BCJP Cat. 21A Question

[TheBrewinator]

I have a question with those more familiar with competitions than me. I'm going to be entering beers into the Upper Mississippi Mashout and one of them is my pumpkin ale. The recipe is a modified Samhain Pumpkin ale that I have tweaked. Last year I received an honorable mention but was dinged because I listed its base style as an amber ale since the grain bill looks closest to an amber but the hopping is far lower.

My question is, would it be acceptable for cat. 21A to simply call it an American Ale with roast pumpkin in the mash and pumpkin pie spices in the boil or do I need to get more specific on the style?

Thank you for the input for those who give it.

 

[acefaser]

I would say if the base beer doesn't fit into one of the style categories then it should be listed under category 23 specialty beer.

 

[weirdboy]

acefaser is probably correct, although if your base recipe is this one:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/samhain-pumpkin-ale-140674/


Then you might be closer to a Northern English Brown as the base style.

You need to list the base style for any of the spice, fruit, vegetable, or barrel-aged beers in those categories. 23 is sort of a catch-all category for stuff that doesn't fit in the others.

 

[TheBrewinator]

That is my confusion on this. Reading the BJCP site, it says something like porter or wheat ale is acceptable if its not based on a classic style. I modified the recipe you linked to be more of an American ale akin to an amber ale with a much lower hop level to allow the spices to shine.

I would classify it as a non specific American ale (grainbill clost to an amber ale with the hopping level of a blonde ale), just wondering if that would fly within the BJCP guidelines.

 

[weirdboy]

Well if that's the case, I would put it in category 23.

The problem if you say "amber ale" is that according to the style guidelines, your spice/vegetable/fruit/whatever beer will be judged by the base style according to its style guidelines, as well as whatever contribution your addition makes. e.g. A chocolate robust porter ought to taste like a classic robust porter to which chocolate has been added. 23 is much more wide open, although in the description for your entry I would make it a point to say that it is not a classic amber. In fact your one-sentence description there (amber ale with lower hopping level to allow spices to come through) is appropriate.