I have a pale lager that is already registered bit is not going to be quite ready by the time of the competition. Basically it needs more time to lager and for a dry hop addition to fade. Any other categories it could fit in? I realize I need to provide more detail and will do so when I have more time.
Should I possibly enter it as an ale? Currently it is going in as an international pale lager. Somehow, my time management was off and I thought I would have more than enough time to get this beer ready. Last year, it scored a 41 or 42 from what I remember so it’s pretty solid.
I will say that the fermentation on this beer wasn’t as tight as I would have liked it to be because I was on vacation. Fermented with 34/70 around 52F for the majority then bump up to 62F over a couple of days before cold crashing.
To make a long story short, I think this is a simple case of a lager just needing more lagering time. It is carbed up and is missing that crisp lager character and has some slight hop pungency from the keg hops. It will have about two weeks in the keg before needing to get bottled. Maybe it will improve drastically and I am fine with just entering it and seeing what happens.
Kind of a foolish post but I thought I would just check to see if there might be an alternate style this could fit into.
85% pilsner
13.5% vienna
1.5% melanoidin
magnum 60 min
sterling/crystal 5 min
sterling/crystal keg hop
1.052
24 IBUs
W34/70
Can you get it down to 30F for a while? That will drop things out faster.
Unfortunately it is in my serving fridge at 38F. My chest freezer is currently tied up fermenting a pale ale. If the timing works out, I might be able to get in there for a week or so. I had it around 35F for a short period before kegging.
Just enter it as is anyway. Judges these days are likely to forgive overhopping.
And as any entrant should know… it’s always a crapshoot anyway. Hard as they might try, there’s no consistency in the BJCP anymore. I don’t enter comps anymore. I’ll still judge them, but don’t think I’ll enter because I’m utterly fed up with the crapshootiness and incompetence of too high a percentage.
Gosh I’m such an ass. :-[
You should set up a beer advice stand like Lucy Van Pelt from the Peanuts:
I’ll be your first customer 
I only enter a competition here and there for feedback more than anything as most of my friends only appreciate hoppy stuff so it’s hard to take any of their opinions seriously. I have basically learned not to worry about how well or bad a beer does and have often misentered. The ones I usually think will do well don’t and vice versa…
A friend made this a year ago…
Glanced at the guidelines and there is probably not anything else this could fit into other than an American Blonde and that would be pushing it I think. Depending on how many entries there are they might group all of the pale lagers together like they did last year.
Depending on your comp timeline entry deadline, keep in mind that many comps require the bottles to arrive anywhere from 1-2 wks (with 2 wks more common) prior to the judging date. If your beer is going to be shipped, then some of that time will also help the beer to mature more especially if it is on a hot truck for 2-3 days. Just something to keep in mind for timing purposes.
Even though 2 wks isn’t the best timing for a light lager, if it is clear then you should totally enter it. I have taken BOS’s in huge comps (600+entries) with only 3 wks lagering time on pilsners before. Those are pretty hoppy beers and it still scored well.
This is a local competition. I am dropping off bottles at my lhbs a few days before the competition. I sampled last night. The hop character has mellowed significantly and is now appropriate. It still seems to need some time and getting an unknown but mild off flavor at this point. I will be bottling in about 8 days.
Nice
Do you accept PayPal?
The beer was oxidized but still scored OK. Bummer. First time I have encountered it. I still have it on keg and it isn’t too bad and doesn’t seem to have worsened. When this beer is right it is probably one of, if not my best.
I seriously doubt this. See my earlier comments above. Have you entered this beer into 3 or 4 competitions? If not, you really can’t know how good this beer is or is not.
Why don’t you think it was oxidized? Both judges noted it however one noted a bunch of other off flavors that I don’t detect. I still am not sure what an oxidized beer tastes like necessarily but this has that wet cardboard sweetness going on that I hear so much about.
Depending on how you bottled from the keg, it’s possible. Particularly so with a light lager.
But I think that oxidation is a lot like astringency in that many judges will say it’s there when it really isn’t.
I think there are a lot of judges who will take any caramel sweetness in a beer and call it oxidation.
Thanks guys. Compared to prior versions of this beer, something is definitely off. It still isn’t bad just different and not as good.