Is it worth entering a beer in a comp if

[HopRunner]

Is it worth entering a beer if it is not exactly to style?

I have been working on a Deschutes Hop Trip clone. I didn't succeed with the "clone" part but I have a beer and a recipe that I really like. It is very similar to the Hop Trip though.

I'm thinking about entering it is a competition next month but if I am going to get low score for the out of style aspects I think I'd be better off just drinking it myself.

Here is my opinion of what I brewed. It is right in between an American Pale and an American Amber. It has 1oz Simcoe and .5oz Crystal at 60 minutes and 1.5oz Crystal addition at 15 with 2oz dry hoped in the primary for one week. Fermented cool, 62ish with fat starter of repitched 810 SF Lager yeast and 001 Cali Ale.

It was very cold in the garage and I had trouble with my rest temperature so the whole rest wound up at about 148F.

So what I have is this golden amber colored beer that is light and dry in flavor with just a subtle amount of the amber malt flavor and very subtle hints of the crystal 120 flavors. On top of that is solid bitterness and a big blast of Crystal hop aroma and flavor.

I don't think this is and APA or an AAA and it certainly isn't hoppy enough for an IPA. It is only about 4.5% ABV. I think this is by far the best session beer I have ever made and I'm proud of it.

But.... Is it a competitor? I thought about entering it in both the APA and the AAA categories. I have never entered a competition before and I'm a bit apprehensive about losing 6 beers to "out of style".

[uncle_bad_touches]

I would enter it in both categories and make another batch while you're waiting for the results. You'll (hopefully) get a lot of useful feedback from the judges, regardless of how well it fits to the style, that can help you to brew even better beer in the future.

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

I would enter it in both categories and make another batch while you're waiting for the results. You'll (hopefully) get a lot of useful feedback from the judges, regardless of how well it fits to the style, that can help you to brew even better beer in the future.

+1. And, if you take one bit of advice from a judge, and brew again, it might be an even better beer! You can't trust your own taste.

[Petedadink]

Remember that the BJCP guidelines are just that. Guidelines. If you think its a better APA than IPA then enter it as such. My guess would be if it is a good drinkable beer I doubt it would score low as would a troublesome off flavored one.

[Crackin]

Would you be able to duplicate the recipe and process again? If not, I don't see the reason to enter it.

[Field]

Enter it in category 23, to help the judges out say 'In between an American Pale and an American Amber, in the style of Deschutes Hop Trip'

[HopRunner]

Thanks all. I have already drank this batch..........

I am going to rebrew this recipe and tone it down a bit to fit in the Pale Ale category for competition. BUT when I brew for myself, I'm rebrewing my tweener recipe cuz I liked it!