BJCP Guidelines clarification ?

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Trubadour

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For the American IPA category, if there is any variety of hops not American, does it go in a different category?
 
I would not think so. If it tastes like an American IPA, then you are good to go. If it tastes more like an English IPA, the put it under that category.
 
The key is to have, "citrusy, floral, perfume-like, resinous, piney, and/or fruity character".

So it may be OK to have some other hops, if you can achieve this character. Presumably you'd have to have some American hops.
 
As an illustratrion, there isn't a judge out there that would be able to say..."you bittered with Hallertau and finished with [Insert AMerican Hop]."
 
Thanks. I've got all American hops except 1 oz, which do meet the description Ollllo mentioned. I just didn't want to win and then have my gold medal stripped for not following the rules :cross:
 
Thanks. I've got all American hops except 1 oz, which do meet the description Ollllo mentioned. I just didn't want to win and then have my gold medal stripped for not following the rules :cross:

As long as it is along the guidelines and tastes good, you'll be fine. They can't tell you what to put in your beer.
 
As an illustratrion, there isn't a judge out there that would be able to say..."you bittered with Hallertau and finished with [Insert AMerican Hop]."

This is not exactly true. Some judges can spot some hops. Maybe not bittering hops, but aroma hops, yes. If you're using a mix of a buncha hops it might get muddy enough that they can't pick them out. But, for instance, I can pick out Columbus or EKG very easily. I've judged with a lot of judges in the past and we'd often pick out which hops were in the beer. It's not random guessing. Judges are brewers too. And if they've used a certain hop a lot in their own brews, they can certainly pick them out.

Thanks. I've got all American hops except 1 oz, which do meet the description Ollllo mentioned. I just didn't want to win and then have my gold medal stripped for not following the rules :cross:

In my experience, medals aren't stripped. If you win, you win. They don't review your recipe afterward to see if it complies. But if the judges taste a ton of EKGs in the beer and it's entered in the American category, it won't win, it will have its score reduced. 1 oz is sure to be okay. But say you made a beer with a lot more of EKGs and that earthy character was shining through. Then it would get a reduced score and, assuming it was otherwise a great beer, the judges would write on the scoresheet something like "great beer, but should have been entered in the British category. Keep up the great work but refer to the style guidelines."

I've had this happen to me, and they were accurate.

BUT, I have *also* had judges write on a scoresheet for an IPA I entered using Crystal, Chinook and Columbus, "typical British aroma", which was a laugh.

So, it's not like they're all geniuses. Some of them are spot on, some of them are way off.

I would not think so. If it tastes like an American IPA, then you are good to go. If it tastes more like an English IPA, the put it under that category.

Agreed.
 
Actual recipes are not part of the judging process, just the final product. There are contests where the recipe is important, but not under BJCP. Widmer's Collaborator Project with the Oregon Brew Crew is an example. The recipe has to be brewable on their pilot system at a reasonable cost.
 
You don't enter the beer into the style you wanted to make, you enter it into the style you made. If you brewed an American IPA and it's actually a Robust Porter, enter it into 12B (and also, what the hell did you do?). I ran into this problem with my cherry stout, which initially didn't have any cherry flavor at all; if it hadn't improved, it'd have gone into 13B as a milk stout.

But I agree with the general sentiment: if you can taste the UK hops to the point of it not being Americany, then make it an English IPA. Otherwise, an ounce or two of redcoat hops won't get your citizenship stripped.
 
The focus of my comment about judges, was that bittering hop additions do not impart, "citrusy, floral, perfume-like, resinous, piney, and/or fruity character" and so there is not a chance that using Hallertau hops would be picked up by a judge if the remaining additions were American.
 
The focus of my comment about judges, was that bittering hop additions do not impart, "citrusy, floral, perfume-like, resinous, piney, and/or fruity character" and so there is not a chance that using Hallertau hops would be picked up by a judge if the remaining additions were American.

Then I agree with you completely.
 
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