What Category Should I Enter My Beer?

[codekitchen]

I have a slightly unusual beer that I'm planning to use as one of my entries in the National Homebrew Competition this month. This is my first time ever entering beer in a competition, and I'm not sure what the appropriate category for this one is.

The beer is basically a blend of 4 parts saison with 1 part apple cider, and some significant herbs added (most prominently sage). Honestly, the sage in this batch is a little too forward even, but I don't have time to make another.

6.5% ABV, 35 IBU, 3 SRM.

16C Saison doesn't seem quite right, considering the high level of sage flavor and the apple cider. I'm thinking maybe 16E Belgian Specialty Ale or 21A Spice, Herb or Vegetable Beer, but they both seem a little catch-all.

Does anybody have experience entering a similar beer to competition? What did you enter it under?

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Sorry I can't answer your question, but I do have another. Can you change the category you paid for? As I recall (and I'm shaky here), I thought I had to choose the category before the "pay now" button would appear.

 

[codekitchen]

Sorry I can't answer your question, but I do have another. Can you change the category you paid for? As I recall (and I'm shaky here), I thought I had to choose the category before the "pay now" button would appear.

Yeah, I was able to change all the details on the entries after paying, including category.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Yeah, I was able to change all the details on the entries after paying, including category.

Thanks, good to know in case I'm not happy with my current plans.

 

[Yooper]

If the spice is prominent, and the apple flavor is noticeable, that's a "combo style" and should be in 23, specialty beer. Here's a brief excerpt from the 23 category description:

This is explicitly a catch-all category for any beer that does not fit into an existing style category. No beer is ever “out of style” in this category, unless it fits elsewhere.

The category is intended for any type of beer, including the following techniques or ingredients:
Unusual techniques (e.g., steinbier, ice/eis beers)
Unusual fermentables (e.g., maple syrup, honey, molasses, sorghum)
Unusual adjuncts (e.g., oats, rye, buckwheat, potatoes)
Combinations of other style categories (e.g., India Brown Ale, fruit-and-spice beers, smoked spiced beers)
Out-of-style variations of existing styles (e.g., low alcohol versions of other styles, extra-hoppy beers, “imperial” strength beers)
Historical, traditional or indigenous beers (e.g., Louvain Peetermann, Sahti, vatted Porter with Brettanomyces, Colonial Spruce or Juniper beers, Kvass, Grätzer)
American-style interpretations of European styles (e.g., hoppier, stronger, or ale versions of lagers) or other variants of traditional styles
Clones of specific commercial beers that aren’t good representations of existing styles
Any experimental beer that a brewer creates, including any beer that simply does not evaluate well against existing style definitions


To me, you've got unusual fermentables (apple cider) as well as spice, so that means it wouldn't fit in spice or in Belgian- so it'd have to be category 23.

 

[codekitchen]

Great, thanks for the guidance Yooper.

And sorry for the delayed reply, I had to go out of town for a week.