Pre-Bluebonnet Evaluation Social

[Brewboy]

Say guys, this is just a head's up about something you may want to be part of.

The club will hold a Pre-Bluebonnet evaluation social on February the 20th between 10 and noon during the brew day at Fred David's house.

This is especially important to anyone who's not really sure as to the category to enter their beer into. Many times you may have tried to brew one style but it turned out something that may be more likely to do well in different category.

This is your chance to get help in deciding what category to best enter it.

I know that I'll be getting feed back on some of my questionable brews. This is a great opportunity for new brewers who aren't sure about entering competition to come and taste some others and have your own evaluated.

I do hope you'll take adavntage of this opportunity.

[Dave Warner]

I love this. I never know what the heck is coming out of my brew kettle when I try for a style. Count me in and this will be my first brewday.

[EvilFrog]

Hey everyone. This is my first post. My name is Kent and I live in Flower Mound.

I am looking forward to meeting other NTHBA members and entering my first competition. This sounds like a good chance to do both. I am planning to brew this weekend but I have a rather stupid beginner question to ask first.

I have an APA that I have made a couple times lately that I really like. It emphasizes the more citrusy hops like Summit (think something like Drifter). My question comes from rereading the BJCP guidelines for APA. Under ingredients, it says 'American hops'. Does this mean that the use of a hop from New Zealand will automatically knock it out of the APA category? Is this just a suggestion to use hops that have 'American hop' qualities or is it strictly limiting the brewer to hops grown in the US? I notice that under American Brown Ale, it specifically allows for UK hops in addition to US. There does not seem to be a similar allowance for non US varieties in APA.

I realize that the APA category is already saturated. Really, I am just looking for some feedback from the judges and to participate in the process. Any guidance on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and hope to meet you all soon!

[Brewboy]

When the style guiedlines state American hop character, they're talking about citrusy, piney, spicy type of hop character. As long and the hops you're using produce that kind of identifable character then they'll never know it. You can use any hops you like as long as they produce the flavors the guideline calls for.

[EvilFrog]

Great! That is what I was hoping. I will proceed then with the same recipe I have used in the past.

See you next month then.

[Bill Lawrence]

What you need to do is bring a couple of gallons over to Fred's and let the pundits give it a try. After extensive testing, I am sure you will end up with some usable advice. If you are unsure where to enter it, bottle up 8 bottles, enter two as a new brewer, three as an APA and maybe three as an ESB or best bitter depending on the gravity, let the judges sort it out. I know we have recently beat this to death but in my humble opinion, just make beer you like and "they will come" (steins that is).

Actually, I have somewhat the same problem with a beer I made. It was supposed to be a clone of Dogfish Head 60 (which according to the guidelines is an American IPA). I like the beer alot and it has very good hop character but is really not that bitter (which is probably why I like it just the way it is). Anyhow, after looking at the guidelines, I suspect that I will get creamed in the IPA category because of it's lack of bitterness. The problem with contests is that if a particular beer doesn't exhibit pretty extreme character for it's style, it will likely get marked down. For American beers which are supposed to be highly hopped, that means if body parts don't start dropping off due to bitterness, it ain't going to win anything. I am noting however if not subborn, I will just continue to make this formulation this way because I like it and screw the judges.

Oh well, this is a dunkel weizen weekend for me, one more brewday before the Bluebonnet. God knows I just love boiling the hell out of malted barley even though it makes the brewday pretty long.

[EvilFrog]

Thanks for the advice. I do plan on bringing some beer by and getting some feedback from you veterans. I like the idea of letting the judges sort it out. Just wanted to make sure I was not wasting good beer and an entry fee in a category where it did not have a prayer.

I have a similar question about an oatmeal raisin cookie winter warmer I made. This one I only have enough beer left to enter into a single category. After reading the guidelines it almost sounds as if I would do better to put it into SHV instead of Christmas/Winter because the spices do not seem to necessarily be suggestive of the season. But then if I were to enter it into the SHV my understanding is that I would need to specify a base style. That might be kind of circular because the style I was targeting is Winter Warmer. Just that the spice profile is not the typical winter spices.

I am guessing that I am just over-thinking it.

[Dave Warner]

This would be the ideal beer to bring to this social if you even have one extra bottle. Christmas beers can range from amber to stout and everywhere in between. I don't have enough competition experience to be really helpful here, but I wouldn't be willy-nilly about what base style you put down. Be sure that the non-raisin/caramel/toffee (guessing here) flavors and hop profile match some sort of style pretty closely.

Without tasting it, I think this would be a great one for category 42, imho.

[EvilFrog]

Yeah, 42 would certainly take all the guesswork out of placing it in the appropriate category.

[Thors Brother]

Give some serious thought to Winter Warmer. Let the judges tell you for sure.

[Brewboy]

Head's up, just a reminder that this is tomorrow at the Brewday.

Bring your brews for evaluation by BJCP judges. Let them advise you pre competition.

10:00AM to 12:00 PM

[EvilFrog]

Well, I regret that I cannot attend today's get-together. I have a 3 year old with pneumonia and she is having a hard time of it.

I hope to meet all you fine people soon. See you at the bluebonnet for sure.

[kingsbrew]

Sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope she gets well soon.