2018 GABF NW winners

Breweries pick which categories in which to enter, and when a beer fits guidelines for multiple categories, smart Brewers exercise strategy in considering which categories maximize their medal potential. "Experimental" is a catch-all category for anything which doesn't have its own specific category, so it can mean chips-and-salsa beer but it can also mean mixed-culture beer with wine influences. Tasting notes are sanitized to remove geographical/brand biases, but the phrasing can still give judges insight to the Brewer's intention and why the Brewer views it as experimental.

 

Did Firestone Walker win silver medal for collaboration for collaborating... with themselves?

 

Pixie Dusted
Brewery Name: Firestone Walker Barrelworks
Collaborating Brewery Name: Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
Beer Style: Wheat Blonde Ale Fermented in Neutral Oak Barrels with Pixie Tangerines

Looks like it, but technically FW and Barrelworks are two separate locations/facilities. I dunno.

 

@sharpski said it well, but I will add:
Our Terroir Pinot Gris was a brett Saison that we added Gris Juice to in the barrel, let it have another fermentation and then bottle conditioned it with more Gris juice. The Brett character in the beer, we felt, was more dominant than the fruit or the oak. This beer, and many of ours, could be entered in many categories, and it is hard to decide. Predicting where it will do best is almost harder than making a delicious beer.

Now, for Pinot Noir, we made this beer utilizing 'experimental' process, in that we used many wine make techniques. First, we harvested the grapes and ran them through a cold soak. This helps to fix the color. Next we crushed and destemmed by hand and brought an aged mixed culture fermentation beer to the tank of grape must. Then for the next couple of weeks we did cap management to make sure the fruit cap didn't dry out and oxidize. This beer also went through a malolactic fermentation. Finally, we bottle conditioned it. As Sharpski said, the experimental category is a catch all for beers that either are a mix of styles, or don't have a home, or are spontaneously fermented, or are sake beers, OR are produced with some "other than traditional" beer making process. It is sometimes the brewers job to convince the judge that your delicious beer is that.
So, there you have it.
Thanks for asking the question. Its not always straightforward.
-Cheers! Matt