OnTap Magazine

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES 1 JULY 2019. DETAILS AND ENTRY FORM ON WWW.SANBT.COM ARE YOU WORTH GOLD? N A T I O N A L B E E R T R O P H Y NATIONAL BEER TROPHY 2019 OPINION characteristics may be slightly different to the guideline characteristics. The guidelines are descriptive, not prescriptive. They were not created with the intention of telling brewers what to brew or inhibiting creativity in any way. They were designed to bring some level of objectivity to an inherently subjective task. I like to the think of the BJCP guidelines as a target. For the purposes of competition, we set the target and task brewers to use their skill to get as close to the target as possible. In general, skilled brewers should be able to get closer to the target than unskilled brewers, or at least with greater frequency. There are bound to be a few lucky shots but, in general, the system works in rewarding well brewed beers. THE COMMERCIAL CONUNDRUM When it comes to using the BJCP guidelines to judge commercial beers, things become problematic, and this is where most of the complaints against the BJCP originate. While it may be true that any beer should stylistically be able to fit into the guidelines, I think it is important to consider intent. Commercial brewers are not brewing their beers specifically to enter into BJCP-sanctioned competitions as homebrewers do. Therefore oftentimes entry into a particular style will be a ‘best fit’ approach, where a brewer finds a style best suited to his or her beer. This relies heavily upon experienced and reasonable judges being assigned to that beer and allowing for some interpretation of the style. Also, since the guidelines are descriptions of a range of commercial beers which came to define a style over time, it does seem problematic to judge other commercial beers to those guidelines. The counterpoint is that accuracy to a style description is important for commercial brewers as it gives the consumer necessary information which they can’t verify before buying and opening the product. For instance, if you buy a dry stout, you are expecting roast and chocolate malt flavours, yet with lower alcohol and good drinkability. Or, if you buy an IPA, you are expecting a level of hop flavour and bitterness significantly greater than your average pale ale. Stylistic accuracy is therefore a way for the consumer to make an informed choice based on their own preference. Brewers can then use the names of classic styles to convey sensory information about their product. It logically follows that commercial beers should be able to be judged against the style guidelines. Perhaps there is a middle ground – where the judging approach and guidelines of the BJCP are used to judge the stylistic accuracy and technical merit of the beer. This can then be complemented by a greater emphasis on the overall impression