Which category to submit a honey stout

Northern Brewer General
1

First ever competition!

I’m planning on submitting a stout to a homebrew competition, but am unsure of the category. The BJCP categories 1-23 are being judged.

My all-grain stout has oats and some residual sweetness so it could go either as a sweet or oatmeal stout, but I think with my odd adjunct, burnt honey, I should probably submit it to 23.

Anyone think different? Also, will a stout in category 23 end up at the end of the flight?

Thanks all.

2

Seriously? No judges out there who can guide me?

3
  1. SPECIALTY BEER
    This is explicitly a catch-all category for any beer that does
    not fit into an existing style category. No beer is ever “out of
    style” in this category, unless it fits elsewhere.
    The category is intended for any type of beer, including the
    following techniques or ingredients:
    • Unusual techniques (e.g., steinbier, ice/eis beers)
    • Unusual fermentables (e.g., maple syrup, honey, molasses,
    sorghum

Straight from the BJCP Guidelines, last sentance says it all.

4

That’s what I was thinking, but I was kind of wondering if there was flexibility in a category like sweet stout. I mean lactose can be added in that category, but so can corn or treacle. So is the category broad enough to accept honey?

In a competition, if the judges don’t agree with the submission category, do they reclassify it?

See, even though there is honey in this stout there is no honey flavour, per se. It’s more a caramel/toasty thing. In an ideal world I’d like it to be compared to other stouts.

5

Enter it in both catagories then and see what the judges say.

No they will not reclassify an incorrectly catagoriezed entry. It is your responsiblity, not theirs, to find the correct catagory. They may give you feedback on your score sheet on a catagory better suited to that beer.

Without tasting it, and just going off your description I would say 23. Honey (100% fermentable), has pretty much the opposite effect of adding lactose (not fermentable) to a sweet stout. Drink your beer and read the guidelines. Does it meet the description of a sweet sout?