The annual Brewing News National IPA Championship (NIPAC) is open for brewery registration for its sixth year of competition. This is a fun “March Madness” style competition that pits IPAs from all over the country against each other in head-to-head matchups. If you’d like to see your favorite IPA in the lineup, let your local brewery know that they should register.

In addition to the usual NIPAC, which is limited to beers 7.5% ABV or less, the Brewing News is kicking off the National Imperial IPA Championship (NI-IPAC) for the first time this year. NI-IPAC is open to any IPAs over 7.5% ABV.

As with past years, once the tournament lineup is complete, IPA lovers will be able to choose their winners for each round on the website. The person with the best bracket wins a case of the winning IPA!

More information from the Brewing News:

Attention Commercial Brewers:
It’s that time again! The National IPA Championship entry form is ready. Let the games begin! This marks the 6th year of the competition. Plus, we are introducing NI-IPAC, for IPAs over 7.5% ABV!

(If you are not a commercial brewery, be sure to encourage your local to sign up! And consider this advance warning of the bracket contest, which will commence in late January/early February!)

NIPAC CALL FOR ENTRIES!
The 6th “Hops, not Hoops” March Madness style competition begins in mid-February, unfolds over five weeks, with the Final Rounds and the Championship match in March in NYC/Brooklyn. We’ve pushed the starting date to mid-February to allow more of the public to participate in the brackets contest! Once again, hop lovers with a familiarity in all regions of the U.S. will be on each three person judging panel; the public will once again make their own picks on-line and follow their favorites as they wage battle against the field.

AYE, AYE, IT’S NI-IPAC – A NEW CALL FOR ENTRIES
Have a >7.5 ABV hoppy beer that you wish could compete? Now it can in the inaugural National Imperial IPA Competition NI-IPAC. (NAYE-AYEPAC!) Whether it’s a double IPA, an Imperial IPA or just a crazy strong hoppy beer of no defined style, you can enter it in NI-IPAC! NI-IPAC judging will be held concurrently with NIPAC and will also be a brackets competition, with the public judging their favorites. (Should NI-IPAC have a smaller field, the dates will match so that the finals happen on the same day.)

If you wish to enter your beers into either competition (and consequently, to send your beer for judging), please fill out the online form at

http://www.brewingnews.com/nipac/entryform

Enter today so you do not miss out on your spot in the bracket! There is a link to both of the NIPAC and NI-IPAC entry forms on that same page. There are also links on the post submission thank you pages.

2013 SCHEDULE

Beer Arrival Deadline: 2/12/2013 end of day
Round 1- February 16th @ Buffalo, NY
Round 2 – February 23rd @ Grand Rapids, Mich.
Round 3 – March 2nd @ TBA Round 4 –
March 9th @ Syracuse, NY Final Round –
March 16th @ NYC!