I have a couple of beers that blur the style guidelines and I’m not sure where to enter them.
First is a Belgian Dark Strong Ale with figs - Belgian Specialty or Fruit Beer?
Second is a Hibiscus Witbier - Belgian Specialty or Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer?
Or am I missing something?
Not SHV. As soon as a judge sees Belgian you will loose points in SHV
Figs would go well with a Belgian Dark Strong so where to go depends on how it tastes, either enter as Belgian Dark Strong (if the fig is more of a background note) or as Belgian Specialty.
The same holds true for the Wit.
Just pour yourself the beers and sit down and drink them as you read the guidelines for the categories you’re considering. Whatever it tastes like is what you should enter it as. Judges don’t know what’s in your beer, only what it tastes like. That’s how you should decide.
True, but they will know what the special ingredients are in the specialty categories.
But if they aren’t coming through you will be dinged for not having enough of them.
Go by what it tastes like, bur NOT Spice Herb Vegetable with a Belgian base style
I think they definitely come through…I’ll go with Belgian Specialty for both. Thanks!