Blended Beer. Cheating or not?

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For Contests - Is Blending Cheating?

  • Yes

  • No

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weremichael said:
I am well aware of the style guides changing as recently as a few years ago. My point is that certain styles (I believe that Strong was talking about blending hoppy beers) are not blended (traditionally) and that nowhere in the style guide is blending mentioned for those beers.

Those that point out the argument that Macro and Micro Breweries blend IPAs APAs etc is true. Their reasoning is to sell their consumers a consistent product, not to win a homebrew competition. I am not saying that blending isn't as much of a craft as brewing. In the past when I was really into Daniel's Designing Great Beers and the history of certain styles of beer (around 2001 or so), I became obsessed with Old Ales and Stock Ales. I spent several years building up Old Ales and blending them with the younger beers. I learned a lot about the craft of blending and how it affected my brewing.

My point (and I appreciate and respect the civility of the counterpoints so far) is if one plays the game of style then they need to respect the history of the style and honor the style by brewing it to style. So if one enters a blended example of a style that is not traditionally blended into a competition, then they are a cheater. The word is pretty harsh. But I always inferred (possibly incorrectly) that there is a gentlemen's agreement that one brews to the historic examples given in the style guide. So if the beer is traditionally blended, blend away. If not, don't blend.

-Michael
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Two points. The BJCP style guidelines are not meant to be exhaustive in any respect and certainly not with respect to the history of a style and techniques employed. Second, the BJCP style guidelines are EXPLICITLY not intended to direct the behavior of brewers. Their only purpose is to describe common beer styles and group them so that they may be judged effectively.

ETA: A third point which I am repeating, what categories are judged (whether or not they are BJCP categories) and what techniques are allowed at a particular competition is completely outside of the scope of the BJCP.

Whether or not blending is allowed is the decision of the competition organizer, and as far as I know none has ever forbidden it (but some people in this thread are candidates for being the first to do so).
 
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David, I applaud you my friend. It must have taken you a hell of a long time to figure out how to work Nietzsche into a beer related thread.:tank:
 
remilard said:
. . . the BJCP style guidelines are EXPLICITLY not intended to direct the behavior of brewers. Their only purpose is to describe common beer styles and group them so that they may be judged effectively.
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Interesting. Would you please provide a link to this "explicitly" that you speak of?
 
If you throw random color on paper, is it art? No
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Possibly, yes.

BTW: I'm not down with this accidental beer concept.

If you brewed a beer (using methods including possibly blending), EVALUATED IT TO A STYLE guideline and entered it, then there is no accident.

You can follow every recommendation under the sun to increase your chances of repeating a beer, but there is certainly no guarantee of it. Who is to say that your carefully brewed un-blended beer is not a one off? An accident.
 
From BJCP FAQ section (here)

#
#
Styles are evil, according to a well-known brewer.

OK, that's not really a question, but a common comment that deserves to be addressed.

This type of comment often comes from people who misunderstand the purpose of our Style Guidelines. Our guidelines are descriptive, not proscriptive. That is, they describe similar beers as produced by world class brewers. Our guidelines are not meant to tell those brewers how to brew. As styles evolve, so do the guidelines (not vice versa). We cite commercial examples for our styles to help judges understand how they should taste.

A common argument is that styles inhibit the creativity of the brewer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the styles in the BJCP Style Guidelines are very wide open, and allow significant creativity on the part of the brewer. Look at the English Mild and Old Ale categories for examples. If a brewer wishes to create and enter a totally unique and creative entry, we have the Specialty Beer category for just that purpose. Knock yourself out; just tell us what you intended so we have some idea of how to evaluate your beer.

Without beer styles, competitions would be nearly impossible to conduct. Judging would simply become a hedonistic event, where judges would simply pick beers according to their preference. The outcome would be totally arbitrary and would depend on the background and preferences of those who judge their beers. This is not a desirable situation.
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(emphasis mine)

I think that's explicit.
 
This type of comment often comes from people who misunderstand the purpose of our Style Guidelines. Our guidelines are descriptive, not proscriptive. That is, they describe similar beers as produced by world class brewers. Our guidelines are not meant to tell those brewers how to brew. As styles evolve, so do the guidelines (not vice versa). We cite commercial examples for our styles to help judges understand how they should taste.

A common argument is that styles inhibit the creativity of the brewer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the styles in the BJCP Style Guidelines are very wide open, and allow significant creativity on the part of the brewer. Look at the English Mild and Old Ale categories for examples. If a brewer wishes to create and enter a totally unique and creative entry, we have the Specialty Beer category for just that purpose. Knock yourself out; just tell us what you intended so we have some idea of how to evaluate your beer.

Without beer styles, competitions would be nearly impossible to conduct. Judging would simply become a hedonistic event, where judges would simply pick beers according to their preference. The outcome would be totally arbitrary and would depend on the background and preferences of those who judge their beers. This is not a desirable situation.
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http://www.bjcp.org/bjcpfaq.php#stylefaq

EDIT: Redundant post. **** it, I used bold face AND red font AND underlined. I'm sick of this argument.
 
Ollllo, it's interesting that this isn't the first heated topic where we've mind melded.

All of this random chance stuff is a little far fetched. You might brew, blend or barf out a gold winning beer one time out of a hundred batches even if you're a rank amateur.

The bottom line with this debate is that you'll never know if someone submits a blended beer. If they send in a mix of RIS and Munich Helles, and it tastes like a perfect Northern Brown, it will be judged that way. Just because they ask you to fill in your recipe doesn't mean you have to be honest about it. Let your own personal moral code drive your decisions within the boundaries of the rules of the comp.

If I were judging and later found that I scored a 3-beer blend higher than a one-shot brew, I'd say wow, good job.
 
This is a truly retarded set of arguments.

As far as I can tell, intent doesn't matter. It would, if all else were equal, because then the intent would be the only difference. In the real world, however, everyone has their vision of what their beer ought to be, and the reality of what it turned out like, and there's always some gap between them.

There seems to be some opinion that blending somehow is unfair or diminishes the efforts of the other brewers somehow. This might be the case if someone were blending say... an IPA 50/50 with a commercial example, but if the person's blending homebrew, I fail to see where the harm is.

Let's say I was brewing a Dortmunder, and for some reason, my hop utilization was better than I expected and it was too hoppy. The beer's ok, but not really in style or what I like, so I add some combination of my own Helles and Pilsener to nudge the beer into the proper values for the style in terms of FG, taste and IBU.

If it falls within the published guidelines after blending, it is still a Dortmunder, is it not? What else would you use to determine whether it is or isn't that type of beer? And if it's that style of beer, why shouldn't it be judged against other examples of the style, regardless of whether or not it was originally brewed as that style? Or for that matter, since some styles occur along a sort of continuum (Helles - Dortmunder - Pilsner), why not enter a beer in the style that it most resembles, rather than the style that it was originally brewed to be? (i.e. enter a hoppy Helles as a Dortmunder, etc...)

I've been reading homebrew threads and literature a lot longer (18 years) than I've been seriously brewing (about 10), and I've never seen anything that even implied that the brewer's original intent was the important part.
 
Our guidelines are not meant to tell those brewers how to brew.
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slowbie said:
I think that's explicit.
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Sure is. Thanks.


This is also on the BJCP website:
Remember, the major goal of competitions
is to educate the entrants and
to help them improve their brewing.
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So, the next time I enter an underhopped IPA in a competition I'll be expecting the comment,
"Blend a IIPA into this and you'll have a great beer." :D
 
Just thought of this (and again i skipped some replies around page 16&17)

But the argument is that beer used as an ingredient is where the "cheating of blending" arrives...

Fair enough...

What if I was to add to my recipe x# of grain, xOZ hops, & another yeast...but the manner in which I add them would be to first combine them separately then introduce the rest of the ingredients to which they also have been combined. Is that blending?


There are many recipes in cooking (and yes I know cooking isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison..but bear with me here) that would say take some of this and combine in a saucepan fist before you introduce to the rest of the ingredients.

Instead of a suacepan...I'm using an MLT/BK/Fermentor first.
 
JayInJersey said:
Just thought of this (and again i skipped some replies around page 16&17)

What if I was to add to my recipe x# of grain, xOZ hops, & another yeast...but the manner in which I add them would be to first combine them separately then introduce the rest of the ingredients to which they also have been combined. Is that blending?


There are many recipes in cooking (and yes I know cooking isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison..but bear with me here) that would say take some of this and combine in a saucepan fist before you introduce to the rest of the ingredients.

Instead of a suacepan...I'm using an MLT/BK/Fermentor first.
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There are many recipes in cooking where it is absolutely necessary to cook ingredients separately before combining. e.g. a Boston Cream Pie cannot be made without cooking the pie and filling separately. I feel the same is true of beers; there are flavors that you can get from blending that simply cannot be achieved any other way.
 
I think the argument now becomes ethical or not. Cheating (yes my own word) I think was a bit harsh. Today I have a better outlook on what I feel to be pretty balanced, thank you all for that!

Blending, for some, can be a great way to arrive at a beer that needs a little work to fit into a category. Blending two fermented brews can be considered by some as a process by which to correct niches directed from style guidelins.

Some also consider this as just that, a blend, and don't feel that it is part of the brewing process. The BJCP guidelines suggest that it is not their intent on telling brewers how to brew (brew being the key word, a process that does not include blending two fully attenuated and fermented beers).

Some can argue that blending is as important to brewing as it is to Vintners.

I think that if I entered a beer that was not blended and lost to a beer that was blended I would say like BobbyM says "good job". But....I have to admit I would be a little miffed and would mull over it for a long while (yes whine about it to whomever listens). To be clear, I never entered a contest as I feel I am not at that point in my brewing skills. Although I love my beer, I feel I need to learn more on brewing before I make that step.

For me to know that I can make a beer from scratch and bottle the end product without aid from blending to meet any style guideline, that is accomplishment right now, for me. I am not saying that blending isn't, the art is a science and can be greatly appreciated and in some categories is welcome. The end results can be phenominal for sure.

Also one other point if you will... If the beer is what is awarded, then why are brewers who brewed the beer who won always featured and written about in beer media?
 
Remember, the major goal of competitions
is to educate the entrants and
to help them improve their brewing.
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The one problem with this point that you keep bringing up is that this thread has shown that most experienced brewers consider blending to be a part of the brewing process.

You could argue, of course, that HBT is a minor representation of a much larger group of brewers, but I would say that the brewers here on HBT, and certainly many of those that consider blending part of the brewing process, are far and away more reputable sources than your average homebrewer (i.e. me).

Before I dive into this next part, I do admit that I have never entered a comp. so I do not have firsthand experience, but I have done a significant amount of lurking here and have read many comments that others have received on their entries.
To your example, they probably would not tell you to blend it with a IIPA, you're right on that count. However, most of the comments that I've seen don't give instructions on how to fix problems like that, but would say something like: "This beer lacks the necessary hop flavors and aroma that defines this style." They then leave it to you as a brewer to decide how to fix it. And yes, if they gave suggestions on how to fix it, they would probably suggest additions to your recipe rather than blending a beer, but which is easier: adding more hops the next time you brew, or brewing an beer specifically to complement what you already have? I don't think you can attribute that to whether blending is right or wrong.

P.S. I was just going to watch this thread and not comment at all, but I couldn't help myself. Sorry.
 
Bobby_M said:
The bottom line with this debate is . . . Let your own personal moral code drive your decisions within the boundaries of the rules of the comp.
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This is exactly my opinion. I would not enter a blended beer into a catagory where it's not part of the historic process, but I don't expect that from someone else. And if they win, good for them.

Considering them a cheat is wrong. It's clearly not against any rules. If I enter a competition, it's to test my skill at brewing a single style of beer. For someone else the purpose may be to produce a winning beer. If we both get what we were after, no one loses.
 
I keep seeing a lot of people use the phrase "historic"...but how much of what you do is actually akin to the "historic"?

I'm not sure an electric RIMs setup with a Recirculating ice bath would be "historic"
Or even spot on ferm temp control for that matter.


So if these advancements aren't considered "cheating" why would another...such as blending?
 
slowbie said:
. . . this thread has shown that most experienced brewers consider blending to be a part of the brewing process.
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This is purely speculation on your part. All this thread proves is that the blenders on this forum feel the need to justify there practice more than the non-blenders.
 
Willie3 said:
....it's like Pringles, betcha can't eat just one.
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No kidding. I watched this thread from the beginning and managed to not comment for two days and fifteen pages and here I am on my fourth comment in three hours on this thread.
 
olllllo said:
Possibly, yes.

BTW: I'm not down with this accidental beer concept.

If you brewed a beer (using methods including possibly blending), EVALUATED IT TO A STYLE guideline and entered it, then there is no accident.

You can follow every recommendation under the sun to increase your chances of repeating a beer, but there is certainly no guarantee of it. Who is to say that your carefully brewed un-blended beer is not a one off? An accident.
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Already explained this in a follow-up post. If you buy into the subjective comment, then beer rating and award-winning is nullified and all due to subjective interpretation. It's not to say the beer is bad, it's just you are not responsible for creating it.

mpruett said:
Let's say I was brewing a Dortmunder, and for some reason, my hop utilization was better than I expected and it was too hoppy. The beer's ok, but not really in style or what I like, so I add some combination of my own Helles and Pilsener to nudge the beer into the proper values for the style in terms of FG, taste and IBU.

I've never seen anything that even implied that the brewer's original intent was the important part.
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>"For the slight miss in IBU or gravity due to unknown, lets call them, imperfections in the hops (not well-recorded AA, let's say) or slight miss in mashing temp by 1-2 degrees (or the machine weighing the grains was inaccurate a little), I think are dismissible, but only a certain extent. If you want to take responsibility for a beer, you should have a lot of experience with that beer (in making it, knowledge about what goes in to it, exact amount of hops, etc etc.). I, personally wouldn't take it this far. I think it is enough to have a planned vision of what you are going to make and then act on that vision. If it does not turn out how you have seen it, keep working at it. Once you have it, master it. Only then can it be called your beer (unless, that is, you buy into the realm of the subjective and thence anyone can see the beer for whatever they want and it loses it's objective value and vision that you constructed it with. Think of a tarp with paint splattered on it randomly. Is this "art"? No. It is not. There is a purpose behind what an artist does and a certain objectivity in their creation that they have built it on and want people to see. People can claim to feel all sorts of percepts (e.g. emotions) it gives them, but these people completely miss the point). People that act (paint) without a purpose in mind are not making "art". I could keep going, but I don't feel it's as related. Another way to think of it is as a BMC drinker liking your beer because it's red and that is it. Does that make your beer good because it is red? Hell no. That is an amber ale brewed with: ______ ________ _______ etc. etc. You wonder why we hate BMC drinkers and don't like people who don't understand something for what it is.)."

Intent is looked at if you actually deserve the award. I can pour an old rasputin and a dopplebock together and submit it as my own, do you think I deserve an award? If the beer is good, that's nice and dandy (and maybe a good reference point for future brews), but you don't win. You didn't do anything. That's similar to covering a popular bands song, putting your own little spin on it (Additional bass line etc.) and claiming it your own.

JayInJersey said:
What if I was to add to my recipe x# of grain, xOZ hops, & another yeast...but the manner in which I add them would be to first combine them separately then introduce the rest of the ingredients to which they also have been combined. Is that blending?
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If that was your original goal, it should be fine under most circumstances.

slowbie said:
The one problem with this point that you keep bringing up is that this thread has shown that most experienced brewers consider blending to be a part of the brewing process.

"Remember, the major goal of competitions
is to educate the entrants and
to help them improve their brewing.
The one problem with this point that you keep bringing up is that this thread has shown that most experienced brewers consider blending to be a part of the brewing process."
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Most 'experienced brewers' that you speak of have the idea of blending in mind and (may) have the knowledge and background (experience) to do so. I'd digress to my argument that one (the person) should only get an award if they had experience with the beer and have worked at it from a vision they had, whether it be from past experienced, inspiration, ideas, etc. They have to work at it to call and know every step about what they are doing in order to claim responsibility for it.

A lot of this just ends up coming down to the beer getting the award and you just getting to hold on to it. I think a person getting the award relates more to a single brewery, as they have (in their mind) perfected a style and continue to make that single beer to the best of their abilities. Not everything can be calculated 100% accurately, but things like that are to be expected.
 
DavidSteel said:
I can pour an old rasputin and a dopplebock together and submit it as my own, do you think I deserve an award?
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We are well past the debate of whether or not blending commercial beers is ethical. Obviously it is not and is against the rules in most if not all competitions.

I don't have the time or patience to deal with the rest of what you wrote.
 
AnOldUR said:
This is purely speculation on your part. All this thread proves is that the blenders on this forum feel the need to justify there practice more than the non-blenders.
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Your mention of "blenders on this forum" makes me curious how many of us posting on this thread actually blend beer on a regular basis (or at all for that matter). I have defended the process of blending beer but the only time I've actually done it is when I brew 10 gallon batches. I don't have the equipment for a 10 gallon boil or ferment so I split the batch in two after the mash but before the boil. Unfortunately, I get different boil-off rates so after fermentation I go half and half from each fermenter into two kegs. I've never entered that beer into a competition but I wouldn't hesitate to. Does anyone else here ever blend beer for any reason? Has anyone here entered a blended beer into a competition?
 
AnOldUR said:
Just thought you might like to know what the poll question was. :p
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My apologies. However, no offense to you, but when it comes down to it, as a new brewer with limited personal experience, but plenty of experience reading HBT, I am going to trust the opinions of people like Yooper and olllllo before I'm going to trust yours. They have consistently proven themselves to be knowledgeable brewers and upstanding citizens (for the most part :D) throughout their many posts across this forum.

Also, IMHO (I'm really trying to keep the H in there, so I'm sorry if it doesn't seem like it), their logic makes sense, whereas yours seems arbitrary and groundless.
 
Why are you people still crying about others blending beers? You can't stop it from happening, and it seems obvious that nobody cares about what your individual rules are for what you consider proper brewing technique, or what you define as beer.
 
slowbie said:
. . . as a new brewer with limited personal experience, but plenty of experience reading HBT, I am going to trust the opinions of people like Yooper and olllllo before I'm going to trust yours. They have consistently proven themselves to be knowledgeable brewers and upstanding citizens (for the most part :D) throughout their many posts across this forum.

Also, IMHO (I'm really trying to keep the H in there, so I'm sorry if it doesn't seem like it), their logic makes sense, whereas yours seems arbitrary and groundless.
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So, this implies that I know nothing about brewing and that I raped the neighbors dog. Sure, I'm fine with that. ;)



This post pretty much sums up my position on blending. Please, oh well read, humble one, what exactly is arbitrary and groundless about it?
AnOldUR said:
This is exactly my opinion. I would not enter a blended beer into a catagory where it's not part of the historic process, but I don't expect that from someone else. And if they win, good for them.
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AnOldUR said:
Considering them a cheat is wrong. It's clearly not against any rules. If I enter a competition, it's to test my skill at brewing a single style of beer. For someone else the purpose may be to produce a winning beer. If we both get what we were after, no one loses.
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AnOldUR said:
This is purely speculation on your part. All this thread proves is that the blenders on this forum feel the need to justify there practice more than the non-blenders.
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For what it's worth, I don't blend my beers, although after having enjoyed their special blend "Dirty Beaver Juice" at the Bruery last weekend, I have been more interested in experimenting along these lines.

I simply support the position that there's nothing wrong with it. I don't see how it's different from adding DME to wort when you miss your target pre-boil gravity, adding yeast to a stuck fermentation, etc.
 
AnOldUR said:
Oh, I'd say that when "beer" becomes one of your ingredients for making beer, you've crossed the line.
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AnOldUR said:
The debate isn't about hot side / cold side. We’re obviously talking about the entire brewing process, which includes cold side additions. The discussion is if blending two different beers to make a third should be part of that process like dry hopping or wood aging.
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The fact that you don't consider the blending of two beers that are brewed by one homebrewer to be a legitimate part of the brewing process is what I find to be an arbitrary and groundless line.


AnOldUR said:
So, this implies that I know nothing about brewing and that I raped the neighbors dog. Sure, I'm fine with that. ;)
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I only meant to say that I know nothing about your brewing. For all I know you could be the best brewer in the world. But by the same token, for all I know, you don't know much about brewing. The point is: I DON'T KNOW. The upstanding citizen part was an attempt at a joke based on a recollection of one of Yooper's threads I read recently. I guess it didn't transfer well.

The point is, in my experience, Yooper and olllllo are people whose factual knowledge is true in my experience. I have also found that the opinions they form from this knowledge are opinions I tend to agree with. You, on the other hand, are an unknown. All I have read from you is in this thread.

I'm sorry if I offended you, that was not my intention. I can tell you one thing for sure, if you offered me your beer, I would accept, blended or not :) EDIT: (Oh yeah, and I'd give you one of mine, as soon as I have one worth sharing.)


Regardless of who was making what points, I came into this thread with an opinion closer to yours, and upon reading, have decided that I think blending one's homebrew is perfectly fine as a part of their brewing process. Obviously your opinion is not going to change and mine is unlikely to change either, especially since both sides have been basically rehashing the same points for the last ten pages (aren't forums great!) I didn't even want to get involved, and I don't know why I did, but I'm done now. Thanks for sharing your opinions and knowledge to help my learning and development as a new brewer.
 
slowbie said:
The fact that you don't consider the blending of two beers that are brewed by one homebrewer to be a legitimate part of the brewing process is what I find to be an arbitrary and groundless line.
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Everyone who enters a competition has that glimmer of hope that they may win something, but the reality is that for most us, we’re looking for two things; validation that our beer doesn’t suck and feedback on ways to make it better. Bobby_M mentioned if you "send in a mix of RIS and Munich Helles, and it tastes like a perfect Northern Brown, it will be judged that way. " This is true and if it’s the best Northern Brown it should win.

The reason I don’t consider blending part of MY brewing process (for competitions) is that the feedback I get won’t do a lot for me when I try to actually brew a Northern Brown. There’s nothing groundless or arbitrary about that.

Adding DME to correct a low OG or yeast for a stuck fermentation are things that can be corrected for the next time I brew. The complexities of figuring out how two finished beers came together to create a third would be hard to duplicate.

So if you’re happy with brewing a RIS and a Munich Helles every time you want a Northern Brown that’s your business. It’s just not the way I want to brew.
 
Me either. I don't think anyone really wants to brew blend batches. I know a few people who actually DO brew complimentary beers to end up with 10 gallons of decent APA rather than 5 gallons of underhopped APA. For most, they'd just drink it or dump it and go ahead and take another shot at it.

I'm defending the relevancy of blending despite the fact that I have never done it and don't plan to (except for the Flanders Brown if necessary).

I think we're going through a fun mental exercise here rather than dealing with a practical problem. Does anyone see Gorden Strong's method of fruiting in the same league as blending two beers? Fruit beers already have half a dozen ways of getting fruit into them.
 
AnOldUR said:
This is exactly my opinion. I would not enter a blended beer into a catagory where it's not part of the historic process, but I don't expect that from someone else. And if they win, good for them.
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There is not a single category that doesn't have blending in its historic process. Commercial breweries have been blending beers for hundreds of years. You would have a hard time finding a commercial beer that ISNT blended.
 
AnOldUR said:
Everyone who enters a competition has that glimmer of hope that they may win something, but the reality is that for most us, we’re looking for two things; validation that our beer doesn’t suck and feedback on ways to make it better. Bobby_M mentioned if you "send in a mix of RIS and Munich Helles, and it tastes like a perfect Northern Brown, it will be judged that way. " This is true and if it’s the best Northern Brown it should win.
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Again, you're making the absolutely ridiculous assumption that this is all random, and that theres no a HUGE amount of skill involved. You can't just throw beers together and get something good.


If a brewer is good enough to drink some of that RIS, and say, "hey, a little bit of pils, little bit of Munich, some nobles hops, maybe a touch of vienna, and this will make a fantastic Brown", then they know what they're doing, and understand the styles and ingredients much better than I (and most of the people on this forum) do. Finding the right balance in mixing two beers is significantly more difficult then just brewing a Brown Ale.



EDIT:

I just wanted to add another point here:

You are at a point as a brewer where you need honest feedback about your beer to learn how to be a better brewer. Thats where most of us are. There are those who have good enough taste buds, or knowledge, who are past the point of needing quick help and picking up off tastes.

Blending is a separate step, and there are people entering competitions to get feedback on how well they are doing that process. The fact that most of us aren't at the point where we can't use more feedback on simple recipes doesn't mean that there aren't people who are.
 
This may have been posted, I'm not going to go through 14 pages of bickering to find out, but this recently came up on AHA Tech talk:

"Michael, One final word on blending for competitions: "Maybe a policy statement from BJCP would also settle the matter." We did; I did. In my earlier reply to this issue I, in my position as BJCP Competition Director, said that the BJCP does not care if the entrant blends or not. It is OK as far as the BJCP is concerned. Judges only judge the beer that's put before them. We do not read the recipes or know who made it or how they made it. Judges don't care. We will judge the beer compared to published, objective standards and provide appropriate evaluation and feedback. Beyond that, the BJCP and judges, don't care if the brewer blended, nailed everything as intended or made a dry stout and it turned out a great American Dark Lager and the brewer entered as such. Local competition organizers may if they wish set local competition rules and could say "no blending." I would never do that as a competition organizer but someone can if they wish. And brewers can chose to enter competitions based on the published rules.

David Houseman
BJCP Competition Director"

There is everyone's answer. It's perfectly acceptable to blend as far as the BJCP is concerned.
 
Synovia said:
Again, you're making the absolutely ridiculous assumption that this is all random, and that theres no a HUGE amount of skill involved. You can't just throw beers together and get something good.
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There’s really no point in responding to YOUR ridiculous statements. Numerous times in this thread I’ve already pointed out that I see it as an admirable skill. But that for ME it has no place in competition.


Synovia said:
Blending is a separate step, and there are people entering competitions to get feedback on how well they are doing that process.
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Well, we’re making progress. We agree that it’s a separate step and a different process from actual brewing. Not cheating. No less noble. Just different.
 

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