Beer Forum

I'll be entering the American IPA category in the MCAB competition in April, which is in Waukesha, Wisconsin this year. My recipe did well enough in Houston, but I'm wondering if I should tweak it to suit the palates of the judges there. Has anyone here observed a preference for a particular style of American IPA in Wisconsin? Is it more west coast, east coast or something in between?

They're blonde, smell like cheese & talk with a subtle Minnesotan accent, don't cha know.

Ozwald wrote:They're blonde, smell like cheese & talk with a subtle Minnesotan accent, don't cha know.

If that's the case, then I'll stick with the recipe I have

The IPAs here taste faintly of Miller Lite

I'm sure there are some regional variations, but I don't think they are going to be as drastic as JZ bitches and moans about. He hasn't been actively competing in a while now, and many breweries have wider distribution, coupled with the exchange of information and recipe ideas among home and commercial brewers has likely lead to judges with a broader experience than in his day.

Here in Misery we like no coast.

spiderwrangler wrote:I'm sure there are some regional variations, but I don't think they are going to be as drastic as JZ bitches and moans about. He hasn't been actively competing in a while now, and many breweries have wider distribution, coupled with the exchange of information and recipe ideas among home and commercial brewers has likely lead to judges with a broader experience than in his day.

I can't speak to the IPAs in Wisconsin, but I can tell you that the regional variation from California to Colorado is still huge. Most of the Colorado IPAs to me taste sweet, with a significant flavor contribution from crystal malt and subdued hop aroma. What's interesting is that often by the time they make it to Colorado, many of the California IPAs are badly oxidized and taste similar to the Colorado beers. I was successful with west coast IPAs in competition in California and the same beers did not score well in local Colorado competitions.

maxwell wrote:

spiderwrangler wrote:I'm sure there are some regional variations, but I don't think they are going to be as drastic as JZ bitches and moans about. He hasn't been actively competing in a while now, and many breweries have wider distribution, coupled with the exchange of information and recipe ideas among home and commercial brewers has likely lead to judges with a broader experience than in his day.

I can't speak to the IPAs in Wisconsin, but I can tell you that the regional variation from California to Colorado is still huge. Most of the Colorado IPAs to me taste sweet, with a significant flavor contribution from crystal malt and subdued hop aroma.

+1

I was down in Colorado Springs in January sampling beers and let's just say the local IPAs, minus Pikes Peak Brewery were highly forgettable as far as their hop character and highly memorable for their hearty crystal malt character. Darker beers faired well but the IPAs were consistently disappointing.