First BJCP competition Siason

[Jdsmit186]

I'm entering my first competition with a saison. The abv is 10.5 with around 20 ibus. The grain bill is 95% German pils, 4.5% white wheat, .05 roasted barley cold steeped not to produce any roast flavor.

My question is would it be dinged in the saison category or should I enter it into Belgian Specialty because of the Abv?

It hits the points of a saison, but there is a very mild abv warming. I have also thought about adding it to the Belgian strong ale category.

Additional info: srm around 4-5, Clairty would fall more into saison, OG 1.080 finished at 1.003 with 3711. Bottle conditioned at 3.2 co2.

Any help would be great.
Thanks,
Jon

 

[microbusbrewery]

It sounds like you're in the ballpark for a saison. Saison is a fairly broad category after all. The problem with Belgian Specialty is the specialty categories tend to get tons of entries, because it's all the beers that don't fit into one of the classic categories. So I'd avoid that one unless you can call out something you did that was very different than a "normal" saison (e.g. sour saison). IMO the fermentation temps are a major component so you get those peppery spicy notes usually associated with the style. One last thing, do you know if the comp is using 2008 or 2015 guidelines?

 

[Subdivisions]

Looking at the guidelines it falls right into 18D. Belgian golden strong ale

EDIT: the 2015 guidelines have changed the number to 25C but the characteristics of the style are the same. Most comps have probably not changed over yet but make sure just in case. I think you're too high on the ABV to be in the Saison category.