Choosing a Style for Nationals 2020

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Style v. Category

When you enter your beer into Nationals, you must choose a style.
Styles are defined in the BJCP guidelines.

Categories are groupings of styles used to award medals; the NHC announces these a couple of weeks before judging.


How to Choose a Style
1. Check the Guidelines
Read the characteristics of a beer - that's what the judges will look for.

2. Brew with Style in Mind
A tasty beer may still not match a style - have an idea of where your beer fits.

3. Taste Your Beer + Adjust
Enter in the style you actually brewed, not the style of your recipe - judges rate on what's in the bottle.


Specific style questions are answered below...

FAQ/"What style is this beer?"

The descriptions below use the term base style.
This means a broad description of the beer; it doesn't need to match the guidelines. It's enough to say "stout" without specifying Irish Stout, Sweet Stout, etc.

Adding spices to your beer? Read this:

...explicitly includes all culinary spices, herbs, and vegetables, as well as nuts (anything with 'nut' in the name, including coconut), chile peppers, coffee, chocolate, spruce tips, rose hips, hibiscus, fruit peels/zest (but not juice), rhubarb, and the like.

If your beer has any combination of these, without fruit, sour or wood, then it goes in 30A.


What style should I use for...

...New England IPA?
21B(7).
Enter NEIPAs using the new provisional guidelines.
Judges will look for fruity esters, low bitterness, + soft body; if your beer does not have all of these, consider if it might fit in 21A.

..."pastry" stout with cocoa nibs, walnuts, cinnamon + maple syrup?
30A.
All of these ingredients are considered spices. Additional sugars are permitted if they don't dominate. Always specify the base style.
Note - Keep in mind with beers like this:

If you list every individual ingredient, judges will expect to detect each one.

...Baltic Porter aged on bourbon-soaked oak chips?
33B.
Specify the base style, the type of alcohol and the wood or barrel used.

...sour DIPA with milk sugar, jasmine, green tea + lime purée?
28C.
Any sour with fruit, herb + spice goes here. Specify fruit, yeast and a base style or describe the beer.
(This is actually a commercial beer recipe.)

...Kveik IPA?
21B.
Kveik IPA is not yet a defined style, so describe key characteristics for the judges to look for.

..."ice cream" IPA with raspberry puree, vanilla + lactose?
29B.
Fruit + herb/spice together (but without wood, sour, or smoke) belongs here. Specify a base style and the fruit/spice used.

...Belgian IPA with Brett?
28B.
Any kind of sour - kettle sours, for example - that's not listed elsewhere.
You're not required to give a base style; just describe the beer when you enter.