American Ale Competition Question

Hi everyone,

I am planning on entering my first homebrew competition in August and going to submit an IPA and an American ale. Are there any restrictions on what an American ale entails? If desired, could I add lemon zest or blueberries in the secondary or would that change the beer to a fruit style beer. I like to include unique flavor profiles but want to stick within the guidelines of style.
Any feedback you can provide would be appreciated!

Matt

Here's a link (http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php) where you can download the style guidelines. I think if you add fruit to a beer, you've made a fruit beer. Not sure about the zest though.

The key to any style in a competition is not the ingredients that go into the beer, but what it tastes/smells/looks like. If your American Ale tastes like lemon zest and blueberries then it is a fruit beer (even if you didn't use any fruit). If it doesn't, no matter how much zest or how many blueberries you put in it, it isn't.

I entered my american amber in my first competition last weekend. Got a decent score...36...but both judges picked up on the 2oz chocolate malt in the recipe as not within style...

you can submit anything anywhere, but you'll have the best results if you submit a beer within the tasting parameters of the style.

First, you need to decide what style within the American Ale category you intend to enter the beer (Pale Ale, Amber Ale, or Brown Ale). These are obviously very different beers.

Second, adding any fruit will put any of these ales out of style (in my opinion). You might be able to cover lemon zest if you are using citrusy hops, but that raises another question. Why not simply try to get the citrus flavor from the hops? In any of these styles, you are supposed to get a "unique flavor profile" through your use of a unique combination of malt and hops and through your process. That is part of the challenge -- making a to style beer that can still stand out.

Third, if you are set on putting fruit into a beer, why not enter it in the fruit beer category?

Pronounced fruit in an American Ale BJCP category will result in point deductions.

Remember that the BJCP judging is designed to be as objective as possible. They aren't judging whether you beer tastes good or not, they are reading straight down the style guidelines and you get points for the parts of the style guidelines your beer exemplifies, and deductions of points for parts of the style guidelines your beer lacks or extra characteristics that are not in the guidelines.

If you are trying to win your category, you aren't going to do it with a beer that you are unsure of the category. You really have to intentionally brew to the guidelines from the start.

If you just want honest feedback, you could always just enter it in the Specialty Category 23 and list your grain bill and numbers.