Take photos of beer; win prizes.

Christmas music has begun bleating. Faux fir trees are sprouting. Fragrance floggers are spritzing. Shoppers are early Christmas beserking. Yes, it's time, again, for ...

the Cheery Xmas Photo (of beer) Contest: The VII Edition.

This annual contest is organized —with seasonal curmudgeonliness (a word?)— by beer blogger Alan McLeod at A Good Beer Blog. He has only 4 real rules.

• 1. Submit photos (or would that be digital images) only of beer.
• 2. Up to (only) nine photos may be submitted per entrant. (Be very afraid of what he might do the tenth.)
• 3. Only one photo of beer with food will be allowed per submitter.
• 4. Submissions will be accepted Friday, 16 November, at noon Eastern Standard Time (that's now) until Friday December 7 at noon, eastern standard time.

As to Rule #1, McLeod has several additional suggestions, requests, and admonitions, such as one proscribing "hairy photos," apparently inspired by this photo I submitted, in 2010, of a hirsute fan of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale:


To reward the worthy, Mr. McLeod will be badgering and shaming beer writers, brewers, and other reticent beery folk into giving up booty, err, prizes for the best photos. (For example, one prize last year was the Oxford Companion to Beer.) He awards several prizes, including honorable mentions. McLeod does the judging. This is his contest, after all. And, although, in the spirit of the season, he wants submissions "to give joy to all," he does award "a prize for the crappiest photo. It is a crappy prize."

Last year's grand prize-winning (non-crappy) photo was from beer blogger Jeff Alworth (Beervana), of steam rising from a koelschip, at the Cantillon Brewery, in Brussels, Belgium.

So, drink some beer and snap some pics. Send them to beerblog at gmail dot com. Good luck, and — risking early season opprobrium— Linksmu Kaledu!

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• Here's the list of prizes from last year, and all the grand prize photos from contests past.
• To be fair, Mr. McLeod hasn't disliked all of my photos! Writing, "For capturing ye olde pub in a modern setting," he awarded my 2011 submission, Afternoon Tipplers, second place: one of 22 placing second, out of 291 photos entered.