Which style would you put this in for a comp?
1.060 ~6.5%, 12 srm, ~35 ibu citrusy, lager
Red X with german magum bittering, load of mandarina bavaria in whirlpool
Its numerically a Märzen, but for the orangy hop flavor. Or pale ale minus crystal and ale yeast
In my mind it seems like it could be a tasty beer with all german ingredients that just doesnt have a clear home in a bjcp gig.
I’m thinking 34C Experimental, but the overall calls for “unique” and I don’t know about that
What say you?
Especially if you have experience in judging specialty beer. Would it stand a chance, or will the smoked pumpkin saisons with juniper berries push it out?
Enter as 34B Mixed Style, then also add a description: “6A Marzen and 18B APA, or kind of like a Session IPL, w/ Mandarina Bavaria hops.”
They’ll know exactly what to expect from that. And not too many people will probably enter 34B versus 34C, so your odds are better of getting the best feedback and medals.
I do have experience judging the old 23… and also brewing and entering and medaling in the old 23.
It depends on whether the obscure beers suck or not, but even moreso, it depends on the mood and experience of each particular judge. In a word: crapshoot.
Right, Im assuming that they have to be stelar on drinkability, regardless. Anyway, I think I agree with the marketing of putting it in mixed. Märtzen/APA German ingredients with American methods. Hmmm
The specialty category gets pretty trendy. Sometimes you’ll get a bunch of Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porters, then next time you’ll find more than a few Mexican Stouts. Having multiple examples of one “style” tends to make the ones like you have made more interesting. At least to me.
Or you could enter it as an American Amber Ale. Wait, do the new guidelines have American Amber Lager? I haven’t used them enough to know yet.
Mixed sounds right to me. You need to be careful when comparing to the American Pale/American Amber family. Those often tend to be more crystal malt oriented as opposed to Munich oriented. (Not always, but often enough to warrant the stereotype). It sounds to me that you’ll be better off limiting the descriptions to only the parts of the styles you kept as opposed to specifying the whole. Concentrate on the American hop character coupled with the Marzen grain bill and yeast bill. It will more accurately describe what you entered and keep the expectations to what you made. In other words, see where your beer landed, then place the bullseye there.
Maybe “1.060 Marzen with American hops and lager yeast” might be a concise description for it.