Other Comps With Specialty Category?

[Fourstar]

I disagree with the second point though, it would certainly impact my impression of your beer if it used an essence compared to real nuts

What if i lied to you? As the amount of Hazelnut extract i added was enough to push nuttiness but not enought to taste/smell "fake" like Rogues Hazelnut Nectar (whcih is what the recipe was roughly based on anyway). Im sure BribieG (and sully?) could confirm this.

BTW, you dont judge beers against each other, you judge them on their merits to the style, even if they are different and you score accordingly to the style not the last beer in the flight. (you obviously must make sure the best beers do have the best scores however. Can you adjust scores once the scoresheets leave the table?)

Judges dont have the right to penalise a beer wether they used real, extract, immitation or almonds but called it a hazelnut. Judges are there to judge the beers based on their interperetation to the style guidelines, nothing more. they can give suggestions for improvements if they find it to be NQR, thats as far as it goes! If it tastes like extract and tastes fake, penalise them! If it tastes like real hazelnuts but its extract, good luck to the brewer i say, points awarded! It is not the judges job to decide wether or not their recipe is up to their own personal 'standards' of brewing.

As for the Full Mash to Extract malt comparison. Im glad i dont enter any comps in NSW and no longer brew extract as i'd hate to think you are delibertatly reducing entrants scores because they may have used extract! The route to witch a brewer got to their final destination is none of the judges business, especially if the beer is of a decent standard.

If i had a scoresheet sent back to me with "next time use grain instead of extract" I'd be contating the competiton organiers immediatly. Not because its rude, but becuase i wouldn't want a pig headed judge involved in any further competitons.

 

[floppinab]

What if i lied to you? As the amount of Hazelnut extract i added was enough to push nuttiness but not enought to taste/smell "fake" like Rogues Hazelnut Nectar (whcih is what the recipe was roughly based on anyway). Im sure BribieG (and sully?) could confirm this.

BTW, you dont judge beers against each other, you judge them on their merits to the style, even if they are different and you score accordingly to the style not the last beer in the flight. (you obviously must make sure the best beers do have the best scores however. Can you adjust scores once the scoresheets leave the table?)

What if I ripped the label off an Urquell and sent it in? Kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it??

This is difficulty with these Specialty categories, judging their merits to a style is difficult given there is not a style defined for whatever you are trying to acheive with the use of non-malt,hop,yeast additions. So you end up having to judge against what you think the brewer was trying to acheive. Which is the point I was trying to make about detailing some information about exactly that included in an entry in this type of category.

And no you cannot adjust scores once they have left the table.

Judges dont have the right to penalise a beer wether they used real, extract, immitation or almonds but called it a hazelnut.
[rest deleted]

You're right there, I used a bad analogy and got it wrong, and we've done the Extract vs Full Mash thing to death as well and that's no reason to judge any beer differently. Point taken. But I'm trying to demonstrate the difficulty in judging in this category without knowing a bit more about what ingredients have gone into these type of beers and what was the brewers intention when using those ingredients. I'm confident this is the primary reason this is asked for in the guidelines as I quoted.

Not because its rude, but becuase i wouldn't want a pig headed judge involved in any further competitons.

Thankyou for that, maybe you ought to give it a go yourself prior to throwing pigs heads around

 

[beers]

I would assume, from the frustration of the judges, that next year there will be changes made to the entry forms to allow for some of the vagaries of the Specialty category.

Sweet. It's always good for the organisers to take on some feedback & incorporate it into following comps.

Funnily enough I got dinked on the exact same thing recently too.. & with a Hazelnut Brown Ale! a Hazelnut conspiracy mayhaps? <_< :lol:
I was a douche & wrote the description on the part of the form that was attached to the bottle
We live & learn...

 

[Fourstar]

What if I ripped the label off an Urquell and sent it in? Kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it??

Nope, thats just plain out cheating. Claiming someone elses beer as your own.

Thankyou for that, maybe you ought to give it a go yourself prior to throwing pigs heads around

I have and will continue todo so. Not to mention im also working towards BJCP accreditation to give some relevance to the title of 'judge'. When having your beer judged you deserve the best feedback possibe, thats what you are paying for. Not to be told your beer is sub-standard because some AG Bigot thinks your beer is extract based and is therefore, sub-standard.

Yes, i brew all-grain.

But I'm trying to demonstrate the difficulty in judging in this category without knowing a bit more about what ingredients have gone into these type of beers and what was the brewers intention when using those ingredients. I'm confident this is the primary reason this is asked for in the guidelines as I quoted.

Where exactly does it ask for a recipe breakdown? :huh:

 

[brettprevans]

What if I ripped the label off an Urquell and sent it in?

h34r:
id give u score of 30. avg beer. hints of kit taint. , flabby body and hop flavour. poor head.

I kid. but couldnt help it. (edit: i havent had a good urquell yet)

 

[floppinab]

Where exactly does it ask for a recipe breakdown? :huh:

That's not what I said man, the guidelines are clear as to "the type of spices, etc." that I quoted earlier used in the beer that need to be specified. Just saying Hazelnut in the beer name is not enough.

Nope, thats just plain out cheating. Claiming someone elses beer as your own.

I'd say your suggestion to lie about what someone has put in their specialty category beer would classify as cheating as well.

I have and will continue todo so. Not to mention im also working towards BJCP accreditation to give some relevance to the title of 'judge'. When having your beer judged you deserve the best feedback possibe, thats what you are paying for. Not to be told your beer is sub-standard because some AG Bigot thinks your beer is extract based and is therefore, sub-standard.

Look man I'm no Kit/Extract nazi. I've got a few mates who brew kit beers which I'm more than happy to drink, Lord knows how many years I did kits myself. They have a place and in comps deserve to be judged on their merits. Fair point (again!).

Good on you re. the BJCP, for what it's worth I did mine two years ago but like many things just because the person who judges your beers has a nice pin on his chest doesn't automatically mean you are going to get "the best feedback possible". I've had a few of my BJCP comp beers come back with lovely one word descriptors; telling me my beers have been lightstruck out of a brown bottle that was certainly never placed anywhere near a lightsource, one comp managed to mix my beer up in the completely wrong category. Waste of money that was but shit happens.

I make sure I put plenty of info my judging forms, (often to the disdain of my fellow judges who berate me for taking too long) I KNOW how important it is to the entrant.

I'm harping a bit here but my own recent experience with this category was difficult enough given you have quite a lot of very very different beers. You mention the same thing yourself.

its almost like a Best of Show competition where you are not so much judging the beer against their own style but against the other beers in the flight and the over all impression on their 'coined' styles. How can a Black IPA be judged against an Imperial Kolsch for instance. Overall impression?

It would be good if the specialties could be broken down somewhat into lagers and ales by colour for instance.

I was going to comment on this earlier. It's a tough gig given the many different things that get submitted in this category. Providing there are enough entries in these categories (would probably need at least ~8 into each subcategory) in a particular comp then your suggestion is excellent, at the very least you could go darks and lights. One for upcoming comps.

 

[floppinab]

h34r:
id give u score of 30. avg beer. hints of kit taint. , flabby body and hop flavour. poor head.

I kid. but couldnt help it. (edit: i havent had a good urquell yet)

:lol: Dropped that in there, bought a case for $40 the other day, hadn't had it for a couple of years. Was certainly signficantly dumbed down from what I remember it.

Still good value though at that price.