BJCP style guidelines - no yeast info

I'm wondering why the BJCP style guidelines doesn't suggest or comment much about yeast strains.
What if I brew a Lite lager, cat 1A,1B or 1C, and use a clean ale yeast, having my final beer within the required OG/FG so on and enter that in a competition as a Lite lager. Will that be disqualified because it did not used a lager yeast?

Not if it tastes like a light lager....

But even if you ferment really cool; you're not gonna get lager qualities out of an ale yeast...

I had beers score well using English ingredients in the American styles and vice versa....

It's more about the overall profiles described in the BJCP sub-categories...

It doesn't mention a specific yeast strain, though most styles describe expected fermentation characteristics. A light lager fermented with an ale yeast won't taste like a light lager fermented with a lager yeast, so you will probably get dinged for being outside of style parameters. It might still be a good beer, though...just not exactly a lager.

nilo said:

I'm wondering why the BJCP style guidelines doesn't suggest or comment much about yeast strains.
What if I brew a Lite lager, cat 1A,1B or 1C, and use a clean ale yeast, having my final beer within the required OG/FG so on and enter that in a competition as a Lite lager. Will that be disqualified because it did not used a lager yeast?

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Well, no. IF. and it's a big "if"! If it tastes, smells, looks like a lager, then you're golden. But I've never tasted a lite lager made with ale yeast that didn't have an "ale" taste. Oh, it'll get very, very good with nottingham ale yeast at 58 degrees but not as clean and crisp as a real lager in my opinion.
It'll still have a hint of fruity esters.

If you can brew a winning lite lager with an ale yeast, then you deserve to win!

Otherwise, the 6 category is for those types of beers- the hybrids. Light lager-ish beers made with ale yeast.

Light Lager requires a "low level of yeast character" and "strong flavors are a fault." I think it'd be pretty hard to make a beer like that with an ale yeast.

On an unrelated note, I can't even fathom why someone would want to brew a beer in a style where "may seem watery" is a style characteristic.

I don't consider my palate to be very good (I eat a ton of spicy food), but even I can tell the difference between a beer fermented with a lager or ale yeast. Any judge worth their salt would immediately recognize this. I imagine it would lead to a big hit in points being that the beer would be completely out of style.

Got it. Now, is there any style that would fit a cat 1 but fermented with an ale yeast? I can't see anything like that in BJCP.

Edit. OK saw the response, cat6

Wow, this one drew a lot of attention. That's a lot of posts at once!

I guess my example was not very good since a lite lager would make a profile change between lager and ale yeast to be very noticeable.
What about a bock. So I assume one can brew it with an ale yeast at low temp and be very hard to tell, perhaps wining a competition? have anyone heard of a winer that used ale yeast on a lager style?

nilo said:

I guess my example was
Not very good since a lite lager would make a profile changes between lager and ale yeast to be very noticeable.
What about a bock. So I assume one can brew it with an ale yeast at low temp and be very hard to tell, perhaps wining a competition?have anyone heard of a winer that used ale yeast on a laker style?

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No, I haven't.

Lager yeasts are particularly "clean" and the bock yeast especially have a way of bringing forward malt character and the lack of esters.

Again, if you can do it, that's great. But that's why the BJCP has categories 6 and 7. Light hybrid, amber hybrid.

You could enter a comp if you have a beer like that, and let us know!

I make a good fake maibock, the Dead Guy Ale clone, but it won't ever be able to pass as a real bock.

nilo said:

I guess my example was
Not very good since a lite lager would make a profile changes between lager and ale yeast to be very noticeable.
What about a bock. So I assume one can brew it with an ale yeast at low temp and be very hard to tell, perhaps wining a competition?have anyone heard of a winer that used ale yeast on a laker style?

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Meh. This is kind of like asking if anybody has won with a pilsner recipe containing a pound of roasted barley. If it has happened, it just makes me doubt the judges.

Dead Guy is a great example of a bock recipe brewed with an ale yeast, but it just doesn't really taste like a lager.

Edit: once again, beat to the punch by Yooper (and her angelic/demonic bunny-baby grandson avatar.)

MalFet said:

Edit: once again, beat to the punch by Yooper (and her angelic/demonic bunny-baby grandson avatar.)

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That's twice today that someones smart-assed comment here on the forum made me snort beer out of my nose. It's a new HBT record!!!! :rockin::rockin::rockin:

Yooper said:

That's twice today that someones smart-assed comment here on the forum made me snort beer out of my nose. It's a new HBT record!!!! :rockin::rockin::rockin:

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How long have you been drinking today?? - the first time was at 10am (okay, that was Arizona time, but still )

AZ_IPA said:

How long have you been drinking today?? - the first time was at 10am (okay, that was Arizona time, but still )

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No, it was at 1 PM, I'll have you know!!!!

Wait, what time is it now?