I am thinking about entering a dampfbier in a local competition but not sure what category to enter it as.
I first thought historical beer (category 27) but it isn’t listed as one of the beers in that category.
Maybe 34B, Mixed-Style Beer. I found one description that dampfbier is a cross between a hefeweizen and a pilsner. I would include a description of the beer in the competition.
Any thoughts as to what category a dampfbier would be entered?
Full disclosure, I don’t enter competitions anymore. Hopefully you will get some feedback from those who do.
My opinion, if those are your choices, I would go with historical beer. Your description should be as complete and clear as possible, so the judges know what to expect. You might want to find a description on-line and use that as a template. It depends on the judge(s) your beer gets, but he/she should know that style well enough to know what its supposed to taste like.
Best of luck!
Thank you for your thoughts Roger.
There is a style article from Zymurgy, Nov/Dec 2013 where I got a lot of information and I plan to use this article when I enter. In searching about this style I ran across some controversy about using hefeweizen yeast. Ron Pattinson calls dampfbier “a sweet alt” with none of the characteristics of a hefeweizen, and that the history behind dampfbier isn’t true. ( https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/anyone-have-a-damphbier-recipe.102067/ )
I don’t enter many competitions either. I enter my club’s competition and (occasionally) the NHC. I do enjoy judging however.
Thank you again for your thoughts.
When I had the Dampfbier in Zwiesel DE, I was not a fan of it. I thought it had the clove phenolic, maybe I was predisposed to think it was there. I enjoyed the Helles from that brewery more, my wife liked the Dampfbier.
The brewery was closed. The dreaded handwritten note was on the door saying they were on vacation.