Smoked Apple Ale-what bjcp category?

[AdamWiz]

Hey all -
I have a beer I am entering in the upcoming Michigan Beer Cup competition and I'm not sure what category to enter it in. It is a brown ale I made with smoked malt and apple cider, and fermented with Belgian Wit yeast. Neither the smokiness or the apple flavor dominates, it is pretty well balanced. I'm not sure if it would be best suited as a fruit beer, smoked beer, or specialty beer. I think I am leaning toward specialty since it really is a combination of styles. What do you all think?

 

[cinderbike]

I'd enter it in Specialty Beer.

 

[Golddiggie]

22b and list the 'base style' too...

 

[AdamWiz]

22b and list the 'base style' too...

So are you saying to enter it in category 22-b(other smoked beer), or to enter it in category 23(specialty beer) and list 22-b as the base style?

 

[Golddiggie]

22b but listing the other style is closely matches.. Be that a Belgian Wit, or whatever...

Or just go with 'specialty beer'... Problem I see with entering a brew that you don't know what category it falls into is they can easily say it's not to style.

Perhaps you should enter something that's a bit clearer in what style it actually falls under.

 

[AdamWiz]

Perhaps you should enter something that's a bit clearer in what style it actually falls under.

I am entering 4 more clearly-defined beers, but I really wanted to enter this one to see what judges think of it since my friends' responses have been so mixed - they either absolutely love it or they think it's totally nasty. I think I'll go with specialty beer to avoid it being called off-style. Thanks for the input