Hopefully I'm not derailing the thread too much, but… Does it bother anyone else that an all-Vienna grist doesn't hit the color "target" for a Vienna Lager? It seems like it's the only BJCP style that requires a grain addition for color adjustment only.
I guess the better question is, why the discrepancy? Were "Vienna" malts that much darker back in the day? Or did the style just become darker with the mass-market Mexican examples using coloring agents?
I've gotten used to coloring mine. Seems silly, but I've seen enough judges who preconceive that it is missing a certain flavor based on a lack of a certain color. As others have noted, Munich Dunkel is another where the common ingredients might not get you to the "proper" color, but I've never entered it in a competition before to see if it gets treated the same as 3A.
side note - the gold medal NHC Oktoberfest was the lightest colored 3B in the Finals. Loved that beer. Pretty much 1/3 each Vienna/Munich/Pilsner if I remember correctly.