Competition IPA

Hey Guys, I am going to enter my first competition. Does my beer need to be exactly within the BJCP style guidlines. My IPA is 73.5 IBUs based on beersmith and the IPA style guidelines says 40-70 IBUs. Any info or advice would be sweet. Thanks

garrett

 

They will never be able to know that your beer is too bitter, and I very very much doubt you would ever get dinged in competition for an IPA that was too bitter.

Make sure you have gobs of hop flavor and aroma though too.

 

Plus, I believe that only a very experienced taster can tell the difference of 5 IBU. You are within that 5.

 

You'll be fine. Now if you decided to make the SRM 70, that would definitely hurt you.

 

I just got dinged in the NHC for an IPA that they said was too bitter! 65 IBU/7.2% ABV. Hmmph. It still did pretty well though (34). They loved the aroma. I personally like a little lingering bitterness in my IPAs. I actually just sent it out to another contest so we'll see. The previous batch of this scored better at a competition last Nov. and it was the last couple pints from the keg and the aroma had faded a fair bit and as a result the bitterness came through more.

 

Every competition I've judged at, it's always about balance. So if it's super bitter with no malt backbone at all, the numbers don't matter. Might fit into the parameters but that doesn't mean the judges will like it. But yeah, being off by a few IBUs won't be noticed.

 

You are more likely to be dinged by off-flavors in an IPA than for too much bitter. As long as it is close to style and balanced, you will be ok. In fact, the trend is towards bigger flavor, so as long as the malt is balanced too, you might do well.