First competition coming up

[Thanlin]

Okay, so I am going to enter my first beer to be judged next month. Currently I have it listed under the BJCP category of 7C Dusseldorf altbier. The back ground of this beer is that I live in Tacoma, WA and have spent the better part of two years trying to re-create the original version of Alt Heidelberg. The brewery was a focal point of early Tacoma's economy and the old factory still sits by the Tacoma dome.

After talking with a lot of the people still alive I came to find that most of the malt was american, that the bittering came from american hops and the slight aroma most likely came from noble's grown either in the states or in the czech republic.

A grain bill and american hops however does not perfectly match this category. Do I submit this as the 7C or in the specialty classification and list the 7C as a general category with the Alt Heidelberg as the inspiration?

On a side note it is still in secondary but early samples are promising bottling on MLK day.

 

[Braufessor]

Personally, if it basically looks like an alt and tastes like an alt - I would enter it as an alt. Now, it is possible that you might not score as well as you hoped if the judges are able to tell that you used different hops etc. However, they do not judge you recipe - they judge your beer without seeing your recipe. So, if it seems to fit the bill, enter it as an alt.
The problem with entering it as a specialty (assuming you are hoping to compete for placing, etc.) is that a regular old alt, using american ingredients would never be able to compete in the specialty category in my opinion. If you look at the beers that place in that category they are big beers, bold flavors, etc. They are not variations in malt or hop profiles.
On a side note - I had a british bitter win its category using Rahr 2 row as the base malt

 

[Stanleyjw]

I think it really depends on what you want out of the competition. The competitions I've entered my goal was to get an impartial opinion on my beer. The first time I entered beers I didn't properly categorize 2 of them and that's all the judging notes really talked about so I didn't learn anything (except to properly categorize next time). The next time I listened to the judges and got some good notes.

 

[Thanlin]

Thanks, I was trying to read and understand the BJCP, I felt like I was getting no where. I think I might enter my weizen in the specialty as there is no style near it that I know of. (reddish in color, very aromatic use of hops but not bitter)

Why do so many home brewers insist on brewing 6% plus beers?

 

[Thanlin]

I think it really depends on what you want out of the competition. The competitions I've entered my goal was to get an impartial opinion on my beer. The first time I entered beers I didn't properly categorize 2 of them and that's all the judging notes really talked about so I didn't learn anything (except to properly categorize next time). The next time I listened to the judges and got some good notes.

Yes, I want an impartial opinion. It would be nice to place but honestly I don't really care. I would rather improve this recipe and work out any flaws in my setup, practice or procedure.

 

[Braufessor]

Yes, I want an impartial opinion. It would be nice to place but honestly I don't really care. I would rather improve this recipe and work out any flaws in my setup, practice or procedure.

Then enter it as an alt. I think you will get your best feedback if it is entered this way . . . . at least in regard to whether or not it "is" an alt.

 

[Stanleyjw]

or maybe enter it in both alt and specialty? that is if it's allowed and you don't mind submitting the extra bottles? Just a thought

 

[TopherM]

DON'T start listing your variations and inspirations on the entry form. Most BJCP judges will start deducting points based on what you write before they ever taste it.

Remember that the point of the BJCP is that they judge your beer based on the defined BASE categories. They aren't in the business of telling you if your beer is good or not, or if they like it or not. Any variation off the base category definitions are deductions, if they judge correctly.

If you want the beer to be judged based on it's independent merits, enter it in the Specialty 23 category, THEN list the characteristics you were aiming for, and the judges will judge it based on those independent merits. If you enter it in the Alt category, you might not find the criticism to be useful.

 

[COLObrewer]

Enter it in both categories with a different beer name. This is how you will get the greatest beneficial feedback.

 

[Darwin18]

From the BJCP's guidelines:

"Overall Impression: A well balanced, bitter yet malty, clean, smooth, well-attenuated amber-colored German ale."

If your beer falls within this general characterization then I wouldn't hesitate to send it in. You might get dinged a few points here and there particularly by using the American hops, but overall if it falls within this characterization should be fine. A judge isn't going to have access to your recipe, process, or any relevant information you used to make that beer. He/She is going to be evaluating that beer solely on the guidelines for that style.

 

[Thanlin]

Thanks for the feedback! I will think about this for a day or two and get back to you guys with what I'm doing and why. I feel a close reading of style guidelines is needed with a beer in hand

 

[Wynne-R]

Take a look at American Amber Ale, 10B. I expect you would get killed in 7C for using American hops.

23 looks good too. It’s a tough category, but you should get good scoresheets. The judges tend to be very experienced in that category, because they have to know everything.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

The problem with entering it as a specialty (assuming you are hoping to compete for placing, etc.) is that a regular old alt, using american ingredients would never be able to compete in the specialty category in my opinion. If you look at the beers that place in that category they are big beers, bold flavors, etc. They are not variations in malt or hop profiles.

I had a discussion with one of my homebrew club buddies as we were doing a collaboration beer which isn't to style. He's a BJCP judge, so we talked a bit about style 23.

His take is that 23 doesn't have to be outrageous high-grav beers with a bunch of adjuncts. The big thing, though, is that if you call something out in the style, it should be noticeably present. I.e. we were brewing a Vienna Rye lager with Northern Brewer hops. If we entered that in cat 23, it should be roughly equivalent to a Vienna lager but with noticeable rye and northern brewer qualities. If you enter it in 23 and it tastes like a standard vienna lager, you'll get dinged. If they taste all the ingredients but you have other flaws, it'll get dinged. But if it's a quality beer, and the listed "specialty" stuff is detectable as what you say it is, it's got as good a chance as the outlandish beers people come up with.

Along the same lines, I routinely enter a Rye Pale Ale in the APA category, even with as much as 20% rye in the grist. I've placed in multiple competitions doing so, even though the use of rye would normally kick that beer into cat 23. But because the rye becomes a nice component of the beer rather than a distraction from it, it does just fine.

So for the OP, I'd enter first in the alt category. If you don't mind sending extra bottles, you might want to try Cat 23 as well. But if it looks and tastes like an alt, don't let the fact that you made some ingredient changes detract you. (The corollary is that if your ingredient changes actually make it look and taste different than an alt, well then you might have problems).

 

[Thanlin]

Just an update. I entered into the JBLM competition (http://www.wahomebrewers.org/mcchord/index.php) In three categories, the Alt, Dunkelweizen and Dry Stout. Decided not to go with the specialty.

Reasoning is that I got to crack one of each and the "interesting" choice of non-standard ingredients did not affect the taste in the ways that I feared it would(made it better in my opinion but isn't that the opinion of almost every brewer?)

Wish me Luck. Award Ceremony is Feb 22.