All I can say is I've learned not to listen too hard to the judges comments, they are very useful for picking up technical faults, but dont always get it right. My dry stout in AABC had 2 judges tell me to ease up on the dark crystal, even though there was no crystal in it at all
Comps are a bit of fun, & a great oportunity to get involved in an event that gives you a chance to mingle with other great brewers & learn from each other & also a great chance to try different beer styles & learn what you'ld like to (or not) make. Tasting Kolsch will nearly always give you an oportunity to experience diacetyl
Whilst judges should give as much feedback as possible, it has to be acknowlegded that they have a tough job of getting though each beer in 10 mins & I noticed in particular 1 panel suffered from palate fatigue & scored a porter really well that to my mind was a full on stout. Also most comps you will find generally only have 1 BJCP judge, if you're lucky maybe 2 out of the 3. More people need to sit the exam & participate to help push the bar higher.
The appearance scoring needs attention. there is a lot of inconsistency with judges.
A perfectly haze free black beer should not be described as opaque, it is either clear or bright.
I also understand that a clear & bright beer should be both full scoring as it gives advantage to brewers with filtration systems & creates an uneven playing field.
Comparing spreads between judges is largely irrelevant everyones palate is different, they review their point scoring and on occasion will have to amend to get within 7 points after rationalising the differences of perception. What is important is that a judge who scored you 3/5 & you felt it should have been 4/5 will also most likely have judged the rest of the entries in a similar manner.
A clear beer with the right head & anywhere within style colour range in my mind should score 4.5 to 5 out of 5, it seems to me judges sometimes psychologically struggle with giving maximum points. Having stewarded at a dozen or more comps now I would say that at least two thirds of the beers should be scoring close to full marks.
PS: I intend to do the BJCP course next year.
Anyone interested in advancing their beer knowlegde should get in touch with George & give expression of interest:
[email protected]
He will close the gate soon & then get a consensus on what is the most suitable night for all the interested people, once a day of the week is settled then folks can confirm or pull out.
1 midweek night per fortnight for 10 sessions from early Feb (central location Melbourne)
($15 per session for beer costs)
exam $50 incidentals $50
