State Fairs and Beer Competitions

I’m thinking about this year of getting into both of these in this year, now I am really not anticipating winning the whole shooting match, but really just want to have some cheap fun. How many people are all really doing this and can you give someone some pointers, so I don’t go out and just embrace myself. Is it OK to use clones of well known beers or is that looked down at?
Thanks

I enter all my local competitions where I can drop off entries.

You can check out the BJCP Competition Schedule: Competition Schedule

The best pointer is to make great beer

Honestly, the biggest advantage of comps is feedback. You shouldn't expect to win. You should use the feedback from your scoresheets to evaluate your beer and what maybe you need to tweak.

I wouldn't enter everything you have. It really adds up cost-wise (usually it's $5 to $7 an entry) and if your beers have some serious flaws that you can discern yourself, the judges will be just pointing out something you already know. Case in point: I entered an Irish Red that was too roasty and too dark but still a great tasting beer. Scoresheets read that it was too roasty, too dark but a tasty beer. Waste of my $.

Agree with BrewThruYou here. Winning is cool, but brewers tend to overlook the value of having an experienced beer judge evaluate your brew. I've entered things that I knew had flaws, but just didn't know what it was, for the sole purpose of isolating the problem.
As far as comps, I find that fairs have more leeway when it comes to style guidelines as they usually don't delve into as many sub-categories as say, the AHA competition. I think you can get away with a little more experimentation. At least that's been my experience.

And take the judges notes with a grain of salt. They don't always give a true report of the style you enter, but they are the best we have.
I support my National competitions and the BJCP program in general.

What of the type or really the receipts, are the beers that you entry into the companions your own or clones? Is it the coming up with your own beer or how good you can brew any beer?

Gear101 said:

What of the type or really the receipts, are the beers that you entry into the companions your own or clones? Is it the coming up with your own beer or how good you can brew any beer?

Click to expand...

It's a competition of how well your beer nails the BJCP guidelines for the style you've entered. Recipe doesn't matter, but technique does as the beer must be free of off-flavors and other flaws. Here are the BJCP guidelines so you can "judge" your own beer to see how they compare to the guidelines:

BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Index

Here's the scoresheet that is used: http://www.bjcp.org/docs/SCP_BeerScoreSheet.pdf

Even if the beer has an awesome taste, it will be judged by those guidelines. If it's supposed to be a malty style, and yours is lacking a malt flavor, it will get gigged. So brewing "to style" is important in these competitions.

You can enter beers that don't fit the guidelines, in a "specialty" category, 23. I had an oaked imperial amber (like oaked Arrogant Bastard) that fit in 23, while most of my other beers have always been to style and fit in the guidelines.

As Yooper said, the most important part of doing well in a competition is how closely your beer exemplifies the style. Clones are totally acceptable, but a clone will only do well if you are cloning a beer that is a good example of it's style. For example a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone will do well when entered as an American Pale Ale.

Second most important aspect is a clean fermentation, and no off-flavors. A beer that is fermented clean, and fits the style will rise to the top.

The BJCP style guidelines that Yooper linked to above are the best reference for what the judges will be looking for in each style. Read those over and over, it helps.