best styles to win comps?

I'm interested in entering some competitions now. I've entered one before, did pretty well but didn't win, and judged one too, but nothing BJCP. I was curious as to whether it's a good idea to enter certain styles based on the fact that there will generally be less entries and/or the style is difficult to brew.

For example, one beer I have going right now--the Pious old world--seems to do pretty well in comps. Just hazarding a guess, I believe this might be due to the fact that the beer is great, it's difficult and expensive to make, and it takes months to mature. This would lead me to believe that Belgian strong ales might be a good general category to brew. I also love them, and it's a shame to have to part with a few bottles, but if it must be done, so be it.

I tend to either brew Belgian or American, and American styles are so popular and hop-focused that it seems difficult to set yourself apart from the pack. Thoughts?

the best styles to enter into a competition are the ones you are able to brew most accurately and consistently.

rexbanner said:

I'm interested in entering some competitions now. I've entered one before, did pretty well but didn't win, and judged one too, but nothing BJCP. I was curious as to whether it's a good idea to enter certain styles based on the fact that there will generally be less entries and/or the style is difficult to brew.

For example, one beer I have going right now--the Pious old world--seems to do pretty well in comps. Just hazarding a guess, I believe this might be due to the fact that the beer is great, it's difficult and expensive to make, and it takes months to mature. This would lead me to believe that Belgian strong ales might be a good general category to brew. I also love them, and it's a shame to have to part with a few bottles, but if it must be done, so be it.

I tend to either brew Belgian or American, and American styles are so popular and hop-focused that it seems difficult to set yourself apart from the pack. Thoughts?

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I don't think there is any one style that is easier than any other. In order to get a great score, you must be scored high in the BJCP guidelines. If the beer is to style, no matter what the style, it would score higher than a great tasting beer that everyone loves but doesn't fit the style criteria.

Study some of the BJCP guidelines, and make the beer exactly to that description to win in competitions.

Traditionally, categories 10A, 10B, 14B and 14C have the most entries, at least in the competitions I've judged and ran.

Categories 1A-D and 2A-C tend to have the least. But those are harder to get perfect.

Specialty ales tend to have more entries, also.

GilaMinumBeer said:

the best styles to enter into a competition are the ones you are able to brew most accurately and consistently.

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No ****.

rexbanner said:

No ****.

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He wasn't being obnoxious. It's the truth. If you enter 2A, and you're the ONLY beer in it and only score a 27, you won't win.

Categories are usually combined for the purposes of awarding prizes, and many beers will score in the high 30s-low 40s. If you can make a beer that will score 44, no matter WHAT style, you should win and maybe even get BOS.

If you make a beer that tastes great, but misses the style guidelines, you could score very low. It's not a matter of what tastes great, it's a matter of what scores high.

From what I've seen, big, aggressive styles tend to win BOS more than the quieter, more subtle styles. Say you have a great blonde and a great RIS going head to head in the BOS. The RIS will usually win. Not always, but in my experience, more often than not.

Is your goal to win a competition or to make beer that you like and see if others like it too?

Why not just brew what you like and use it as a challenge to create even better versions of what you like?

rexbanner said:

No ****.

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Yooper said:

He wasn't being obnoxious. It's the truth. If you enter 2A, and you're the ONLY beer in it and only score a 27, you won't win.

Categories are usually combined for the purposes of awarding prizes, and many beers will score in the high 30s-low 40s. If you can make a beer that will score 44, no matter WHAT style, you should win and maybe even get BOS.

If you make a beer that tastes great, but misses the style guidelines, you could score very low. It's not a matter of what tastes great, it's a matter of what scores high.

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I was being serious so, yeah, what he ^ said.

My observations after stewarding for the West Regionals - SA Longshot.

All styles have the ability to become BOS.

Concentrate on the basics, including sanitation and carbonation.
A Dopplebock should not smell like Asparagus, just saying.

Take the time to craft a great beer, and it will stand out in ANY category.

IIRC, the average scores were around 31-35. Only 4 beers ( the whole day ) scored 40 or above. seriously.

If you want to win BOS, you probably want something big (although "Pours Lite" won BOS a few years ago in a local comp).

If you want to better your chances in a category, check last year's results and see how many entries they had in certain categories. In a 765 entry local comp earlier this year, I think there were single digit entries in some categories and 50+ entries in others (American IPA, Spice/Herb/Veggie, and Specialty Beer).

IMO, the key to winning in home brew competitions is very simple. Enter as many beers as you can. The competitions are intentionally set up to make it fairly easy to place somewhere. Obviously, it helps a lot if you brew good beer, but that's not difficult to achieve.

rexbanner said:

I tend to either brew Belgian or American, and American styles are so popular and hop-focused that it seems difficult to set yourself apart from the pack. Thoughts?

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Well your snarky attitude won't get you far here or in brewing competitions...the fact is you set yourself apart from the pack by brewing GOOD beer, consistently.

If there's 100 beers entered in a stout competition, the one that wins is the best beer, closest to style, no flaws, etc.

its not 'fancy' or 'a novelty' that catches the judges attention...its good beer. Period.

KingBrianI said:

From what I've seen, big, aggressive styles tend to win BOS more than the quieter, more subtle styles. Say you have a great blonde and a great RIS going head to head in the BOS. The RIS will usually win. Not always, but in my experience, more often than not.

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See I suspected something along the lines of this. Human beings are in some ways predictable. Naturally, if judges have to score 20 entries of APA, 20 entries of American IPA, and 5 entries of tripel, it only makes sense that on some level the tripels are going to stick out a little bit more in their mind. Also, I know it's a stupid example, but beeradvocate members rate bigger beers higher. Of course it all matters about meeting the style guidelines, but it seems more likely that a to-style RIS would stand out more than a blonde. No guarantees, though.

Oh, and as for others like the gentleman above me: chill out. I know you need to brew good beer to win comps.

IMHO, you're overthinking it too much. Relax, don't worry, and brew a good beer.

Yooper said:

I don't think there is any one style that is easier than any other. In order to get a great score, you must be scored high in the BJCP guidelines. If the beer is to style, no matter what the style, it would score higher than a great tasting beer that everyone loves but doesn't fit the style criteria.
.

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I agree.
Making sure the beer fits the BJCP catagory is critical to winning, but pushing the envelope in any catagory gets the judges attention much faster than something smack in the middle, and more often than not will win in that catagory.

boo boo said:

I agree.
Making sure the beer fits the BJCP catagory is critical to winning, but pushing the envelope in any catagory gets the judges attention much faster than something smack in the middle, and more often than not will win in that catagory.

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I dunno, I wouldn't call my APA. A mini-IPA, and it took BOS (still waiting for me score sheet, so I don't know how many points it got, the entire comp could have been rubbish).

I think you also have to remember that judging is subjective.

MBasile said:

I think you also have to remember that judging is subjective.

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This is quite true, and if you read Gordon Strongs book Brewing Better Beer, he tells of this and more when it comes to comps. Placing in the sampling order, how the beer was treated during shipment/storage etc.

As for comps I agree. I recently got a bronze for an APA, but don't know how many entries were in 10A or what I scored, as I haven't got my sheets back yet either.

BTW, mine was a middle of the road entry also. I don't brew for comps, but just enter what I have on tap, and that's what I like.

rexbanner said:

Naturally, if judges have to score 20 entries of APA, 20 entries of American IPA, and 5 entries of tripel, it only makes sense that on some level the tripels are going to stick out a little bit more in their mind

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First off there is no competition where judges should be doing a flight of IPAs followed by a flight of Belgian Strong (or Tripels, as you have it). This is because you won't be able to pick up the flavors and aromas in a Tripel very easily if you've already been judging IPAs.

Second, each beer in a flight is scored individually based on several criteria (Aroma, Appearance, Flavor, Mouthfeel, Overall Impression) as it comes. You don't taste all the beers, then go back and assign scores.

Third beers are judged against a set of guidelines to determine how closely they those guidelines, NOT to determine which one sticks out more.


The reason people suggest that more extreme examples of a style tend to do better is due to palate fatigue. If you are judging 20 IPAs after a while your palate gets fatigued and your taste buds become less sensitive over time, so the scores tend to end up very similar to one another. So, to get out of that rut if your IPA is at the end of the flight and loaded up on IBUs, it may stick out a bit more compared to a bunch of beers in the normal IBU range for that style. Then again, if your beer is the first one or two in the flight it's going to stick out as quite possibly too bitter for the style.

weirdboy said:

The reason people suggest that more extreme examples of a style tend to do better is due to palate fatigue. If you are judging 20 IPAs after a while your palate gets fatigued and your taste buds become less sensitive over time, so the scores tend to end up very similar to one another. So, to get out of that rut if your IPA is at the end of the flight and loaded up on IBUs, it may stick out a bit more compared to a bunch of beers in the normal IBU range for that style. Then again, if your beer is the first one or two in the flight it's going to stick out as quite possibly too bitter for the style.

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So basically, it's a good idea to just enter a lot of comps or a lot of entries then? Also, I know pushing the envelope isn't necessarily a good thing. What I was asking was if bigger, more difficult styles like strong dark ale have a higher chance at winning, all beers being brewed equally?

I mean it sort of makes sense. It's inarguably more difficult to brew a good strong dark than a good APA. For this current beer I have going, it costed 3x as much as an APA, required two vials plus a starter, a thermowell with johnson control, and oxygen wand.

It has nothing to do with entering a lot of comps, IMO.

If you make an excellent beer, it will stand on its own merits. Is it guaranteed to medal in every comp? No, it is not. Sometimes judges make mistakes, sometimes the beer isn't handled very well, etc. Is it more likely to win than a "good" beer? Hell yes.

Again as Yooper said, categories that are underrepresented are usually combined in competitions, so entering something that's only got a few entries isn't going to get you anywhere anyway. A good Belgian Dark Strong Ale is fine, but it is near guaranteed to be up against other good Dark Strongs as well as good Belgian Golden Strongs, Belgian Blondes, Belgian Dubbels, and Belgian Tripels. What you should really focus on is improving your beer, and improving your own judging abilities so that you can make better beer. Keeping in mind that when I say "better" I don't necessarily mean "lacking in off flavors" so much as "beer that exactly matches style guidelines, and maybe even looks, tastes, and smells similar to one or more of the commercial examples of that style".


If you haven't done it, you might try signing up to judge at a local competition, or at least steward, so you can see what it is like.

Ideally you should be pitching enough yeast, oxygenating, and controlling term temps on all bees, not just the expensive ones