Must a German Wheat Beer be bottle conditioned to be in BJCP Style

[BroStefan]

I brewed the Wiezenbock recipe from Brewing Classic style and kegged it up. Fantastic! I pulled some bottles and entered them in a competition. Judged by a Certified judge and a non-BJCP judge. Both judges liked it a lot and had some helpful feedback, but I got dinged bad for being out of style because it was not mit hefe. I've reviewed the guidelines and I can see where I might miss 1 appearance point for not being cloudy. (It was bright clear.)

The style comments says, "Bottles with yeast are traditionally swirled or gently rolled prior to serving," but does that mean that it HAS to be bottle conditioned to be in style? That is not how I read it.

Any thoughts?

 

[deepcdan99]

No it does not have to be bottle conditioned. However, typically there will be yeast that is in suspension when bottled from the keg, and may still settle to the bottom of the bottle. You can do the same with the keg prior to bottling. Give it a light whirl around and rouse up the settled yeast.

 

[tagz]

I don't think it has to be bottle conditioned but it should be cloudy/hazy. Next time you might try swirling your keg. That could help pull some yeast into suspension so that it transfers to the bottle.

 

[Qhrumphf]

The Weizen/Weissbier category allows for Kristallweizen. It might be worth claiming that (like you would using rye in an American Wheat/Rye beer). However, if you were to explicitly state it was supposed to be a Kristallweizen, you would probably want to go through and actually filter it to make sure it's crystal clear. So I'd probably say if you're somewhere in between, yeah, a picky judge could ding you for it.

 

[deepcdan99]

The Weizen/Weissbier category allows for Kristallweizen. It might be worth claiming that (like you would using rye in an American Wheat/Rye beer). However, if you were to explicitly state it was supposed to be a Kristallweizen, you would probably want to go through and actually filter it to make sure it's crystal clear. So I'd probably say if you're somewhere in between, yeah, a picky judge could ding you for it.

But the ding would not be for bottle conditioning vs keg. If so, I'd disagree.

 

[sweetcell]

a work-around is to throw a spoonful of flour at the end of the boil. apparently this creates a permanent haze that is identical to yeast haze (so claims either doc or nathan from the brewing network).

 

[Darwin18]

I've judged plenty of Category 15 beers and haven't ever had the steward roll the bottle or attempt to get the yeast at the bottom re-suspended. At the very most you're talking about 3 appearance points - at most you probably might have lost 1 - 2 points for it being clear. At the end of the day the judges need to read the overall style description:

"A pale, spicy, fruity, refreshing wheat-based ale."

If it fits that general description without perceived off-flavors, then IMO you're looking at a beer starting at least a 30.

 

[billl]

"The style comments says, "Bottles with yeast are traditionally swirled or gently rolled prior to serving," but does that mean that it HAS to be bottle conditioned to be in style? That is not how I read it."

No, it just needs to fit the appearance and taste profile. It's very easy to pick up a bit of yeast when kegging.

As for points, you'll definitely get dinged for appearance. You could also get dinged if the lack of yeast muted the well rounded yeasty/bready character. And once they see the clarity, that might influence their perception of body and mouth feel. If something is visually off and that is the first impression someone gets, it can definitely influence other perceptions. Even though judges are supposed to compartmentalize their scoring, they are only human.

 

[danhercules]

My fav beer is a Bavarian style hef. Thats where is comes from and thats who does it best.

Cloudy, YES…. Put the yeast in it, YES. Thick head, yes.

Not sure how they do it in Bavaria, but even the tap is real cloudy. I personly like Schnider weiss. Its much darker and more cloudy than the rest. But to each his own.