I had a recipe feedback post on this beer, but now that it is brewed and good, I'm thinking about entering it in a competition. The question is, what category best fits it? Here's the recipe (2.5-gallon batch):
4 lbs. malted oats
2 lbs. pale malt
2 lbs. Munich
1 lbs. flaked oats
0.5 lb Crystal 77L
0.5 lb chocolate
0.5 lb chocolate rye
4 oz. cacao nibs, extracted in vodka and added (nibs and vodka both) @ 7 days.
10 g Magnum (10.6% AA) @ 60 min.
10 g Talus (8.7% AA) @ 15 min.
10 g Talus (8.7% AA) @ 0 min.
11 g Danstar Nottingham @ 64 F.
OG: 1.088
I put the recipe together thinking it would be a "chocolate oatwine," and maybe it is, or maybe it's an imperial oatmeal stout. In terms of taste, it's very smooth, roasty, and (pleasantly) alcoholic. Oats are very present in taste and mouthfeel. Chocolate is subtle, but no one would miss it; on the other hand, much of the chocolate could be from the malt, and relatively little from the nibs.
So what category? I'm thinking one possibility is 31A (Alternative Grain Beer); base style 17D (English Barleywine). But it doesn't really have a dark-crystal fruitiness to it, and there's nothing like an English-style hops flavor. Also, this sweeps the chocolate under the rug (but that might be ok). Or is this 34C (Experimental)?
4 lbs. malted oats
2 lbs. pale malt
2 lbs. Munich
1 lbs. flaked oats
0.5 lb Crystal 77L
0.5 lb chocolate
0.5 lb chocolate rye
4 oz. cacao nibs, extracted in vodka and added (nibs and vodka both) @ 7 days.
10 g Magnum (10.6% AA) @ 60 min.
10 g Talus (8.7% AA) @ 15 min.
10 g Talus (8.7% AA) @ 0 min.
11 g Danstar Nottingham @ 64 F.
OG: 1.088
I put the recipe together thinking it would be a "chocolate oatwine," and maybe it is, or maybe it's an imperial oatmeal stout. In terms of taste, it's very smooth, roasty, and (pleasantly) alcoholic. Oats are very present in taste and mouthfeel. Chocolate is subtle, but no one would miss it; on the other hand, much of the chocolate could be from the malt, and relatively little from the nibs.
So what category? I'm thinking one possibility is 31A (Alternative Grain Beer); base style 17D (English Barleywine). But it doesn't really have a dark-crystal fruitiness to it, and there's nothing like an English-style hops flavor. Also, this sweeps the chocolate under the rug (but that might be ok). Or is this 34C (Experimental)?