1st comp: What style should I enter into.... or not enter

[twistedspoke]

Im a bit of a noob around here so please dont kill me.... LOL

Ive been brewing K+K and extract since '94 and have been brewing AG for the last year and getting some really great flavored beers lately and was urged by buddies to commit to my 1st comp organized by my LHBS.

In discussing it and trying to work out what to enter, I have an American Pale, a Cal Common and a Brown (thanks to Tasty for his JBA) and a Pseudo Pilsner.

My problem is the pseudo-pilsner. I dont know what to enter it as, a pils or a specialty beer. I dont lager it or use a lager strain and definitely dont use predominant noble hops. It is always a crowd favourite and at the moment Im brewing it 2:1 compared to the other styles its so popular.

Essentially its a "west coast dry hopped pils ale" using lots of late NS and Saaz hops and wyeast 1728 scotch ale yeast but still has those distinctive pilsner sulphur-y corny malt notes to it and is super dry

So what should I enter it as, should I enter it as an American pils and know its not going to score very high or go for the specialty section?

Constructive opinions appreciated.

Actual OG: 1.056 SG
Actual FG: 1.010 SG
Estimated Color: 2.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.1 IBUs
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------

4.700 kg Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.0 SRM) 90.4%
0.500 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) 9.6 %
7.000 g Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] 60.0 min 9.9 IBUs
28.000 g Cascade [5.50 %] 30.0 min 9.2 IBUs
30.000 g Saaz [4.00 %] 2.0 min 2.3 IBUs
20.000 g Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] 4.7 IBUs
Whirlpool 30m
28.000 g Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] - DRY HOP 7 days

Scottish Ale (Wyeast Labs #1728)

[siwelwerd]

The first thing to remember when entering competitions is that what you put in it is absolutely and completely irrelevant. All that matters is what it tastes like. The best thing you can do is to find a couple BJCP judges, give them your beer, and ask them where it belongs (your local homebrew club is a great place to find some judges).

That said, you may look at entering as a Blonde Ale. That allows a moderate hop character. One thing many competitions allow you to do is enter into multiple categories. So you could send it off as a CAP, a blonde ale, and a specialty. I often do this with beers that are between styles. Another consideration is that judges in different regions skew the styles a little bit--a beer that's a bit too hoppy for the style in the midwest is probably right in the middle of the style on the west coast.

[spiderwrangler]

Is it one your buddies are familiar with? Running it by a few of the local palates you trust to give you good feedback on may help you decide on a style to enter it under.