The actual wording of the covering letter was:
"We have enclosed a complete copy of the results together with your score sheets and a certificate. Each certificate shows if your beer placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd, together with a Gold, Silver or Bronze ranking. This allows you to see both how good your beer was, together with a comparison against the other brewers."
So the "1st, 2nd or 3rd" represents how you went against other beers.
"Gold, Silver or Bronze ranking" allows you to see both how good your beer was.
The actual vales are:
38-50 Points: Gold
30-37 Points: Silver
25-29 Points: Bronze
These medals equate to the BJCP's scoring guide with Gold covering Outstanding (World-class example of style) and Excellent (Exemplifies style well, requires minor fine-tuning), Silver equates to Very Good (Generally within style parameters, some minor flaws). A bronze medal is awarded for those beers at the top end of the Good range (21 - 29 "Misses the mark on style and/or minor flaws"). This medal system is also similar to the awards at the Australian International Beer Awards for commercial breweries.
If your beer scored less that 25 you received a participation Certificate which is still something to brag about as 'you were there'.
Justin, I hope that this answers your query, but if you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask.
