2018 SFWSC

[Fraser]

Anyone else here enter and medal at San Francisco this year?

I got a bronze for my gin, which I'm super excited about since I've been open less than a year.

[HDNB]

congrats on the medal. it's always nice to receive some positive feedback on your labours. SF is a big competition so you should be pretty proud to medal up in your first year!

any other crafties score big in the shows?

[fizzix]

That's great! Congratulations!

[Twisted Brick]

Great job Fraser! Medalling at SF is legit. You must have some serious chops down. Is there a site that lists results? I could only find 2017.

Again, excellent job.

Brick

[Fraser]

Thanks everyone. I'm very pleased to get a medal there. The individual results were emailed to the entrants early. They said that the full results would be posted on their website on 5/1. So that's when to check and see how everyone did.

[Evil Wizard]

I got a silver from SF for my absinthe and a gold for packaging. Lot of medals this year, all silvers and one double gold from Sip awards.

[Fraser]

I got a silver from SF for my absinthe and a gold for packaging. Lot of medals this year, all silvers and one double gold from Sip awards.

Great job! Glad to hear of other people doing well this year.

[EagleCliffs]

The question I have is do medals accomplish anything? Anyone out there who has found the awards to be useful?
I entered the San Diego event and received a bronze in 2016, but haven't done any more. I have heard it accomplishes nothing and I haven't found any use for that award.

[Fraser]

I think awards do a couple important things. First they're a good tool you can use in your advertising. There's a lot of choice for consumers. So if they're looking to try something new, they'll often gravitate towards a bottle which they PERCEIVE has objective quality and value for their money. Of course medals and awards are subjective to the opinions of the judges, and there's plenty of great spirits that never get awards or top awards.

But in the minds of consumers awards mean quality (justified or not), and given comparable pricing between two bottles of the same class of spirit, consumers will generally buy the one having won an award over the one that hasn't. Not all the time, but enough that it makes a difference.

Awards also can tell you a lot about what is going on with tasting trends. Judges for major award competitions are often mixologists, restaurant owners and chefs that make purchasing decisions based on what they think they can engage their customers with.

The question I have is do medals accomplish anything? Anyone out there who has found the awards to be useful?
I entered the San Diego event and received a bronze in 2016, but haven't done any more. I have heard it accomplishes nothing and I haven't found any use for that award.

[Twisted Brick]

Awards also can tell you a lot about what is going on with tasting trends. Judges for major award competitions are often mixologists, restaurant owners and chefs that make purchasing decisions based on what they think they can engage their customers with.

+1

The annual S.I.P. Awards (10 years running) is a spirit competition distinguished by its 'panel' of (100+) judges who are paying attendees from the drinking public. Every year I work this event (its growing) I am amazed at how many new distillers have ante'd up to get into the business (and this event). This last May there were over 2500 product entries, most of them submitted by young-ish distilleries seeking exposure and the opportunity to duke it out with established brands like Macallan, Oban, Dalwhinnie etc. Like all spirit competitions, there are many awards to be given out, and I have noticed distillers are not shy about listing their S.I.P. awards on their websites, especially repeat winners.

I pull for the little guys, and every bit of marketing luck that comes their way, especially now that I have an inkling of how much work goes into it.

[bluefish_dist]

The question I have is do medals accomplish anything? Anyone out there who has found the awards to be useful?
I entered the San Diego event and received a bronze in 2016, but haven't done any more. I have heard it accomplishes nothing and I haven't found any use for that award.

We have found people like medals and want to try medal winning spirits. I feel that some contests lack credibility and are more pay to play. One we entered gave the double gold to a product my official tester said " I wouldn't serve this" upon tasting it. That product is a bottled GNS. I have not entered it again.

The adi tasting seems more legit and we submitted a product that did not do well even though it does well in the tasting room and events. Going to try it again and see what happens.

[Fraser]

Coincidentally, my American Dry Gin was just awarded a Double Gold Medal at the New York World Spirit Competition. Woot!

[MoonBreath]

Shoot, can't hurt.
Folks in the know, follow the competitions with merit.
Good on y'all.