title_body: What do they judge on at beer competitions?
upvoted_answer: There are SO many different subcategories now. You can download the full judging guidelines and registration into the different styles.
  
  Main categories include:  
  
  
  Beer  
  Mead  
  Cider  
  
  
  Some of the sub-categories of beer include:  
  
  
  LIGHT LAGER  
  PILSNER  
  EUROPEAN AMBER LAGER  
  DARK LAGER  
  BOCK  
  LIGHT HYBRID BEER  
  AMBER HYBRID BEER  
  ENGLISH PALE ALE  
  SCOTTISH AND IRISH ALE  
  AMERICAN ALE  
  ENGLISH BROWN ALE  
  PORTER  
  STOUT  
  INDIA PALE ALE (IPA)  
  GERMAN WHEAT AND RYE BEER  
  BELGIAN AND FRENCH ALE  
  SOUR ALE  
  BELGIAN STRONG ALE  
  STRONG ALE  
  FRUIT BEER  
  SPICE / HERB / VEGETABLE BEER  
  SMOKE-FLAVORED AND WOOD-AGED BEER  
  SPECIALTY BEER  
  
  
  I think winning an award at any sanctioned competition would be huge. I do see the World Beer Awards, the US Open Beer Championships, Great American Beer Festival, and North American Beer Awards, just to name a few. There are also Homebrewing awards that are very competitive.