21 January 2021 – How To Enter a Beer Into The Correct Style Category In a Competition

By /

Back to: 21 January 2021 – How To Enter a Beer Into The Correct Style Category In a Competition

Live Coaching Call – 21 January 2021

Show notes:

00:00:00 – Introduction about the session.
00:03:15 – WINS: DA Approvals, Brandt has updated water chemistry,
00:04:35 – WIN: Andrew has changed from pressure fermentation to open fermentation and is starting to notice some positive differences in beer outcomes.
00:06:25 – WIN: Lee has his BM50 up and running, Mark’s DA for packaging going through.  Daniel has a new pH meter and some water testing incoming. Richard has his water tests back.  Zac is creating a new beer. Alex is now brewing with Kveik.  Paul is adjusting beer formulations to cater for pasteurisation.
00:09:33 – CHALLENGE: Jake and Mark sent Hendo some beers to evaluate.  We modified some water chemistry on their XPA but it came across as too astringent, minerally and lacking mouthfeel.  We tweaked the water chemistry to counter these issues.
00:26:27 – CHALLENGE: Lee is dealing with some stuck fermentations and how to deal with it.  The method is to monitor pH for early signs of yeast health issues.  Since Lee is using an English yeast strain, we looked at some mash program changes to change the wort fermentability.
00:33:20 – CHALLENGE: Beau is having some issues with underwhelming hop aroma in an IPA and how to deal with it.  We looked at alternative hop varieties to bring a more traditional “pine” like aroma.
00:38:20 – CHALLENGE: Alex is tring to increase head retention using Chit malt.  Check out the “Brew Instagram-worthy Beer” module for more info on how to lift head retention.
00:41:09 – LEARN SOMETHING NEW: How to enter a beer into a competition and ensure that you put each beer into the right style category.  We cover general rules, specifics for Lager, Pale Ale/IPA as there are many classes around these broad styles.  We also discuss a particular Belgian style with Anellies.
01:40:20 – Session Wrap Up.

The steps to find the appropriate class for your beer when entering a competition is as follows:

  1. Make sure you have True to Brand and Fit For use metrics defined in your Beer Specifications and use them as your guide.
  2. Broadly identify the beer’s origin (Ale/Lager/Hybrid and then the origin such as North American, German, British etc)
  3. Shortlist some candidate styles you think might be appropriate by looking at how the style description matches your True To Brand description.
  4. Objectively review each style description and see if your beer fits. DON’T WORRY IF THERE’S AN INGREDIENT ORIGIN SPECIFIED THAT MAY NOT MATCH YOUR BEER’S RECIPE – A JUDGE IS NEVER GOING TO BE ABLE TO TELL.
  5. Then check the technical specs to see if your beer matches OG, FG, ABV and IBU.
  6. Pick the style that best matches your beer.  Very few beers fit perfectly into a class – and that’s OK – just take a shot!