A local competition is coming up and I was thinking of submitting my passion fruit ale. It’s along the lines of a blonde ale with passion fruit purée. However, I fermented it with Brett C, wlp650. Brett is the primary strain though (100% Brett) so there is no detectable Brett funk, at least not to my palate. Do I submit as a fruit beer 29A, and not mention the Brett? Or should it be catagorized as Brett beer 28A? Thanks.
I submitted an old ale with Brett C to a comp, with Brett C declared (I think it was a mixed fermentation category). Judges liked it as an old ale but didn't recognize the contribution of Brett C. Likely their palates were accustomed to or fatigued by the more overt Brett bruxellensis and Brett lambicus. Scored low 30s. FWIW, this was my favorite homebrew of 2018, and perhaps the best beer I ever made, imo.
Yeah, was leaning towards fruit beer. My concern is a judge might be sensitive to Brett and pick it up in the flavor. If I don’t mention the Brett, they might think it’s an infection issue. Could/ should I still submit as fruit beer and mention it was fermented with Brett in the notes?
I vaguely remember a similar scenario in this forum and it was suggested that the beer have separate entries in multiple categories/styles. Would that be applicable here?
Get a second opinion about your beer's taste from someone you know who has a good palate, and see if they taste the brett. (But don't tell them it's there before they taste it.)
For a while there (right before hazy NEIPA exploded) it seemed like Brett IPA with 100% brett fermentation was going to be the next big thing. The pineapple fruity flavor from the fermentation really works in an IPA and I still like the style. These beers when fresh aren't brett funky. I've never had an old one so I don't know what they are like when they are old. My big concern would be that you could be setting yourself up for failure in the brett category being unfairly judged against funky brett beers. If there really isn't funk but is a fruity flavor and aroma, I'd go with the fruit beer category.
