Competition Advice

Oh I forgot, I also used 1oz of East Kent Goldings...

Just thought I would point out that a 29 and a 31 are not bad scores...especially for just beginning. That's awesome that you got second on your porter, but I wouldn't be discouraged by scores in the 30 range. Hopefully that came with some good feedback and you can take some advice away from it.

FloridaCracker said:

Due to short notice, it was in primary for 2 weeks, then bottle conditioned for two weeks (yes, it was a tad green but thankfully the carbonation built up)

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That's probably your issue. Although honest a 29 and 31 aren't bad scores at all. That's a solid B/B-.

Well thanks guys for the words of support an encouragement. I guess my scores arn't that bad if that is a B/B- range.

As to my questions,

Should I keep my scot in 9C or move it to 21A?

Whats an easy beer that is great during the summer?

FloridaCracker said:

Well thanks guys for the words of support an encouragement. I guess my scores arn't that bad if that is a B/B- range.

As to my questions,

Should I keep my scot in 9C or move it to 21A?

Whats an easy beer that is great during the summer?

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Agreed on 30's being decent scores.

Can you smell or taste something that you associate with heather? If so, go 21B and mention both that the beer uses heather and where/when. Be warned that if you name an ingredient, judges will want to taste or smell it.

Saisons are great summer beers!

Hate to echo what others are saying, but...those are good scores. In case you forgot or didn't know, 29 is the top of the "Good" range and over 30 is "Very Good." Your expectations may be unrealistic, especially for a young beer.

Sorry I don't know enough about the style to comment more usefully.

I would enter in category 23 as it is a reproduction of a historical style.

Hey all just joined, looking for some advise. I want to enter a comp. with a southern English brown, but I added brown sugar. Would this make my beer a specialty beer or still a southern brown ale? Thanks

The way the scoring works in BJCP is based entirely on how well the beer matches the description in the style guidelines. It has nothing to do with what the beer was originally designed or planned to be, but everything to do with how it smells, looks, tastes, and feels on the day of the competition, compared to the description of that style and using the commercial examples listed in the guidelines as a point of reference.

If the addition of the brown sugar significantly changed the character of the beer (e.g. it is now somewhat boozy from the additional sugar) then you might enter it into, say category 23 with an appropriate description and using southern english brown as the base or "classic" style for the entry. If it is basically the same then enter it as a southern english brown.

One of the best things you could do if you are interested in entering competitions would be to get yourself a copy of the book - "Brewing Classic Styles." It goes through every category and substyle. Provides a short overview of each and a tried and true recipe...... Each of the recipe's provides a very sound starting point. Brew them as written, then rebrew them and tweak them if you would like. This will allow you to begin to get a feel for different styles, and really eliminates the need for "hours of research."
As to entering the beer you brewed- I do think the fact that it was only 4 weeks old would be detrimental and is likely to be better after more age. I can't say for sure if the heather is enough to put it in a specialty class. You could just enter it in both - I have done that with specialty beers in the past that I was unsure of, just to get a benchmark of where they seem to compete best.