I brewed a tweaked version of the brown ale and am thinking of entering it in comps. What category would it best fit in? I don't think it's quite the standard brown ale... Thoughts?
Depending on the judges, IME, it can either dominate as an American Brown or get a mid-20. That is, depending on how much the judges are willing to accept a very hoppy version of the style.
If you want honest feedback, enter it in 10C. If you want to up your odds of winning, enter it in 10c and 23 ("India Brown Ale: American Brown Ale brewed to IPA strength").
My recent experience makes me suggest 10C - American Brown Ale.
I just entered a pretty good example of the JBA into a comp in Catagory 23, and described it as an Imperial American Brown (mine wound up around 7.5% ABV). I explained it simply as a 7.5% ABV American Brown, firmly bittered with PNW hops. There were no critiques due to brewing flaws, but all three judges complained that it was not "imperial" enough. It resulted in scores of 33/34/35.
I am kind of down on Cat 23, because I think your description really opens the door for a judge to critique against, rather than just scoring the beer based on the quality of the brew.
Also, if you are entering it in a California competition (as I see you're from), then 10C. While the States are slowly eeking their way toward equilibrium, there is still a geographical bias toward hop-forward beers in the West.
Thanks for the input guys! Didn't really mess with the gravity, IBUs or the such. I used slightly different ingredients. I'll definitely go with 10 then.
Janet's Brown Ale, Category?
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