Our homebrew club started doing some friendly in-club competition this year. We use the Beer Party Tasting Sheet from Brewer’s Friend to judge the beers that are submitted. Any member at the meeting at which the competition is held can evaluate the beers using the Brewer’s Friend sheet. Bragging rights are at stake here - nothing of material value is awarded. We do it for the fun and the friendly competition, sharing of beers and recipes, promoting of the club, and encouraging meeting attendance. The next competition will be our second one, and will be held at our June meeting. The style/theme that has been advertised to all members is “Summer Beers - cream ales, blonde ales, wheat ales, farmhouse ales, saisons, lawnmower beers, or a Kolsch.”
One of the fellows in the club recently brewed a Dusseldorf Altbier and has asked if he could enter the Alt in the summer competition as a lawnmower beer. As one of the lead judges, the decision most likely lies with myself and the other lead judge, since we’re running the competition. I certainly don’t want to be too strict and exclusionary, but need to be fair too - some of the things I’ve looked at on the Internet include a periodic table of beer that depicted Altbier a “mixed style” along with Kolsch, which we have already allowed; another stated that Alt’s low ABV makes it sessionable.
So, what do you beer judges say out there? Is it too much of a stretch to allow a Dusseldorf Alt into a summer beers competition?
Personally I don’t consider an alt to be either a lawnmower or summer beer…but it’s your comp and there’s no reason you can’t make the rules anything you want them to be.
I’d let it in. The spirit of a “lawnmower beer” comp is something you could knock down after mowing the lawn. I’m drinking a Vienna Lager as I type this. Dusseldorfer Alt is quite similar, with just a tad more hop character and very, very light esters due to using German ale yeast instead of lager yeast. Both would go down great on a hot day.
I have had many an Alt in Düsseldorf in July. At Ürige they spill out over the sidewalk, and have a tap and tables across the street. It is a wonderful time.
