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CliffGD

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Hey All,

I've brewed a nut chocolate brown (very hazel-nutty carob nibbed) milk (lactose) stout.
The BJCP categories are doing my head in.
Any suggestions for what category this should be entered in?
 
Jesus would turn on his cross... what have you made Dr Frankenstein????? Sounds very much like Nutella in a pint? F@ckin' ewww dude! No seriously no offense intended but I did hurl just a little in my mouth at the thought of it. I don't know you nor ever tasted your brews so seriously again no offense intended except for shits and jiggles (if they are still allowed?)... okay hurled a little again at the thought...

Anyway totally agree with you that the BJCP guides can be person-fuddling noddle scratching bullshit.... however as a once beer judge and beer-tard geek I think Specialty Beers would be what you're looking for. However you'll prolly be competing with lambics and fruities... they can be hard to knock off if you have good seasoned brews of this styles... So maybe someone else can offer their OPED as it has been a while since I studied the guide and it's probably changed a bit by now?

Anyway hope that helps.

Tin Foil Hat Time Has Arrived BITCHEZ

CHappo666 OUT
 
Specialty beers (which are becoming increasingly common) can be very confusing, but once you've read all the introductions to the categories, sections, several time you can see through some of the code.

In the BJCP, it would be category 30A. Spice, Herb or Vegetable Beer. (in Australian Amateur Brewing Championship Styles it's category 17.2)

The category description (unfortunately missing from the AABC guidelines) has a lot of helpful information here (i've bolded the relevant bit):

30. Spiced Beer


We use the common or culinary definitions of spices, herbs, and vegetables, not botanical or scientific ones. In general, spices are the dried seeds, seed pods, fruit, roots, bark, etc. of plants used for flavoring food. Herbs are leafy plants or parts of plants (leaves, flowers, petals, stalks) used for flavoring foods. Vegetables are savory or less sweet edible plant products, used primarily for cooking or sometimes eating raw. Vegetables can include some botanical fruit. This category explicitly includes all culinary spices, herbs, and vegetables, as well as nuts (anything with ‘nut’ in the name, including coconut), chile peppers, coffee, chocolate, spruce tips, rose hips, hibiscus, fruit peels/zest (but not juice), rhubarb, and the like. It does not include culinary fruit or grains. Flavorful fermentable sugars and syrups (agave nectar, maple syrup, molasses, sorghum, treacle, honey, etc.) can be included only in combination with other allowable ingredients, and should not have a dominant character. Any combination of allowable ingredients may also be entered. See Category 29 for a definition and examples of fruit.
In the case of Category 30A. The entry instructions say "The entrant must specify a base style, but the declared style does not have to be a Classic Style." So in essence, you've got a base beer style (Sweet Stout aka Milk Stout), and you've added to "spices" (in this case nuts) to it. If you were playing around with Maple Syrup or another fermentable sugar, or a fruit, you'd probably then have to go into the Experimental (BJCP) category or Specialty (AABC).

Depending on how it tastes (don't oversell an ingredient if it's in the background), you might describe it as a Sweet Stout with hazelnut and carob. If it is really strong in one of the flavours (eg hazelnut) you might want to say "Hazelnut Sweet Stout with Carob". This is just about setting the judges' expectations so they know what they should be looking for (it might not make a difference, but it certainly doesn't hurt).

Likewise, if you think judges won't know what carob is supposed to taste like, you could include that in the comments (I only remember it tasting like crappy cacao/chocolate, so might need some reminding.
 
Knew there was someone WAAAAYYYYY smarter than me here... KUDOS for the reply and proper advice

Chappo666 OUT
 

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