Style Guidelines

So I was reading through the BJCP 2015 and Brewer's Association 2015 Style Guidelines, and have a question. Why is there so much difference between the same styles in these? For example, Marzen:

BJCP 2015
Original Gravity: 1.054-1.060 SG
Color: 8.0-17.0 SRM
Final Gravity: 1.010-1.014 SG
Bitterness: 18.0-24.0 IBUs
Alcohol by Volume: 5.80-6.30 %

Brewer's Association 2015:
Original Gravity (ºPlato) 1.050 - 1.060 (12.4 - 14.7)
Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato) 1.012 - 1.020 (3.1 - 5.1)
Alcohol by Weight (Volume) 4.00% - 4.70% (5.10% - 6.00%)
Bitterness (IBU) 18 - 25
Color SRM (EBC) 4 - 15 (8 - 30)

You can see that there are some pretty significant difference between the two. For a person that wants to brew to style, how do they choose which guidelines to use? What is the 'correct' one?

 

There are different committees that come up with the guidelines, so there are bound to be some variance between them. That said, other than color I'd say they're pretty darn close.

OG diff - .004 on the low end, no diff on the high
Color diff - 4SRM on the low, 2 on the high
FG diff - .002 on the low, .004 on the high
ABV diff - 0.7% on the low, 0.3% on the high
IBUs diff - no diff on the low, 1 on the high

As far as which one is right, I'd say they're both right. Keep in mind they're guidelines...they are not absolutes. If you're brewing for a homebrew comp, I'd use BJCP guidelines as that's what every homebrew comp I've ever seen has used.

 

Thanks. I was curious about the differences. I have been basing my recipes around the BJCP 2015 style guides since that is what is loaded in BeerSmith. I am entering one or two beers in a competition in October, so I guess I have been using the right one.

 

I have the latest version of Beersmith, 2.2.13, And, with new computer, I had to re-associate my recipe files, re-download add-ons, etc. Anyway, I looked through the new 2015 guidelines, & like the newer/older styles added that are being brewed these days. They also seemed to have tightened up the numbers as well, from what I remember of the old guidelines.

 

I think the new BJCP guidelines are a cluster****. Nobody is brewing most of these styles, and if they want to then fine, great, but we don't need guidelines for everything. Plus if they were trying to include more styles for completeness, I can still think of at least a dozen styles that could have been included but weren't. It's become too bloated. Anything simpler with broader ranges is what's needed IMO. Like the 2008 guidelines. They weren't broke, they didn't need fixing. We don't even brew many black IPAs anymore so that point is nearly moot. One more comment: I don't know what the guidelines do or do not say about this, but, gose shouldn't taste salty, dammit. [/rant]

 

Different strokes for different folks, one man's meat is another man's poison, add infinitum. And I know Gose uses some salt, but I tend to agree you shouldn't taste it. But, rather, taste the effects of it?

 

Yes, all of the above. In most commercial goses that I have tasted, salt is the primary character of the beer. Yuck. The salt should play a supporting role behind the malt and yeast character IMO.

But of course, we can't all be Grand Master XI judges responsible for writing guidelines, and those who rise to that level don't need to listen to peons like dmtaylor.

Getting back to the OP.....

Both sets of guidelines are just that... guidelines. Nothing is sacred, nothing created by man should be treated as biblical. Each of us needs to examine all the evidence then reach our own individual conclusions. I use guidelines then compare with my own experience and own opinions, and brew based on all of it. I don't try to nail one set of guidelines or another anymore. I just brew what I like, and then if I want to enter it into competition (which I rarely do anymore), I try to see if it fits "their" ideal descriptions. Not the other way around. Do what you like, do what makes you happy. Ultimately, you need to drink the beer, so it might as well be something that makes you happy, whatever that takes.

Cheers all.

 

That's basically it. I use them as a guide for beers I'm writing recipes for, that I may not have tried brewing yet. They're handy in that capacity when using BS2 & the little bar chart with the arrows.