Help with BJCP Belgian style

[lowery]

I am planning on entering a couple of competitions soon, and have 2 beers to enter. One is a belgian strong ale aged on cherries. The other is a "black" Tripel. As far as I can tell, both should be belgian specialty ales. However, most competitions won't let you enter multiple beers in the same category

Would I be better off entering the black tripel as a tripel, or the strong ale aged on cherries as a Belgian strong ale?

 

[Yooper]

Would I be better off entering the black tripel as a tripel, or the strong ale aged on cherries as a Belgian strong ale?

No. If the black tripel is entered as a tripel, it would be out of style as a tripel is very light colored. The one aged on cherries is not a Belgian strong ale, as it has fruit in it.

 

[lowery]

I realize they would be out of style, but I can only enter one as a Belgian specialty ale. I don't know that much about how beers are scored. Would one be more out of style than the other?
The strong ale only has a hint of cherries, but the black tripel is very black.

 

[Wormburner]

Make sure you take a close look at the rules for the competitions you plan to enter. It is not uncommon to be able to enter more than one beer into specialty categories provided they are clearly not the same beer.

 

[Wormburner]

Sorry, i saw your reply after posting mine. A black tripel entered as a regular tripel is a bad idea. You should still get feedback, provided the judges are good, but I think it's unlikely that you would place.

 

[mwilcox]

Belgian Strong (is it dark, or golden?) aged on cherries will go fine in Fruit Beer.

(you will find some dissenting opinions based on the language in 16E. Suffice to say I don't agree with them.)