Help with Competition Style Guidelines

I brewed what was supposed to be an Imperial Stout, but got VERY low efficiency. The beer still turned out great, and I'm thinking about entering it into a competition as an American Stout. My problem is that the numbers do not really fit in any category. The OG was too low to be Imperial, but the IBUs are too high to be American. Will the high IBU be counted against me in a competition?

OG: 1.07
FG: 1.011
IBU: 89

Also, I have the recipe plugged into Brew Builder and on Brewtoad. They are saying FG should have been 1.018 and 1.021. (Safale US-05)

Brewtoad Recipe

Numbers don't matter in a competition. As a judge, you have no access to the OG/FG/IBU data.

The real question is, how does it drink?
If it drinks like a hoppy, bitter, moderately strong roasty ale... then it's an American Stout.
If it drinks like a black, roasty barleywine... it's a RIS.

My bet is that it'll be an American Stout.

AmandaK said:

Numbers don't matter in a competition. As a judge, you have no access to the OG/FG/IBU data.

The real question is, how does it drink?
If it drinks like a hoppy, bitter, moderately strong roasty ale... then it's an American Stout.
If it drinks like a black, roasty barleywine... it's a RIS.

My bet is that it'll be an American Stout.

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Awesome! That was quick. I think it will fit as an American Stout. I just didn't know if they got to view the numbers. Actually, I thought they would. Thanks!

Old-Ned said:

Awesome! That was quick. I think it will fit as an American Stout. I just didn't know if they got to view the numbers. Actually, I thought they would. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Nah, we're pretty blind except when it comes to that. The only time we get more information than the style is during the Spice/Herb/Veggie, Fruit or Specialty.