A question on beer style for beer judges, or folks who play them on TV

My local brew club has monthly beer contests, with each month being a different BJCP style (style are at http://www.bjcp.org/2004_BJCP_Guidelines.pdf). I brewed an American Ale recipe which I changed a bit, including the addition of more DME to bump up the malt characteristics and ABV a bit (used 7 pounds instead of 6 DME). I notice that the wort had a higher SG than the style guidelines suggest.

Does this mean I am no longer in that style, or, since other style guidelines (hop contentrations, hop varieties, type of malt, types of grains, etc) were in style, that I just brewed a higher ABV version of the same style?

You are no longer in the style. The rigid style guidelines are one of the very silly things about competitive brewing IMHO. It stifles creativity and appeals to rule-followers rather than adventurous sorts like you and I, Thor

You have to be in the range of gravity, IBU and color to be in a style. It's like freaking pedigree dog shows.

Cheers

Sounds familiar!

just dont tell anybody...im wondering though if you would have been within the guidlines if you didnt add 1 lbs of dme. my calculations give you an og of 1.054 with 6 lbs. unless you didnt use any other malts/adjuncts this is within the style, but your only 6 points away from being out...(1.045-1.060) I guessing you did use other malts and therefore you had an ipa regardless of the addition of the 1lb of dme...

I think the guidlines are there to see if you can brew within them by only using certain methods. How else can you bump your maltiness besides adding DME? Some Munich malt in replacement of two-row, perhaps? Or a change in yeast. If you want more ABV but still trying to keep the beer in style, maybe a little sugar is in order. You can brew to style and still be creative, you just have to really understand the style and the ingredients that are out there for you.

The style guide exists for the same reason we have nets and boundaries in soccer. Your beer is outside the guideline. Would you feel like you won a match if you could kick the ball anywhere you wanted and call it a goal?

Maybe I'll be in the minority here, but I'm of the opinion that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....
I've brewed beers in the past intending them to be a dry stout and had the yeast fizzle on me. The beer looked and tasted like a nice sweet stout even though I originally intended something else. I have no problem entering it as what it most resembles, regardless of what I tried to make it. To me taste is what really matters, and if it tastes like an APA then enter it as such.
Now if you used all English hops for your APA I might have a problem with that, but then again, it wouldn't taste like an APA.

Terje

I'll have to vote as a judge here. If the beer taste in style then enter it in that style.

The style guidelines are there to guide you. You must use your good taste and judgment when entering. I've had beers over a few points on a style but the finish gravity was such that it was well within the style by taste.

You go much over the gravity guidelines and the beer will show it.

Did anyone see the date that the OP posted this? Holy cow, talk about another zombie thread.

thats great.

McKBrew said:

Did anyone see the date that the OP posted this? Holy cow, talk about another zombie thread.

Click to expand...

Not only that, but the OP hasn't posted anything at all on HBT in 3 1/2 years. I'm guessing that he'll not see resurrection.