I'm thinking about entering this

[prrriiide]

in a competition on 9/24/11. Can I enter a lawnmower beer as a Kolsch? I'd have used Kolsch or German Ale yeast if I had access to it when I needed it. Of course, Kolsch yeast wouldn't have cleaned up in time. But I just tasted it it on my FG check, and it's GREAT!
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Brewed 8/3/11:

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size: 10.00 gal
Boil Size: 11.5 gal
Estimated OG: 1.067 SG
Estimated Color: 5.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 77.10 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
2 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 8.79 %
18 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 79.12 %
2 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 8.79 %
12.0 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 3.30 %
3.00 oz Tettnang [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 22.4 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (20 min) Hops 4.2 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.80 %] (10 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
2 Pkgs SafAle (DCL Yeast #S-05) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 20.75 lb
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Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 25.94 qt of water at 159.5 F 150.0 F

Notes:
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Pre-boil gravity @ 158* = 1.028, temp corrected = 1.051 prior to DME addition
Grains were 70* before mash.
6.5 gal strike water @ 163*.
Mashed at 150* for 60 min. to full conversion via iodine test.
1st run was 4.25 gal.
1st sparge was 170*. 15 min rest. 2nd run yielded 5 gal.
2nd sparge was 170*. 20 min rest. 3rd run yielded >2.25 gal. (used to top off boil kettle to 11.5 gal.).
Boiled 60 min.
Cooled in ice water bath to 70* before pitching, about 45 min.
Yielded 10 gal in 2 fermenters.
Fermented 6 days @ 66*
Fermented 3 days @ 70*
OG = 1.053* @ 70* at 8/3/11 2030hr both fermenters.

Airlock activity ceased on 8/10/11

FG = 1.003 @ 68* as of 8/12/11 2030hr both fermenters.
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I am going to measure FG tomorrow and Monday. If no change, I'm going to step the temp in the ferm box down to as close to 35* as I can get and hold for 2 days, then bottle.

I plan to bottle condition at ~65* until the last minute.

As of now:

It tastes great. Very smooth, little bitterness. If it tastes like this after bottle conditioning, it's a winner. BUT... I know the IBUs will start to show up pretty soon, and I don't want it to be harsh at the competition.

There was little (no) trub/hop separation at racking. All of the **** wound up in the fermenters. I know that will affect conditioning.

Here's the question:

GIVEN: trub and all of the hops are in the fermenters AND
- beer tastes great as-is prior to carbonation AND
- time is short...

...will I benefit more from holding in primary until the last minute before bottling (9/7/11), or will I benefit more from bottling earlier - say...in a week (assuming FG stays constant)?

 

[Chefencore]

BJCP says
a "light, highly attenuated, hop-accentuated, clear top-fermenting" beer.

In my short time as a home brewer, the biggest mistake I've seen in competitions is mis-categorizing. Taste your beer, read the guidelines, and think about how much time you have.

You'll have to ask the Yeast Whisperer, but I don't think that S-05 has the characteristics of a Kolsch yeast. But the advantage you have is that it will floc out faster.
Why kind of competition is it? Why enter it as a Kolsch?

 

[lumpher]

you can enter any as anything, but it may not win. that looks like a version of kolsch with the exception of the munich and the yeast. maybe a cream ale

 

[prrriiide]

Why kind of competition is it? Why enter it as a Kolsch?

It's a regional Oktoberfest competition. The winner gets their recipe brewed on a 7 bbl commercial rig. I think Kolsch is the closest living relative to what I have wrought.

Honestly, I don't give a tinker's damn if it's a Kolsch, a Helles, an Alt, or a Lambic. As long as I can tell a judge what it should taste like, given its appellation. Someone tell me what to call this FrankenBeer!!!

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

Taste your beer, read the guidelines,

this. Just because your recipe didnt use Kolsch yeast doesnt mean that it will do poorly as a Kolsch. Read the guidelines and taste your beer...which set of guidelines does it most closely meet. The judges wont know your recipe, they only taste the finished product.

Start with the style guidelines for Light Lagers and Light Hybrid Beer. See if the finished beer fits any of them. Put the recipe away while you do this, just use your senses on the beer and what you read on the guidelines. Then enter it into the category that you feel it most closely resembles.

 

[Tall_Yotie]

Agreed on letting what the beer is, not what it was supposed to be, determine where you enter it. I did an American Pale Ale that I am going to enter as an American Amber for just that reason.