Well, I finally got back my score sheet for the Cream ale I entered a couple months ago. I was really pleased with how it turned out and felt pretty confident it fit the style despite a couple changes I made to Jamil's recipe. Both score sheets/judges gave me a 32 overall, which I'm pretty happy with (I later found out a wheat, blonde and kolsch placed in the style; no cream ales). The comments, however, leave a bit to be desired. I've only judged a couple competitions, but I've learned a lot of judges vary in how much feedback they leave. Both my score sheets, aside from be horribly written, are pretty sparse. Okay, so light hybrids are a difficult style in that they should be very clean and minimally flavored, but they could have written something more helpful in terms of improving it.
The only comments that gave me "advice" were: "somewhat sweet for style" and "malt balance to be heavy, making it not light and refreshing enough" and "more corn would distinguish it for style". I was told there was some cardboard as well which is a little interesting; and some noted flavors/aromas that have hinted at its current Brett infection (I've noticed bottles between obvious brett presence to light Belgian fruitiness).
I've had very few commercial cream ales, but it seems judges want some that slaps them in the face with corn as it's the common detractor. I guess I find the comments to be a bit concerning because they are trying to interpret the guidelines differently as in they want more corn, yet the style says "A low to moderate corny flavor from corn adjuncts is commonly found, as is some DMS. Finish can vary from somewhat dry to faintly sweet from the corn, malt, and sugar."
My vital stats are all in style, but I guess it was too sweet/malty for style....
Perhaps I'm just slamming them too much, but I hoped more for this beer. Well, back to the drawing board.
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