The first THIRSTY homebrew competition was held Spring of 1994 with 104 entries. In 2003 the name was changed to the THIRSTY Classic and endured until 2016. Regretfully, the THIRSTY Classic has been retired.

Through the years the Classic has been supported by Millstream Brewing and their staff. Millstream was the receiver for the entries and the site of the competition itself. Millstream Brewery was a perfect venue for our competition. Since 2003, I have been the competition coordinator. I handled each bottle entered (~1500 entries), managed the data entry of entrant information, and mailed ribbons and score sheets. Through this process I felt like I got to know many of you. Over the years I began to recognize familiar names of people who supported the competition by entering their beer, mead or cider year after year. I had the good fortune to sample many of your entries after the judging finished. I formed great friendships with judges who came year after year to help make the THIRSTY competition successful. The judges deserve a hand, as judging at the Classic wasn’t always a smooth process.

We hope one day to revive the competition, but for now, it is aptly named – the THIRSTY Classic.

Thank you for everything,

Susan Walsh
THIRSTY Classic Coordinator
THIRSTY President