrewer of the Year Circuit!
If you are a competition administrator and would like your competition to participate, please register by contacting us at the email address at the bottom of this page. We'll send you all the information you need to become part of the MWHBOY circuit for 2025! Individual homebrewers do not need to register. Individuals will automatically be included in the competition by entering any of the competitions included in the MWHBOY circuit.
Dan Acheson
2022, 2023, and 2024 Midwest Homebrewer of the Year
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News
12/22/2025
Congratulations to Dan Acheson, our 2025 winner! This is the fourth year in a row that Dan has won the circuit. Only one other contestant in the circuit's history has managed that sort of consistency. Dan competed in seven competitions in the circuit this year, medaling 18 times across 17 different categories with an impressive 58% win percentage.
7/22/2025
2025 CIRCUIT APPROACH TO THE NEW CIDER GUIDELINES ---- The new BCJP cider guidelines were released this year, and with them, two new categories and some new subcategories. Because we started the year with the 2015 Guidelines, we will continue to use them through the rest of the year. As such, entries that are categorized with the 2025 guidelines will be translated back to the 2015 guidelines. Starting in 2026 we will move over to the 2025 Cider guidelines.
12/22/2024
After a hotly-contested race to the end, Dan Acheson pulled off a three-peat and is our 2024 winner! Repeating on last year's success, Dan won 28 medals in 25 distinct categories of beer, mead, and cider. Dan competed in all of the competitions on the circuit this year, finishing with over 110 raw points, one of the highest totals ever on the circuit. Congratulations, Dan!
12/19/2023
Repeating success from last year, Dan Acheson is our 2023 winner! Dan won an amazing 30 medals in 25 distinct categories of beer, mead, and cider. It's been almost 10 years since anybody won that many medals, and nobody has been able to do it in so many different categories. An amazing feat! Keep an eye out for Dan's profile which will be posted soon.
1/23/2023
Congratulations to Dan Acheson, our 2022 winner! Dan is from Chicago and started brewing about 20 years ago. This year, he entered nine competitions in our circuit, and managed to have an amazing win rate of almost 50%! Check out Dan's profile here.