Author: Leigh

Leigh has been brewing since he received his first Mr. Beer kit for Christmas in 2011. Since this he has been a member of the Sons of Liberty Homebrew Club where he has served as president, vice-president and board member. Leigh also manages the website for MHF and is the owner & founder of BeerBorg.com which is an online community of homebrewers.
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IT’S ON! 2026 Deathmash is a go!

Dust off your kettles and ready your hops, because the stage is set for the ultimate showdown of brewing prowess!

The 2026 Celebrity Deathmash Competition is officially descending upon us on April 18, 2026, and it’s going to be a total hop-ocalypse. Elite brewers from across the state are gearing up to battle it out for homebrew supremacy.

The Battle for the Paddle

Each club is sending their finest artisans to compete frothy head to frothy head across five distinct categories. Brewers will earn points in every battle they place in, all for the glory of hoisting the coveted Celebrity Deathmash Paddle—with their club’s name immortalized upon it (at least until next year)!

Do You Have the Grains to Win?

Think you have what it takes to be the last brewer standing? Here’s what you need to know to join the fray:

  • Registration Opens: March 1, 2026
  • Registration Closes: April 10, 2026 (or whenever we hit the 150-entry limit)
  • Pro Tip: Register early! This competition fills up faster than a nitro stout.

Ready to Brew?

Don’t go into battle unprepared. Check out the Guidelines & 2026 Supported Styles pages to see this year’s categories, then head over to the Registration page to find the link to ReggieBeer!

Good luck…. You’re going to need it!

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Deathmash 2025

Congratulations to the Royal Oak Area Homebrew Club on winning the 2025 Celebrity Deathmash Competition and taking home the coveted Deathmash paddle. This was Royal Oak’s first year in the competition and they definitely brought it and squeezing out the win over Motor City Mashers and Keepers of Craft by one point.

Rational Belgians (27 Entries)

    Gold (4 points): Ken Cleary – Royal Oak Area Homebrew Club: 26C:Belgian Tripel – Tripel Trouble
    Silver (2 points): Nicholas Satterfield – Royal Oak Area Homebrew Club: 26B:Belgian Dubbel – The Nightman Cometh
    Bronze (1 point): Cory Emal – Ann Arbor Brewers Guild: 26A:Belgian Single – Stability, Fidelity, Obedience

    Honorable Mention:
    Timothy Wicklund- Keepers of Craft: 26B:Belgian Dubbel – Lagerboyz Dubbel
    Nathan Kanous – Keepers of Craft : 26C:Belgian Tripel – Triple Threat

    Unamerican Lagers (47 Entries)

      Gold (4 points): Ryan Moore – Motor City Mashers: 2A:International Pale Lager- La Flama Blanca
      Silver (2 points): Brian Stephens – Keepers of Craft: 2C:International Dark Lager – Sneaky Sneaky
      Bronze (1 point): Michael Neville – Motor City Mashers: 8B:Schwarzbier – I’m Told Schwarz Means Black in German

      Honorable Participation:
      Jerry Sadowski – Ann Arbor Brewers Guild: 8A:Munich Dunkel – Bishop of Munich
      William Blakeslee – Keepers of Craft: 2B:International Amber Lager
      Will Moreau – Cass River Homebrew Club: 2C:International Dark Lager – Bon Fire Bier
      Sean H Miller – Motor City Mashers: 6A:Marzen
      Tony Satullo – Motor City Mashers: 2B:International Amber Lager
      Doug Bulthuis – Kuhnhenn Guild of Brewers (KGB) : 6B:Rauchbier – Here I Am Rauch Me Like A Hurricane
      Gregory Stachnik – Motor City Mashers: 8A:Munich Dunkel
      Bevan Zarges-Griego – Keepers of Craft: 6B:Rauchbier – Cauchbier
      Aaron Sanchez – Ann Arbor Brewers Guild: 8A:Munich Dunkel

      Sour Patch Kids (30 Entries)

        Gold (4 points): Mark Kanczuzewski – Royal Oak Area Homebrew Club: 23F:Fruit Lambic – Cherry Lambic
        Silver (2 points): Brandon T Edwards – Keepers of Craft: 28C:Wild Specialty Beer – Pit Happens
        Bronze (1 point): Patrick Young – Keepers of Craft: 28C:Wild Specialty Beer

        Tales from the Darkside (29 Entries)

          Gold (4 points): Patrick Young – Keepers of Craft: 16D:Foreign Extra Stout
          Silver (2 points): Melissa Edmunds – Ann Arbor Brewers Guild: 13C:English Porter – Dorman mets Bailey
          Bronze (1 point): Sean H Miller – Motor City Mashers: 20C:Imperial Stout

          Honorable Mention:
          Cory Emal – Ann Arbor Brewers Guild: 15C:Irish Extra Stout – Nothing Succeeds Like Excess

          King Charles (18 Entries)

            Gold (4 points): George Turner Kuhnhenn Guild of Brewers (KGB): 12B:Australian Sparkling Ale – Gone walk about
            Silver (2 points): Anthony Leithauser – Ann Arbor Brewers Guild: 11B:Best Bitter – Ted LassAle
            Bronze (1 point): Josh Dugger – Cass River Homebrew Club: 11B:Best Bitter – Swollen Goat

            Best of Show

            Ryan Moore – Motor City Mashers: 2A:International Pale Lager- La Flama Blanca (3 Points). This award winning beer will be brewed by Ryan at Brewery Becker in the near future for all. to enjoy!

            Club Results:

            • Royal Oak Area Homebrew Club 10 points
            • Motor City Mashers 9 points
            • Keepers of Craft 9 points
            • Ann Arbor Brewers Guild 5 points
            • Kuhnhenn Guild of Brewers (KGB) 4 points
            • Cass River Homebrew Club 1 point
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            IT’S RUMBLE TIME

            Get ready to mark your calendars, because the date is locked in for the wildly anticipated 2025 Celebrity Deathmash Competition! On April 26, 2025, the brewing battle of the century will unfold, with registration kicking off on March 1st! Will the legendary Kuhnhenn Guild of Brewers defend their crown and cling to that oh-so-coveted mash paddle, or will a fierce challenger rise from the ranks of fellow clubs, armed with an arsenal of outrageously delicious brewed concoctions ready to dethrone the reigning champs? Let the bubbly games begin!

            Check out this years brewing categories and guidelines and get your brew on!

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            2024 Deathmash

            Congratulations to this year’s Celebrity Deathmash winning club, Kuhnhenn Guild of Brewers! Also congratulations to Tony Greenin (KGoB) on his BOS Ice Cider (Frozezone). Once again this year’s Deathmash was a definite Battle Royale with KGoB taking the first place club and BOS. This year’s competition was the biggest yet with 134 entries by the seven clubs that participate and the competition was stiff!

            Also Many Thanks

            We would like to thank Eternity Brewing and Cadillac Straits for serving as drop off sites.

            A BIG Thank you to Matt Becker and Brewery Becker for providing the judging venue and Best of Show prize.

            Finally thank you to everyone who entered, organized, stewarded, and judged the competition.

            There were 134 entries in this year’s Deathmash.

            Flyover America

            Gold: Let the Wookie Win 19C: American Brown Ale, Brian Stephens (Keepers) 4
            Silver: Pale Blonde Beer 18A: Blonde Ale, Timothy Wicklund (Keepers) 2
            Bronze: Yard Brew 1B: American Lager, Tony Satullo (MCM) 1

            IPA

            Gold: 21B: Specialty IPA, Doug Bulthuis (KGoB) 4
            Silver: Stinky 21B: Specialty IPA, Michael Neville (MCM) 2
            Bronze: Double Snakes and Foxes 22A: Double IPA, Brian Stephens (Keepers) 1

            British

            Gold: O’Kulahan’s Extra Stout 15C: Irish Extra Stout, Larry Kula (Cass) 4
            Silver: Gather the Clans 14C: Scottish Export, Larry Kula (Cass) 2
            Bronze: How many leaves does this clover have? 15B: Irish Stout, Craig Matney (MCM) 1
            HM: MacKnaufs 80 Shilling Ale 14C: Scottish Export, Jim Satin (AABG)

            Salad

            Gold: Bermuda Shorts 29B: Fruit and Spice Beer, Melissa Edmunds (AABG) 4
            Silver: 30A:Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, Jason Petroczy (MCM) 2
            Bronze: Jolliest Bunch of Assholes This Side of The Nuthouse. 30C: Winter Seasonal Beer, George Turner (KGoB) 1
            HM: ValenTime 29A: Fruit Beer, Anthony Leithauser (AABG)

            Mead and Cider

            Gold: Frozezone C2D: Ice Cider, Tony Greening (KGoB) 4
            Silver: Paradise Gold M2E:Melomel, Daniel Kukuk (MCM) 2
            Bronze: Fraunchy the 4th C1C: French Cider, George Turner (KGoB) 1
            HM: Andrew Klines Backyard M2E: Melomel, Bill Bellair (KGoB)

            Best of Show:

            Frozezone C2D: Ice Cider, Tony Greening (KGoB) 3

            Overall Club

            KGB – 13
            Keepers – 8
            MCM – 8
            CASS – 6
            AABG – 4
            Livingston – 0
            SOL – 0

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            CELEBRITY DEATHMASH 2023 Results

              Congratulations to this year’s Celebrity Deathmash winning club, Keeper of Craft! Also congratulations to Brandon Edwards on his BOS German Helles Exportbier. This year’s Deathmash was definitely a Battle Royale with only 4 points separating the first and second place clubs with the overall BOS beer being the deciding winning factor. Most clubs brought their A game and placed in at least one category and overall scores for individual beers was high.

              Also Many Thanks

              We would like to thank Eternity Brewing and Cadillac Straits for serving as drop off sites.

              A BIG Thank you to Matt Becker and Brewery Becker for providing the Best of Show prize.

              Finally thank you to everyone who entered, organized, stewarded, and judged the competition.

              There were 89 total entries in this year’s Deathmash.

              German Engineering (19 entries)
              1st Brandon Edwards (5C – German Helles Exportbier) 4 (KC)
              2nd Kevin O’Brien (7B – Altbier) 2 (MC)
              3rd Doug Vohden (5B – Kölsch) 1 (KC)

              Not Yeast (15 entries)
              1st Nathan Kanous (23B – Flanders Red Ale) 4 (KC)
              2nd Steven Vroegop (23F – Fruit Lambic) 2 (KC)
              3rd Duke Turner (23C – Oud Bruin) 1 (KG)

              Waffle House (13 entries)
              1st Daniel Kukuk (25B – Saison) 4 (MC)
              2nd Jeff Chase (25A – Belgian Blond Ale) 2 (MC)
              3rd Doug Vohden (24C – Bière de Garde) 1 (KC)

              Just a Flesh Wound (25 entries)
              1st Craig Matney (13B – British Brown Ale) 4 (MC)
              2nd William Blakeslee (13A – Dark Mild) 2 (KC)
              3rd Gregory Stachnik (13A – Dark Mild) 1 (MC)

              Drink Your Wheaties (17 entries)
              1st Jared Aumen (10A – Weissbier) 4 (AA)
              2nd Jared Aumen (10C – Weizenbock) 2 (AA)
              3rd Doug Bulthuis (10C – Weizenbock) 1 (KG)

              Overall Best-Of-Show
              Brandon Edwards (5C – German Helles Exportbier) 3 (KC)

              Club Total Points

              • KEEPERS OF CRAFT (KC) 17 Total Points
              • MOTOR CITY MASHERS (MC) 13 Total Points
              • ANN ARBOR BREWERS GUILD (AA) 6 Total Points
              • KGB (KG) 2 Total Points
              • LIVINGSTON SOCIAL (LS) 0 Total Points
              • SONS OF LIBERTY (SL) 0 Total Points

              Please visit our Competition Results page for previous years winners.

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              It’s Time To Rumble Again

              It’s finally here! The 2023 Celebrity Deathmash is ready to go, so let the mayhem begin. This year’s competition promises to be bigger than ever, hell we even have new mash paddle for the Champions to raise in glory! Six clubs will battle it out to see who reigns supreme as the best of the best in homebrewing skill. Every year seems to be a true challenge of wit to see who will take home the coveted Best of Show prize and who will be the winning Deathmash Club Champion! So get your mash tuns heated and your fermentors bubbling and….. LET’S GET READY TO RUUUUUMMMMMBLLLLLLEEEEE!!!

              Registration begins February 10th and runs through February 23rd. Drop off for Entries begins February 17th through February 26th and Competition judging will be on Saturday March 11. Please check out the Registration page and Guidelines page for more details.

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              Time to get Brewing – Deathmash 2023 Categories Announced

              Time to get Brewing!

              With the successful Deathmash 2022 in the rear view mirror we have set our sites on next year’s competition. We’ve been hard at work reviewing how everything came together for the last competition and making sure that we continue to make this competition fresh and interesting. We feel that we’ve come up with a group of categories from the 2021 BJCP Style Guide that represent a wide variety of brewing styles to challenge and interest the highest caliber of brewers that the Celebrity Deathmash draws in from the clubs that are represented.

              The 5 Categories for 2023 Deathmash are as follow:

              Waffle House (24B, 24C, 25A, 25B, 25C)

              Just A Flesh Wound (13A, 13B, 13C)

              Drink Your Wheaties (1D, 10A, 10B, 10C, 24A)

              German Engineering (5B, 5C, 7B)

              Not Yeast (23A, 23B, 23C, 23D, 23E, 23F, 23G

              Please check out the 2023 Supported Styles page for more information and links to the various styles.

              Although we don’t yet have a date and location nailed down just yet we are planning for the competition to take place in late February or early March. We will provide updates as soon as we have definitive dates and location.

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              Deathmash 2022 Results are in

              Congratulations to the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild as they take possession of the coveted Deathmash Mash Paddle in their decisive win of the overall competition.

              Congratulations to Daniel Kukuk of Motor City Mashers on brewing the overall Best of Show beer (Kentucky Common). Dan will be brewing his winning beer recipe at Brewery Becker.

              Please visit the 2022 results page here on the website for full competition results for each category.

              Also Many Thanks

              We would like to thank Wine Barrel Plus, Eternity Brewing, and Cadillac Straits for serving as drop off sites.

              Also thanks to Adventures in Homebrewing for donating the Raffle prize.

              A BIG Thank you to Matt Becker and Brewery Becker for providing the Best of Show prize.

              Finally thank you to everyone who entered, organized, stewarded and judged the competition.

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              2022 Deathmash Judging Date and Location is Set

              We are excited to announce that Deathmash 2022 judging will take place at a private warehouse in Brighton Michigan on Saturday April 30, 2022. With that date only about 5 weeks away it means registration, entry and entry drop off dates will be starting very soon (see dates below). We are still working out the details as far as times and other logistics so we’ll let you all know as soon as we have those nailed down. In the mean time please check out the other pages here on the website for accepted styles, and registration information.

              Other Dates to know about

              • April 1st – Registration Opens
              • April 8th – Entry Drop off begins
              • April 14th – Registration Ends
              • April 17th – Entry drop off ends
              • April 30th – Competition Judging
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              Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!

              photography of man jumping on ring
              Photo by Patrick Case on Pexels.com

              Updated: March 8, 2022

              After a long and painful hiatus the Celebrity Deathmash that you know and love is making it’s triumphant return in March April 2022 to allow clubs to bludgeon each other with their exquisite skill and brewing prowess in the elite, no holds barred homebrew competition for supremacy and to claim the coveted Deathmash Paddle. Several homebrew clubs will pit themselves against one another but only one, yes only one will come out on top of this winner takes all Deathmash.

              Champion members from each of the homebrew clubs will brew from the five pre-determined categories attempting to formulate champion level elixirs to tantalize and win over the sophisticated pallet of the highly trained, skilled, and certified BJCP judges. All entries are painstakingly and sometimes brutally eliminated until only the best of the best remain to move on to the final Best of Show battle to the death where one single fermented libation will come out as the ultimate winner of the Celebrity Deathmash!

              Seriously though we will be providing more information and updates in the following weeks with the exact dates, times and locations as soon as we nail everything down. So please stay tuned in and get your brew kettles fired up because this will be an epic battle!