2012 Limbo Challenge Discussion
Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 10:02 am
I have a question for you guys, if I have asked this one before just tell me to shut up and I'll go away. According the the Limbo rules as enumerated elsewhere on this site, the contest is being judged using 2008 BJCP guidelines however, if the judges deem a beer to be over 1.050 OG, they can disqualify it. My queston is; if the style guidelines say a particilar beer (I'll use American Brown ale as an example here) can be as big as 1.060 OG, that means the judges can disqualify it although it is cleary within the styles guidelines, right? In my opinion, if that is the case then I don't think the contest is really being judged using the afore mentioned guidelines since you are kicking out entries that otherwise qualify style wise. Frankly, I seriously doubt that most guys could tell the difference between a 1.050 OG beer and a 1.055 beer but once you get to a 1.060 OG beer, we are talking about a 20% increase over 1.050 and that is material.
Now I am going to pontificate a bit; after a careful reading of the guidelines for both Northern English Brown ale and American Brown ale, the biggest difference seems to be that the American stuff is bigger. Yeah, if I were brewing it I would make it stink of "C" hops just to make sure the judges knew it was American but according to the guidelines, that is optional. Besides the "C" hops, if I were trying to win something in this category, I would also make the beer bigger so as to differentiate it from the Northern English Brown ales but doing so would potentially get the entry disqualified. In my mind that is a conundrum which I am not really sure how to solve. Incidentally, I think that similar problems exist with American Pale ales, American Amber ales, Dortmunder export and Saison. Just food for thought.
Ok, so from a suggestion perspective I think I would just tell entrants that the beers must conform to the published guidelines, you really don't want to start changing allowable styles at this late date as I know many, including myself, have started to brew already for this contest.
Now I am going to pontificate a bit; after a careful reading of the guidelines for both Northern English Brown ale and American Brown ale, the biggest difference seems to be that the American stuff is bigger. Yeah, if I were brewing it I would make it stink of "C" hops just to make sure the judges knew it was American but according to the guidelines, that is optional. Besides the "C" hops, if I were trying to win something in this category, I would also make the beer bigger so as to differentiate it from the Northern English Brown ales but doing so would potentially get the entry disqualified. In my mind that is a conundrum which I am not really sure how to solve. Incidentally, I think that similar problems exist with American Pale ales, American Amber ales, Dortmunder export and Saison. Just food for thought.
Ok, so from a suggestion perspective I think I would just tell entrants that the beers must conform to the published guidelines, you really don't want to start changing allowable styles at this late date as I know many, including myself, have started to brew already for this contest.