[jjw5015]

Is this where a fruited kettle sour should be entered now instead of in mixed fermentation?

[James K]

I think that still depends, particularly if there is a base style that you are trying to represent. Ex: a saison with fruit character that has a secondary sour pitch should probably do better under mixed fermentation style than it would the new style.
I just think the Catharina Sour is more particular to lactic acid being present as the souring agent than having some acetic acid. But kind of like the guideline says. If it’s a fruited Berliner, enter the beer as a fruit beer.

[reverseapachemaster]

The guideline for this style makes very little sense at all. The short of it is if it's a kettle sour fruit beer but 4% or higher ABV then it's a Catharina Sour, apparently. The BJCP created this weird carve out in fruit beers which already explains a large number of fruited kettle sour beers that already exist and already easily belong in the fruit category. These beers have been brewed in the US, Europe and elsewhere for years. It's the whole Floridaweiss thing.

It's not hard to characterize the decision to dump all these beers into a narrow Brazilian name as a way to appeal to the very active Brazilian homebrewing scene rather than establish objective guidelines. It would have made a lot of sense if the BJCP chose to carve out a kettle sour fruit guideline and identified Catharina Sour as a local variant of the larger style. It doesn't make any sense as a guideline to go the other direction. It's not just dismissive to everybody else; it's dismissive towards the pro and homebrewers in Brazil who developed the identity of their local style.