RALEIGH — The Premium Book for this year’s N.C. State Fair is now available and includes two new contests: beer-brewing and kids cookie decorating.

The book provides details on the fair’s 32,000 competitions in 50 categories, ranging from culinary competitions to livestock shows. Competitors will receive more than $600,000 in prizes this year, officials say.

Although alcohol is still prohibited at the State Fair, North Carolina craft and home brewers will be able to compete for prizes in 15 categories of beer, including light lager, American pale ale and English pale ale. Like the fair’s 13-year-old wine competition, a panel of judges, not the public, will taste and evaluate the beer.

The Kids Kookie Dekorating Kontest will take place daily at 4 p.m. Oct. 17-20, with ribbons and prizes for several age categories.

The Premium Book is split between livestock and general entries and contains information about contest dates, fees, requirements and judging criteria. The book can be found online at ncstatefair.org/2012, and hard copies are available at the Fairgrounds administration building at 1025 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh.

“Traditionally, premiums, or cash prizes, were offered at the N.C. State Fair as an incentive to encourage agricultural advances,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a release. “Over time, more and more categories were added, giving us the diverse offering of competitions we are familiar with today.”

Competition entry forms will be available Aug. 1, and deadlines for each contest are in the Premium Book. The 11-day fair opens Oct. 11.