NO! Judging panels very stressful, to get things just right to ensure a fair result, and provide some sort of feedback that may help the brewer (not knowing the ingredients/ methods/ ferment regime/ bottling regime/ carbonation level/ beer age).
...and it's unlikely you'd be ON a panel judging your own beer. Having said that, I would have loved to judge on the wheat/rye table as that's my fave style, and I had none entered this year. However, I may have clashed with Stan Hieronymus who was on that table, and who thinks that the phenolics from Belgian yeasts are the same as phenolics from German wheat yeast, when clearly the Ardennes-yeast fermented weizen that was presented at the ANHC was not of the right phenolic profile. I detected the phenols as plummy, rather than dry (as produced by Weizen yeast). This may be better transferred to a new thread, where discussion is more appropriate.
Back to the next Nationals: we are attempting to standardise the bottle size, and we will publicise this more fully to give ALL competitors enough time to accumulate the relevant size bottles (still a little under contention among state delegates). If you have any input for the delegates, please contact and share, as we are YOUR state representatives.
The main issue was exclusion of champagne or corked beer bottles due to stacking issues.
Stay tuned for more, as the AABC delegates had a lot to discuss. Again, look for more in a separate thread.
*Edit: I judged the Farmhouse and Wild beer category, and am happy to discuss my feedback offline, bearing in mind that all feedback is subjective and memory will fade with time. The lambics were nice, as were most of the Witbiers, with some Wits possibly benefiting from a re-brew, minimising HSA or fresher ingredients. Again, not knowing the specifics, I could only generalise my answers, but if you have specifics, maybe my feedback can take that into account and be more helpful?
Les the Weizguy, over and out.