The August 15 deadline has passed, and 52 home-brew enthusiasts have entered this year’s Seattle Weekly Home Brew Competition. Judging for the third annual contest takes place over the next week, and the winning beer (brewed by Big Al Brewing) will be unveiled on October 22 at Brouwers Cafe in Fremont. It takes a dedicated and passionate beer drinker to tackle home brewing. If you’ve brewed beer yourself. you know that unlike other DIY projects, there are several points of failure that can ruin your beer. All your equipment must be sterilized like medical tools, your yeast has to be fresh and alive, and you have to keep an eye on temperatures to successfully convert your brew into alcohol. With the right combination of water, grain, hops, and other flavorings, however, you will hopefully create a delicious beer. Nate Muller won Best in Show at the 2010 competition, ahead of 27 other entries, for his Belgian Dubbel, called “Ommeknate.” Entries are judged in categories 1-19 of the BJCP style guidelines and American Black Ales. Judging is private and includes the Seattle Beer Coalition, BJCP-sanctioned judges, Seattle Weekly editorial staffers, and Alejandro–the Big Al who’s brewing our beer. A winning beer is chosen in each category that receives 10 or more entries. Otherwise, beers are judged with the category that is most similar. There will be one overall winning brew that will win Best to Brew or Best in Show, and which will be brewed by Big Al Brewing and carried at Brouwer’s and four other locations for one month after the competition.Follow Voracious on Twitter and Facebook.