[JimRMaine]

OK sorry, I'm going to be 'that guy'.
I printed out the competition info. for NHC and read through it. I have a 'stickealtbier' that came in at 7.9% and was wondering what category to place it. #7B Altbier specifically says to not place stickealts there and I couldn't find a category for stickealts. So where would you place it?
Thanks folks!

[santoch]

Hi Jim-

I would put it in whatever category number Category 26 M (BJCP cat 27) Other Historical Beer turns into this year (I hear the category numbers might shift around a little bit this year compared to last year due to breaking out a couple bigger categories into their own smaller ones).

Be sure to include a very good description of it during registration so that the judges understand that it is essentially an Alt-Bock or Imperial Altbier.

HTH-
Steve

[JimRMaine]

Thanks santoch!
I was also thinking that category 34 Specialty Beer might be appropriate.
I tried my 1st sample 1.5 week out after bottling, and it's not half bad. I'm going to give it a good 3 weeks of carbonation before deciding if it's worth it.

[santoch]

The reason I suggest Other Historical instead of Specialty for your Sticke Altbier is because the Specialty Category is always a huge category.  The sheer number of entries in that category puts you at a disadvantage.  If you can enter in a smaller category, its to your advantage to do so.  Additionally, Specialty draws all kinds of "flashy" styles, like spice/fruit/wood combinations, so standing out amongst the competition with a "vanilla" style becomes an issue as well.

HTH-
Steve
2017 NHC Seattle Region Judge Director

[udubdawg]

FWIW, Other Historical *is* in Specialty. I don't expect the category to be particularly enormous with this list of styles.

Specialty Beer
31A. Alternative Grain Beer
31B. Alternative Sugar Beer
34A. Clone Beer (non-Belgian)
34B. Mixed-Style Beer
34C. Experimental Beer
27J. Other Historical Beer

P.S. - at ~8% it seems strong enough for Doppelsticke.  But it will need to taste strong as judges don't like to give you the benefit of the doubt on alcohol.     And as a fairly experienced judge, if I even saw this in Mixed-Style or Experimental and someone wrote "doppelsticke: doppelbock-strength altbier" I'd have enough to go on. 

[dsmitch19]

Hi Jim-

I would put it in whatever category number Category 26 M (BJCP cat 27) Other Historical Beer turns into this year (I hear the category numbers might shift around a little bit this year compared to last year due to breaking out a couple bigger categories into their own smaller ones).

Be sure to include a very good description of it during registration so that the judges understand that it is essentially an Alt-Bock or Imperial Altbier.

HTH-
Steve

Yep, there were some changes to the categories. If you click the "Rules and Regulations" button under "Entrant Information" on this page: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/national-homebrew-competition/entrant-volunteer-information/, the PDF handbook lists the 2017 NHC style categories near the end of the document, pages 13-16.

The direct link to the PDF entrant handbook is here (it is the 2017 version, even though the URL says 2016): https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/homebrewassoc/wp-content/uploads/2016-NHC-Entrant-Handbook.pdf

[johnny_mo]

Reinterating what Dennis and a few other have eluded to, we have reorganized the categories this year to better reflect the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines.
Here's an easy, quick link to that category reorganization. You'll find the BJCP category/subcategory that goes under each major style category. Please reference the 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines for any style related questions.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/from-the-director/2017-national-homebrew-competition-styles/

good luck!

John Moorhead, NHC Director.