Depends on the contest. I sent in a couple of beers to NHC last year that everyone loved. Neither made it past the 1st round because a significant portion of the judging criteria in the NHC is how close it meets official style guidelines. Got a couple bronzes in the 1st though, which is kinda cool. I also found out after the fact that which style section you enter it under makes alot of difference. I had a smoked porter thatw as very lightly smoked. Entered it in the porter category...probably should have put it in the "other smoked beer" category.
