Help with competition style for "hoptober" like beer

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mthompson

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Happy New Year everyone! Hope all is well.

I brewed a version of New Belgium's Hoptober a few months back, and finally got it on tap over the holidays. Well, turns out it is really really good! (again reaffirms long primary benefits, this one was 54 days primary with another 7 days dry-hopped in secondary....sorry, off my box)

I was thinking of entering it into the Beer Barrons of Milwaukee 2012 Midwinter Home Brew Competition, except this recipe doesn't fit any style across the board. I am tempted to use American IPA (14B) because I used more hops in my recipe, but the calculated SRM is a bit low. The recipe can be seen over on my Hopville, and is estimated at 5 SRM and 53 IBU. I don't remember the Gravities right now, but I think I calculated 6.3% ABV.

It looks darker than a 5 in the glass but I don't know how to actually tell the color. Brewzor pro calculates it at 6 SRM and 56 IBU's. How do you guys estimate/calculate your style guidelines?

Any suggestions or help would be great. This is my first competition, so I am a little nervous about not entering the right category.

Oh, and sorry I didn't post the recipe direct, but the estimates are different depending on what program I am looking at.


Thanks,
 
The recipe might help a bit to get an idea of the characteristics since we can't taste the beer. Things like breadiness, hop variety, carmel/toffee, and esters all enter into the equation too, perhaps more than the color. Appearance doesn't count for much on a score sheet compared to the other lines.

Don't forget to include fermentation temps and yeast!

EDIT: Ooops, I see the recipe link, sorry about that. I'm thinking American Pale unless the Rye is apparent, in which case I'd think about cat 23 with a Rye on APA base. I'm just not sure if the bitterness would fare well as an IPA given that most of the other IPAs are going to probably be at the top end of the hop spectrum.
 
Yeah recipe would help. If you used a lager yeast (which is quite likely if you were doing a Hoptoberfest clone) it would probably be lacking in esters that judges are consciously (or unconsciously) looking for in an IPA.

Might be best as a Cat 23, but post the recipe and we'll see.
 
Batch size: 5.5 gallons
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.017
Color: 5° SRM ?
Mash Efficiency 68%
Mash temp: 154ºF for 60 min.
Yeast: American Ale (Wyeast 1056), washed and repitched ~200mL slurry
Primary temp: 65ºF for 54 days
Secondary: 65ºF for 7 days

malt & fermentables
LB OZ Malt or Fermentable ppg °L
9 0 American Two-row Pale 37 1
2 0 American Wheat 39 2
1 8 Flaked Rye 36 3
1 0 Rye Malt 29 4
1 0 Oats, Flaked 37 1
0 2 Crystal 80L 33 80
14 10 Total

hops
use time oz variety form aa
boil 60 mins 0.317 Cascade pellet 5.0
boil 60 mins 0.317 Centennial pellet 9.1
boil 60 mins 0.317 Sterling pellet 7.0
boil 60 mins 0.247 Styrian Goldings pellet 4.5
boil 60 mins 0.247 Willamette pellet 6.0
boil 30 mins 0.247 Cascade pellet 5.0
boil 30 mins 0.247 Centennial pellet 9.1
boil 30 mins 0.247 Sterling pellet 7.0
boil 30 mins 0.247 Styrian Goldings pellet 4.5
boil 30 mins 0.247 Willamette pellet 6.0
boil 5 mins 0.247 Cascade pellet 5.0
boil 5 mins 0.247 Centennial pellet 9.1
boil 5 mins 0.247 Sterling pellet 7.0
boil 5 mins 0.247 Styrian Goldings pellet 4.5
boil 5 mins 0.247 Willamette pellet 6.0
dry hop 7 days 0.353 Cascade pellet 5.0
dry hop 7 days 0.317 Centennial pellet 9.1
dry hop 7 days 0.388 Sterling pellet 7.0
dry hop 7 days 0.423 Styrian Goldings pellet 4.5
dry hop 7 days 0.388 Willamette pellet 6.0

Bitterness
45.3 IBU / 9 HBU
ƒ: Average

misc
use time amount ingredient
boil 15 min 1 tbsp Irish Moss
boil 15 min 1 tbsp Yeast Nutrient
 
I just looked through the BJCP guidelines for 23A, which seems to fit. I will print that out and sample a few and think about its fit there. I always assumed that 23 was for really unusual adjuncts, not honey or rye, since they are fairly common.

Any other suggestions are welcome.
 
Any updates? did ya end up making it and going to enter? I will be there, got 3 that Im gonna give a go at.. If anything, the feedback is great. Good luck!
 
Any updates? did ya end up making it and going to enter? I will be there, got 3 that Im gonna give a go at.. If anything, the feedback is great. Good luck!

Yeah, I ended up entering as 23A. Specialty Beer. After drinking a few more and comparing the categories of IPA and Specialty, I think it fits in Specialty more. The rye character isn't as forward as perhaps it should be, but you get a hint of it and the hops are deliciously balanced (for my palate) with the larger malt character I was going for. DAMN! wish I could drink some more right now!

I am not going to be at the event, but can't wait to hear what they have to say. This is my first competition, so it's just a learning thing for me now. I thought it was a really good beer (lasted all of 11 or 12 days) and always wanted to enter a comp to get some feedback from professional tasters. That will probably help me out a lot.

Good luck,
 
I'm glad you posted this recipe. I had NB version this summer/fall and couldn't get enough of it. I've been wanting to try and brew it, but didn't know where to start. I will definitely be brewing this soon. Good luck with the competition.
 
hawgwild81 said:
I'm glad you posted this recipe. I had NB version this summer/fall and couldn't get enough of it. I've been wanting to try and brew it, but didn't know where to start. I will definitely be brewing this soon. Good luck with the competition.

I never got a chance to do a direct comparison of the two, but this seemed to be a bit more malty. Based on the bottle description, I can't see how they claim 6.something %, but big boy fermentors do act a bit different.

Anyway, brew it up and tell me what you think. Probably tough to get some NB hoptober now to compare. It was delicious nonetheless!
 
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