Need some help Categorising my latest Brew

What does it taste like? Maybe go with 21B. Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer, or just 23. Specialty Beer.

 

Your recipe reads like it is a Sweet Stout to me but with an OG = 1.065 it is a bit too high per the BJCP style guidelines for a Sweet Stout.

Cheers!

P.S. If the vanilla bean flavor is high, maybe a Spiced Beer would be more appropriate?

 

Give it a taste, then give it a style.

 

Do you have prior experience brewing with S-33? I have seen it reported that this yeast strain is really an English yeast strain vs. a Belgian strain: “Sources other than the manufacturer say S-33 is Edme yeast”.

If you are really looking to brew a Belgian style Stout then I would highly recommend that you ferment with Wyeast 3787 and ferment warm (e.g., 72°F) to encourage the formation of ‘Belgiany’ flavors (esters and phenols).

Cheers!

P.S. Adding more yeast at bottling (“bottle with s-58 yeast to add some extra character”) will have negligible effect on the beer flavor. The amount of fermentation that occurs in the bottle is miniscule.

 

How much are the entry fees? If you can afford entering your beer into 2 or 3 (or more) styles then let the "experts" tell you what it is.

 

only issue with putting it under category 23 specialty is they request a base style. so it still leaves the issue of figuring that out

 

I concur, looks like a milk stout to me.

FWIW All my sweet stouts brewed for competitions have an O.G. of ~1.078 (Usually finish high, ~1.030-1.040).

 

Dextrins aren't sweet, and lactose isn't really very sweet (more milky; taste it), so the beers aren't super sweet, just thick. Also, they have around 20-25% roasted grain to keep them in balance.

The first 1 or 2 I made kept getting comments from judges that it should be thicker with better head retention, so I just kept mashing higher and higher and adding more lactose. The milk stouts have very done well in competitions.