Be really nice to a current member, then follow the complex, long, bureaucratic process on the Join page.

The Leaderboard is the official scorekeeper of baggings. It showcases:

• Current Month. The number of beers bagged in the current month by bagger
• Golden Hops. Golden hops by month by bagger
• Points. Points earned by bagger
• Baggings. The details and comments for every beer bagged by a bagger
• Hops. Annual summary of bags by bagger each month
• GoldenHops. Annual summary of Golden Hops by month

Check out the leaderboard now!

The benefits are endless, but they include:

• twelve (12) monthly lists of beers to drink every year
• a secret members-only “online pub” where you can share photos, videos and stories about the beers you drink
• the opportunity to meet interesting new people
• a fun way to visit interesting craft breweries
• special events at select breweries and pubs
• the opportunity to win prizes

• The Golden Hop is awarded to members who drink all ten (10) qualifying beers in a given month.
• Ka ching!

The Universe

• At this time, the BBC universe of craft breweries is limited to the lower mainland area of British Columbia.
• New craft breweries are springing-up like mushrooms after a warm rain.  With your help, we keep track of the ones that count on the list of eligible breweries.

What’s a craft brewery?

• surprisingly enough, this is a tough and controvercial question!
• CoOp and Small batch
  • businesses that brew beer in facilities they don’t own
  • Qualifications,,,
  • the business has some substance:
    • It has a brand (e.g. has a unique name and some sort of an identity)
    • It has a website or some sort of accessible social media presence that showcases it’s beers and confirms hours they are availibile
  • the beer is available:
    • at a tasting room
    • in sufficient quantity (batches of 50-liters or more)
    • Note:  it’s OK to simply have a semi-permanent tap somewhere that is acccessible to the public…  as long as Baggers can say, “I found it at the source”
  • Included.  This because they are true craft breweries that don’t have deep pockets.  Let’s give them a chance!
• Shadow brands.
  • businesses that market beer they don’t brew
  • Excluded.  This because they lack the creative spirit of craft in their brews.  They often have deep pockets because they are owned by larger concerns.  Besides, few of these folks offer tasting rooms.

• Note: If you are the first to contact us with the name of an eligible brewery that is not on the list, you win a community participation point! Similarly, contact us with the name of a craft brewery that’s on the list, but has changed names, merged or gone out of business, you also win a community participation point.

• Each month, the BMOM selects nine (9) beers for your tasting pleasure.  You select the 10th as your wildcard.
• All monthly beers must be selected from the master list of eligible craft breweries.

• In order to be representative of the full range of beers available, the monthly selection should roughly include:

• 2 pale ale
• 2 IPA
• 1 stout
• 1 lager
• 1 pilsner
• 1 saison
• 1 zinger (something a bit different, such as a sour)

• keep it simple
• keep it fun
• play nice
• respect the beer
• don’t drink and drive

• Everyone who drinks craft beer wins, however, each month we award a free beer at the Baggit!
• to be eligible, one needs to:
  • be a member in good standing
  • have bagged and logged at least one (1) qualifying beer in the previous month
  • be present at the designated brewery at the designated time (usually 20:00 / 8 PM)
• the top three (3) eligible players duke it out in a coin toss.  This game of skill and strategy sees each player attempt to bounce a coin (usually a loonie or a twonie) into a beer glass.
  • Each round, each player gets a toss.  If more than one player lands the coin in the beer glass within a round, the ones who land it go into a sudden death shootout 

The Monthly Competition

The monthly competition is focused on winning the Golden Hop with the most points in a given month.

• • earn the Golden Hop by drinking the nine (9) designated monthly beers and one (1) wildcard
  • points are awarded based on how, where and community
  • Where?
    • drink at the brewery (3 points)
    • drink at the pub (2 points)
    • drink at home (1 point)
  • How?
    • drink with others in the BBC (3 points)
    • drink with others (2 points)
    • drink alone (1 point)
  • Community
    • recommend a new brewery or point out one that is dead (“New Brew” – 1 point bonus)
    • recommend a new member (“Pollinator” – 1 point bonus)
    • contribute in a substantial way to the challenge (1 point bonus)
    • The reward:  The person with the most points in a given month wins a free beer and BTOM status (Note: Must have earned a Golden Hop to qualify)

The Lifetime Competition

The lifetime competition is focused on earning Golden Hops with the aim of becoming a Beer Bagger Meister

• • earn twelve (12) Golden Hops
  • can be in any order at any time (e.g does not have to be 12 in a row)
  • The reward:  You are welcomed into the inner circle as a Beer Bagger Meister

• Alert BBC management to the change in status of breweries in the region. Is there a new brewery? Has a brewery on the list gone out of business or changed names?
• in order to earn the point:
  • the update must be submitted formally (e.g. from the Lager Logger)
  • first to announce the update wins (e.g. based on date of submission in the Lager Logger)
  • the submission has to change the master list of eligible breweries. (e.g. if the brewery is already on the list as “coming soon” or it’s no longer on the list, you don’t earn a bonus point)
• disputes are settled by the BMOM for that month

• introduce friends who you feel would enjoy the Beer Bagger Challenge and fit in well with the culture
• you introduce them to the Beer Bagger Challenge with a photo of them and $10 (in pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies, twoonies, full or partial paper currency)
• you assign them their “game name” (Sure, they can guide you.)
• you submit their name using the Lager Logger so we know who gets the bonus point
• your friend completes the new member application and pays their membership fee
• for each person you sign up, you get one (1) point during the month that they join
• Note: in order for you to earn the pollinator point as a sponsor, you need to introduce the newbie to your fellow members, and the new member has to have all of their paperwork completed within 3 days.

• twenty (20). This cap because otherwise, someone could hypothetically win the monthly Point Series without drinking a single beer
• Baggers who sign-up their hockey teams and extended families are eligible for a special “Pollinator” award when they refer more than 2

• BC Ale Trail app.  Great for checking who is in business and hours of operation
• The Growler Magazine – For what’s current in the region and in the industry
• untappd – fun app.  You’ll need to sign up for an account

• You may replace (trump) the named beer that is no longer available with a similar brew that is available from the same brewery
• To trump a named beer, place a comment on the secret Facebook group page on the post that identifies the monthly picks (the chit list post that is usually pinned to the top of the discussion forum)

• Current Status.
  • • Check the Announcement at the top of the BBC Facebook group. If the named brew has already been trumped, drink the replacement.
   

  Not Available Anywhere?

  • • Make sure the brew is truly not available. For example, the draft tap at the brewery may have run dry, but there may be some in kegs at a pub or in cans or bottles in a store. Best to confirm with someone at the brewery.
   

  Post?

  • • Post the sad news about the named beer not being available in the Facebook group. Note: If you claim that a named brew is not available, you will need proof. Be sure your post includes the brewery person’s name/telephone, as if you cry wolf, you will have to pay a penalty!
   

  Trump

  • • Select another brew from the same brewery to replace the one that is no longer available. It should be similar to the original (e.g. trump a pils with a pils, if possible) and it will ideally be available for the rest of the current month. Announce on the Facebook group as a comment on the Announcements page where the monthly picks are showcased. That way, other baggers can quickly find the beer that is in play.
   

  Claim the new brew

  • • The Lager Logger will always list the BMOMs monthly pick. If that brew has been trumped, claim the monthly pick, but note in the comments which beer you actually consumed.

• The named brew has been bagged

  • • If even one (1) BBC member drank the named brew during the current month, that brew is considered to be in play. If it runs out, boo hoo for you… you can’t win a Golden Hop. See “Faint Hope Clause” under penalties.

   

  Not available on draft anymore?

  • • Boo hoo for you. You can’t earn 3 points!

BMOM Carelessness

• If a BMOM names a  beer on the monthly chit list, and that beer is not available on the 1st day of a month, the BMOM must be penalized.
• BMOM buys a beer for the first bagger to report the error on the Online Pub.

Brewery Error

• If a BMOM picks a beer that the brewery confirmed would be available for the month, and the beer runs out before the end of the month, you can’t blame the BMOM. Similarly, you can’t blame a brewer for making popular brews or nature for a heat wave.
• Trump with no penalty.

Crying “Wolf!”

• If a bagger claims that a brew is not available and another bagger proves otherwise, the bagger who cries “wolf!” must be penalized.
• Bagger who cries “wolf!” buys a beer for the one who proves the claim to be false.

Faint Hope Clause

• If a bagger is aiming to earn a Golden Hop and a brew they need to drink has been drunk during the month, but is no longer available, they are out of luck.
• The bagger is being penalized because the brew was available, but they were not quick enough to drink it before it ran out.
• By performing community service, however, the bagger may still have the opportunity to earn a Golden Hop.
• The community service is to bring three (3) new members to the BBC. (Introduced and paid-up within the current month.)
• Other proposals submitted on the contact page will be considered by the BaggerMeister Council, but consider that will take about a week to get a judgment.

Overview

• as we are assigned our names at birth, so it is with a BBC game name
• as it is possible to change our real names, it is possible to change a game name.  (it is, however, a lot less expensive, bureaucratic and time-consuming to do the former!)

Request by BBC Member

• if a BBC member wishes to change their game name, they must first make a request using the contact form.
• be sure to include your real name, your current game name, the name of the person who assigned your game name, your desired game name and the penalty (usually measured in beers rather than dollars) you propose to pay
• this request will be considered by the current BMOMs, the person who assigned your name and perhaps an independent panel of Beer Baggers in good standing

Request by BBC Membership

• on rare occasions, generally after fellow members get to know a particular bagger, it may come to pass that by general consensus, the Bagger’s name is inappropriate.  Should this be the case, a representative of the group desiring the name change should put forward a petition using the contact form.
• be sure to include the petition leader’s real name, game name, the name of the person who assigned the game name, the desired game name and the proposal (usually measured in beers rather than dollars) that is suggested.
• this petition will be considered by the current BMOMs, the person who assigned your name and perhaps an independent panel of Beer Baggers in good standing

Deliberations

• given the complex nature of the decision-making process, it may take some time and some beer.

• A member of the BBC who has earned twelve (12) or more Golden Hops… a status that is about as close to royalty as a member of the BeerBagger Challenge can aspire to
• These select individuals have earned the exalted privilege of determining the beers members drink each month.  They also debate the rules, administer hazings and other key management tasks.

• “BMOM” stands for “BeerBagger Meister of the Month”.
• This is the person who selects the beer for your bagging pleasure in a given month.
• Only BeerBagger Meisters are allowed to determine the monthly picks.

The monthly brewery crawl where baggers get together to bag a few beers together.
Generally held on the first Friday of a month

“BTOM” stands for “Bitch TO the Meister”.

• This is the person who wins the most point in a month and thereby qualifies to assist the BMOM with beerselection.
• Despite the name, it is a position of great honor and responsibility as the BTOM is widely considered to be an apprentice BMOM.

A beer that is not on the monthly chit list, and therefore doesn’t count for points. From basketball, where it means, “A near miss.”

The exclusive, secret location far from prying eyes were baggers share their baggage. (A private Facebook group.)