I've recently brewed a Tripel that I've added Brett to. It's coming along very nicely, so I'm considering adding it to a homebrew competition later this summer. However, looking at the guidelines for the Tripel style, it doesn't appear that the presence of Brett is part of the official style. What is another appropriate category that I should place it in? Should this just go into the 28A style?
What does it taste like? If it tastes like a standard Tripel then submit it as such. If it tastes like it has Brett then submit it as 28A. But, if you do 28A, make sure that the Brett is fairly detectable as judges will be expecting it and will dock points for lack of its presence.
What he said. Enter what category it fits in at this point in time, not what you want it or expect it to be.
Thanks for the responses. 28A it is. It's been in the bottle for 6-7 weeks, and the Brett character has come a ways since bottling. It's noticeable, but not overwhelming. The competition is still over a month away, so I'm sure it will be pretty prominent by then.
Just make sure it still has Tripel character too, or you'll get docked for that. You can describe the style rather than specify too if need be. "Strong Belgian Brett Beer" or whatever.
Just a suggestion, if you want to maximize your score you might want to wait 6 - 12 months before entering a comp. In my experience, those little Bretties act mighty slow. As a minimum, save a couple of bottles to personally sample at the one-year mark.
I'll fourth the "enter it in the category that it tastes like when you enter the competition, not in the category that you originally brewed it to be in" sentiment.
"coming along very nicely" means to me it already has unmistaken Brett character...it undoubtedly wouldn't fare well in the Tripel category, but if you want to hedge your bet, enter it in both...after all, you don't know who the judges are going to be.
