Because maybe you have another reason for brewing than simply “I like it and my drunken friends like it, so it must be good”. If that’s your motivation, no problem, but not everyone has the same reasons.
I don’t have drunken friends and I don’t share my home-made beverages with people like that. I don’t know anybody who does. People like that are usually the ones pounding down canoe beer.
A note on the RIS with flavorings. The commercial examples for the style are led by 3 Floyds Dark Lord which uses a locally roasted coffee and other flavorings to get to the final product. So it should be acceptable to do the same to replicate the style. When judging, I would assume that some entries are going to have non-malt flavorings and any notes I get from the entry form would help with making specific recipe comments as opposed to adding or detracting from the score. RIS almost seems like a subcategory of 21 or 23 at times.
Checking the bjcp site, Dark Lord is indeed the first commercial example listed for Imperial Stout.
Checking the 3 Floyds site, the beer contains coffee and vanilla.
So, my whole theory is dashed, I guess.
What’s up with that?
Perhaps there are members of the Brewers’ Association who feel that the association spends too much time and resources promoting competition instead of just promoting brewing?
Did not intend for this to be a debate on competitions, value of medals, etc. Just wanted the advice of some of the highest ranked judges on interpretting the rules.
Actually, any particular competition can set the rules any way they desire. The BJCP nor the AHA has any say so WHATSOEVER in that. Bottle size, limiting entries, changing the guidelines for a comp, etc…all are perfectly fine.