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Author Topic: BJCP Guidelines - pH  (Read 4906 times)

Offline Stevie

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #15 on: February 23, 2016, 09:26:27 am »

Perhaps they could adjust boil pH or does that pretty much fall into a standard range also.
I guess a more advanced extract brewer could, but that takes the simplicity out of extract brewing. IMO simplicity is the main benefit to extract brewing.

Offline denny

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #16 on: February 23, 2016, 09:56:55 am »

It would also eliminate extract brewers

Extract brewers don't benefit by checking pH?
They can't do anything about mash pH.

Perhaps they could adjust boil pH or does that pretty much fall into a standard range also.

Yeah, it kinda happens automatically with extract, especially of you use distilled water.
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Offline toby

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #17 on: February 23, 2016, 10:08:02 am »
Why aren't target mash and boil pH ranges included for each style in the BJCP guidelines?  (i.e. Too subjective, too much work to include, etc...)

Because judges don't have pH meters at the table?  Sometimes I think including IBUs is a bit much since there is no way to measure that either.

hawkeye

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #18 on: February 23, 2016, 10:13:18 am »
Do judges actually use hydrometers or refractometers to check FG/ABV?

hawkeye

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #19 on: February 23, 2016, 10:16:37 am »
I know a lot of software uses BJCP guidelines to guide recipe making.

Offline hopfenundmalz

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #20 on: February 23, 2016, 10:23:44 am »
Do judges actually use hydrometers or refractometers to check FG/ABV?
I have never seen it. You don't know the OG either when judging, so no ABV is possible.

You get a 12 oz. bottle, split between judges, so you tend to not waste it.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2016, 10:25:28 am by hopfenundmalz »
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Offline toby

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #21 on: February 23, 2016, 10:28:34 am »
Do judges actually use hydrometers or refractometers to check FG/ABV?

Nope, but the difference there is that most judges have been able to measure that easily in their own brewing, so probably have a pretty good idea of what a 6% ABV 1.010 FG beer will taste/feel like.  When I'm brewing, I have no way to test IBUs myself.  I'm at the mercy of formulas and estimates.

Offline denny

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #22 on: February 23, 2016, 10:34:00 am »
Do judges actually use hydrometers or refractometers to check FG/ABV?

No.  All you have is the beer in front of you and you use your senses to the best of your ability.
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Offline MDixon

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #23 on: February 23, 2016, 10:53:03 am »
And of course it doesn't matter what the OG, FG, ABV, and IBU actually are, it matters how they are perceived at the judging table against the style guidelines. I've seen beer which calculated to be outside the stated parameters do well at competition in a particular style.
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hawkeye

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #24 on: February 23, 2016, 12:01:56 pm »
Do you guys use the guidelines when making a new recipe or do you more-so use your knowledge of past beers?

Offline Stevie

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #25 on: February 23, 2016, 12:07:07 pm »
I don't care about competitions, so I don't care about sticking to the guidelines. They are helpful to categorize different, but beyond they I don't care.

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #26 on: February 23, 2016, 12:20:50 pm »
I use the guidelines usually (but not always) to get in the ballpark of what I'm after for a style. Like I posted, as long as pH is in the good range to ensure good conversion, yeast performance, etc., the exact pH is more a taste preference.
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Offline toby

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #27 on: February 23, 2016, 12:50:14 pm »
Do you guys use the guidelines when making a new recipe or do you more-so use your knowledge of past beers?

It all depends on what I'm going for.  If I'm trying to make a beer for a competition, I will usually try to find a few sources with recipes and tweak and combine to make my take on it in conjunction with the style guidelines.

Sometimes, I'm making a beer that defies styles, so I have to get a little more creative.  For example, I just came up with a recipe for a blonde king cake stout for our club's Iron Brewer competition this past weekend.  I had to take several different recipes I've used in the past and guesstimate modifications for spices and flavors with a different base.

In some cases, there's no substitute for experience and brewing a lot to know how various ingredients will come out on their own or together.  Come up with a base for something (like an IPA) where you can experiment with a single variable (like hops) and learn to detect the differences.

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #28 on: February 23, 2016, 01:02:14 pm »
Do you guys use the guidelines when making a new recipe or do you more-so use your knowledge of past beers?

If I have never made a style before, and do not have other information handy I will look at the BJCP guidelines as a starting point. But I'll also look at other recipes that have done well in competitions for that style, Then I apply some knowledge of my own about what I tend to prefer in a beer. And then, the most important thing, especially is brewing to competition, is to get some of the classic examples, taste them, write score sheets if you're into that kind of thing, and think about how your recipe can exemplify some of the aspects of those examples. You will find that you can skip the BJCP guide part of this equation entirely and when you build your recipe it will fall within the guidelines anyway.
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Offline denny

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Re: BJCP Guidelines - pH
« Reply #29 on: February 23, 2016, 01:03:52 pm »
Do you guys use the guidelines when making a new recipe or do you more-so use your knowledge of past beers?

I glance at them to get the BJCP take on the beer.  Then I consult recipe books, my past notebooks, the web, and my taste buds.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell