Competition strategies

[Banjo-guy]

I entered last years National Homebrew Competition last year. It was first my competition. I brewed a Mocha Stout modeled after Founders Breakfast Stout. I scored 30 and lost points over low carbonation. I was in the range for a stout’s carbonation.

I know that people brew with an eye towards scoring high in competitions. What are some strategies to score higher?
I was thinking that pushing the upper range of attributes of the styles is one good idea.
1. Bottle and brewing as close as possible to shipping day.
2. Raising the carb level because the beer might sit for a while before the judges get to taste it.
3. High end of the ABV range.
Does this make sense?
What do you think works?


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[mashani]

I would bet if you entered exactly the same beer in a different competition you might not have gotten dinged for those things.

But if I was to offer advice, I would say "wear sunscreen". (joke, maybe someone will get it).

Or actually I would say it depends on what type of stout you are describing it as when entering it in a competition.

IE a dry irish stout should not get easily dinged for "low carbonation" or "low alcohol" (unless it's like flat or has none), and if it was, then the judge is a moron who doesn't deserve to be a beer judge.

Now an American style stout modeled after some American beer especially if you mention it's name, then ok, maybe make it huge and fizzy as hell because American Beers (and apparently American beer judges) are stupid like that.

But if it's in the proper range and it gets dinged, that's someone being subjective (to their own taste) instead of objective (to style). But mentioning a specific beer would put you more closely to being judged "objectively" as if you were trying to exactly clone it.

So maybe other advice is don't mention a specific beer that you are trying to emulate besides the "style", so you don't put additional pre-conceived notions in the judges heads.

I'm sure someone else will have better advice, that's all I got.

[Banjo-guy]

I would bet if you entered exactly the same beer in a different competition you might not have gotten dinged for those things.

But if I was to offer advice, I would say "wear sunscreen". (joke, maybe someone will get it).

Or actually I would say it depends on what type of stout you are describing it as when entering it in a competition.

IE a dry irish stout should not get easily dinged for "low carbonation" or "low alcohol" (unless it's like flat or has none), and if it was, then the judge is a moron who doesn't deserve to be a beer judge.

Now an American style stout modeled after some American beer especially if you mention it's name, then ok, maybe make it huge and fizzy as hell because American Beers (and apparently American beer judges) are stupid like that.

But if it's in the proper range and it gets dinged, that's someone being subjective (to their own taste) instead of objective (to style). But mentioning a specific beer would put you more closely to being judged "objectively" as if you were trying to exactly clone it.

So maybe other advice is don't mention a specific beer that you are trying to emulate besides the "style", so you don't put additional pre-conceived notions in the judges heads.

I'm sure someone else will have better advice, that's all I got.

I should have mentioned that the beer was entered as a specialty beer. I was told that how you name the beer will influence how it is judged. For example calling my beer a Stout with coffee and chocolate or calling it a Mocha Stout will influence what the judges will expect to taste.

I never mentioned Founders or any other commercial beer name.

I think I lost carbonation by bottling off the keg. It was definitely not flat but may have been in the 2 units range. I read that it’s a good idea to bottle carb for competitions..




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[MadBrewer]

Strategies for competition will be different for different styles, but there are some general good practices. As far as carbonation, I always over carbonate a couple psi when bottling off the keg because you will loose come carbonation with the transfer to bottles. It could be the beer was a bit bigger, sweeter, or otherwise had more mouth feel that made it seem a little lower on carbonation. Sometimes extra carbonation can help balance the beer out. Maybe that's what the judge was looking for.

Specialty beer is a tough category, it's very vast, vague and open to interpretation. Spice/vegetable beer is another tough category. And yes you are right anything you list that the judges will see will influence what they are looking to taste.

[John Sand]

Banjo, I think there was an article in BYO about competition strategy. There might be something on their website.
Mash, "Take care of your knees. You'll miss those when they're gone" from the same song.

[FedoraDave]

But if it's in the proper range and it gets dinged, that's someone being subjective (to their own taste) instead of objective (to style). But mentioning a specific beer would put you more closely to being judged "objectively" as if you were trying to exactly clone it.

This is something I've learned over the course of the competitions I've entered. Even though there are fairly specific guidelines for each style as outlined by the BJCP, judging, by its very nature, is going to be subjective to some degree. Most styles have a range for SRM, ABV, and IBU, so a judge may ding an entry for being too dark, even though it's at the high end of acceptable SRM.

A couple of comments I've received bear this out, with a judge remarking that maybe a little more or less battering hops would be an improvement, even though, according to recipe analysis in BrewToad, I'm safely within the range for that style. And I guess I'm okay with that; I have to account for individual subjective analysis.

The one discrepancy that has occurred a couple of times, and which always makes visible cartoon question marks shoot out of my head, is when the comments from one judge directly contradict the comments from the other. One will say it has a good head that persists, and the other will say virtually no head. You guys are drinking samples poured from the same bottle, how is this possible?!

[mashani]

One will say it has a good head that persists, and the other will say virtually no head. You guys are drinking samples poured from the same bottle, how is this possible?!

I suppose it is possible that one had a glass that was less clean and/or the other had a glass that had some detergent residue or the like that killed the head.