As my example, I’d like to use a hoppy beer like an APA, or AIPA.
Assuming you plan on kegging your beer, then drawing beer into bottles…
How long before turn in would you want your APA to be sitting in the keg? I realize that the longer it is in the keg, the clearer it will be, but hop aroma/flavor can also wane. Should “peak flavor” be the prime consideration without regard for clarity??
There’s 3 points possible for appearance, 20 for flavor…
+1 on this, not only are just 3 points awarded for appearance, but just one would be for clarity.
We all know that hops are key in this style, and so I’d agree to time your bottling for peak flavor.
Not to mention that a dry hopped beer can be a little cloudy, so unless it is totally murky it’s no big deal.
I find that most of my hoppy beers take 6-8 weeks after bottleing/keging to reach their peak The decline after that is not terribly steep… they are probably still doing well another two months after that.
So I time my beers to be entered no sooner than 6 weeks after bottleing, but if I haven’t shipped it by three months after… then I just don’t enter it.