[Bel Air Brewing]

Pale Bitter European Beer - Cat V
This includes:
German Leichtbier 5A
Kolsch 5B
German Helles Export 5C
German Pilsner 5D

In a recent brewing competition that was for Pale Bitter European Beer, they also included beers from categories other than category 5.

They also included categories 3A, 3B, 27A6, and LSX5. These clearly are not in the BJCP guidelines for category 5, Pale Bitter European Beer.

Is this a common problem with beer competitions?

It is not fair to the participants to enter category 5, but them compete against beers that do not meet the BJCP standards for category 5.

What say you?

[denny]

It's fairly common. I don't see anything wrong with it. In reality, you're competing against yourself, not other beers.

[mainebrewer]

Most comps include similar beer styles in a flight to avoid flights with two or three entries.

[HighVoltageMan!]

Happens all the time. Just brew your best beer and hope for the best. Competitions are not perfect, the judges are not calibrated machines and not every brewer enters a perfect beer (hard to believe, but true). Sometimes the mixing of categories can work into your favor and other times it doesn't.

I heard a few years back some advice about the best strategy for home brew competitions (yes, there are strategies), "Brew consistently great beer and leave the rest to luck".

[ynotbrusum]

Odd as it may seem, combining style classifications happens at most competitions.  I have even heard of an entrant who entered the same beer in two very similar styles and medaled with both.

[Wilbur]

I'm not sure about the historic beer and LSX5, but I believe 3A beers are in fact pale, bitter, and European.

I've organized a few competitions. If you restrict styles too much, people either don't enter or they enter their beer in the wrong style. If you allow anything, you end up with a styles you need to combine into a single flight. In the end you still have the risk someone doesn't know the style very well or doesn't like it.

[Iliff Ave]

Yeah I wouldn’t worry about it. From what I remember, you’ve been making some amazing beers and winning a lot

[Bel Air Brewing]

I'm not sure about the historic beer and LSX5, but I believe 3A beers are in fact pale, bitter, and European.

I've organized a few competitions. If you restrict styles too much, people either don't enter or they enter their beer in the wrong style. If you allow anything, you end up with a styles you need to combine into a single flight. In the end you still have the risk someone doesn't know the style very well or doesn't like it.

The BJCP gave Czech Lagers their own category, Category 3, sub Category 3B. So those are not included in Category 5. They are different enough to warrant their own classification.

As for LSX5, that contains the New Zealand Pilsner (X5), which is closer to an IPA style (topical / fruity / citrusy / grassy) than a European Bitter Beer.

[BrewBama]

Your premise is that the competition has incorrectly grouped styles outside the authority of the BJCP guidelines. However, the guideline itself rejects your premise:

“Competitions do not have to judge each style category separately; they may be combined, split, or otherwise reorganized for competition purposes.”  2021 BJCP Style Guidelines, pg xii

Additionally, you presume that this grouping is “not fair to the participants to enter category 5, but them compete against beers that do not meet the BJCP standards for category 5.”  The BJCP addresses this perception as well:

“Competitions may create their own award categories that are distinct from the style categories in these guidelines. There is no requirement that competitions use style categories as award categories! Individual styles can be grouped in any manner to create desired award categories in competition; for instance, to evenly distribute the number of entries in each award category.” 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines, pg iv

What say you, you ask?  From what I can tell, the guidelines don’t dictate to the competition.  The competition can do as they see fit.

My unsolicited advice:

1) Brew your best beer every time you brew and categorize it by how you interpret the guidelines.
2) Submit your entry following the instructions for the competition to a T.
3) Save two beers.
3a) Crack one the day of judging and take notes on a BJCP score sheet with the style guidelines open.
3b) Crack the second one when you get your feedback with your notes open.
4) Try to understand the judges’ feedback based on what you taste, your notes, and the guidelines.

Like par in golf, you aren’t competing against the people in your foursome. You are competing against par for the course, or in this case, the BJCP style description for the style you submitted your beer under. Just like in golf: it doesn’t matter how. It’s how many that counts. It doesn’t matter what you intended to brew. It matters where it best fits.

BTW, these are my personal BJCP favorite quotes:

“The Style Guidelines are not the Ten Commandments. …Don’t treat them as some kind of Holy Scripture.” and “We are not the beer police.” 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines, pg vi

[Kevin]

If there are too few entries in a similar or even close to similar style the comp organizers will group them together.

[Bel Air Brewing]

Your premise is that the competition has incorrectly grouped styles outside the authority of the BJCP guidelines. However, the guideline itself rejects your premise:

“Competitions do not have to judge each style category separately; they may be combined, split, or otherwise reorganized for competition purposes.”  2021 BJCP Style Guidelines, pg xii

Additionally, you presume that this grouping is “not fair to the participants to enter category 5, but them compete against beers that do not meet the BJCP standards for category 5.”  The BJCP addresses this perception as well:

“Competitions may create their own award categories that are distinct from the style categories in these guidelines. There is no requirement that competitions use style categories as award categories! Individual styles can be grouped in any manner to create desired award categories in competition; for instance, to evenly distribute the number of entries in each award category.” 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines, pg iv

What say you, you ask?  From what I can tell, the guidelines don’t dictate to the competition.  The competition can do as they see fit.

My unsolicited advice:

1) Brew your best beer every time you brew and categorize it by how you interpret the guidelines.
2) Submit your entry following the instructions for the competition to a T.
3) Save two beers.
3a) Crack one the day of judging and take notes on a BJCP score sheet with the style guidelines open.
3b) Crack the second one when you get your feedback with your notes open.
4) Try to understand the judges’ feedback based on what you taste, your notes, and the guidelines.

Like par in golf, you aren’t competing against the people in your foursome. You are competing against par for the course, or in this case, the BJCP style description for the style you submitted your beer under. Just like in golf: it doesn’t matter how. It’s how many that counts. It doesn’t matter what you intended to brew. It matters where it best fits.

BTW, these are my personal BJCP favorite quotes:

“The Style Guidelines are not the Ten Commandments. …Don’t treat them as some kind of Holy Scripture.” and “We are not the beer police.” 2021 BJCP Style Guidelines, pg vi

Thank you. That makes it clear. The competition committee has free reign to do as they see fit.

[Village Taphouse]

Now for someone to brew a pale bitter ale and name it CATEGORY 5 and the label can feature an aerial view of the storm but instead of clouds the storm is made of foam.    Okay Ken... that's enough... back to work. 

[jeffy]

Now for someone to brew a pale bitter ale and name it CATEGORY 5 and the label can feature an aerial view of the storm but instead of clouds the storm is made of foam.    Okay Ken... that's enough... back to work.

One of the competitions in south Florida has a Cat 5 award for most points. I think it's an aerial shot of Andrew on the medal.