Stevesauer
Well-Known Member
I recently made a Berliner for a competition. It is a BJCP competition and is only accepting entries from a limited amount of categories, so experimental or specialty is out. I have to stay within the confines of European sour ale. I've never competed in BJCP before. The beer tastes good and absolutely meets all the vital statistics, but it feels like something is missing. I took the usual 50\50 pilsner malt and wheat, 3/4 oz of hersbrucker hops, kettle soured with lacto delbrucki, then fermented with US-05. I know traditionally this beer is served with raspberry syrup or other fruit. If I were to rack it onto some raspberry or add a subtle amount of some type of fruit zest, would I be wandering too far out of style? Would judges typically penalize harshly for that? It just seems too boring brewing to a pre-determined set of numbers. Trying to find some way to stand out. Any opinions? Thanks.