There are some brewers who take great pride in not brewing to any particular style, and I think there is nothing wrong with that. There have been times that I have just brewed a beer for sake of brewing something I think would taste good, with no particular style in mind. I think many brewers have done the same. But there are those who think style guidelines or beer styles are not needed or a waste of time. This point of view I do disagree with and here is why.
     Without style guidelines, a brewer has no target to make a desired product. Sure you can brew anything you want, but it is much easier to give your audience a preconceived notion of what they may be buying or drinking. For example, if I were to hand  you a bottle of beer and tell you it is a Bavarian Heffe, chances are you will have a general idea of what to expect. If I handed you a bottle of beer and said, “here try this” and then tried to describe what it is, sure you may get an idea of what to expect, but how do you convey this message as quickly and efficiently as possible? By grouping the beer into specific named category, the consumer knows what is expected of the beer in general.
     Even if you are brewing for fun and brewed a beer with no style in particular, how you tell a friend what the beer is like when you hand it to them? If you are like most brewers I know you will say something like “Well, its like a porter if you put a German twist on it by combining a porter and and weizen.” Well you may not have brewed to style, but used beer styles to tell your friend what you either were shooting for, what you ended up with. Like it or not, style is helpful in brewing to help communicate general assumptions.
     I feel I am very forgiving when it comes to style when I am simply drinking a beer, but when judging a beer or drinking a commercial beer that is listed on the label as a specific style, I am looking for that beer to be within the description of that style. I couldn’t buy a Pontiac Vibe and tell you its a Dodge Viper so why would I accept that in a beer? In competition you need to be fairly strict on style, but be forgiving in an informal environment. That’s just my take.
     Here are some guidelines links for anyone interested.
Brewers association Style Guidelines
BJCP Style Guidelines

     Now just for fun, let me tell you a story on what inspired me to write this post. Back in September I judged in the largest homebrew competition in Wisconsin, and was paired up with another judge who I ended up having a very rough session with. Rank is not a a sign of judging quality but it can be a gauge of experience. I learned that this guy took the exam several years ago and at this point was an apprentice or recognized, I don’t recall offhand but either way I was the senior judge at the table. All seemed pleasant and he stated he was excited to be judging Oktoberfest beers seeing as it was his favorite style. “I consider myself sort of an expert on this style.” he said.
      So all was going horribly once we started the flight. He hated every beer at the table and we spent a long time on each beer arguing over almost every beer. Beers that did not fit the style well, he scored high and others that were OK he scored low. In one particular beer he was trying to tell me the caramel character in this beer is OK for the style and that hop aroma is appropriate. Hmmm, you tell me (Oktoberfest Style Guidelines).  Finally as thing were obviously starting to get a bit more heated, he says to me, “Well, obviously you are not familar with the American Oktoberfest style, which this beer obviously is.”  Aside from thinking in my head that he was a pompous ass,  I proceeded to remind him how judging works and you are supposed to judge the beer according to the guidelines set forth by the BJCP, and the category that the person entered the beer in, another judge stepped in and asked to taste the beer in an attempt to settle our dispute. Well, needless to say he agreed with me that the beer was not in style according to the guidelines. The moral of the story is that style guidelines are there for a reason. To have a set description to grade or compare a beer to. In competition, or any blind evaluation you cannot take liberties and change what you feel a brewer was trying to do. If the brewer gives you a beer and tells you its a stout, and it pours a fizzy yellow and has no roast to it at all, you cannot judge it as a different style against other stouts just because you feel its more like  a pilsner.