joshs

Recipes 

Just heard back from them that they sent the wrong sheets to me. They will be sending the correct forms tonight. They were very responsive when I alerted them of the error so I have high expectations that they will correct this tonight.

-Josh

MachineShopBrewing

Recipes 

Thou Shalt Not Bring It Weak....

crbrown25

Recipes 

Got my sheets back. Entered a pumpkin ale in 21A & got a 31 & 29. I'm feeling pretty good about it considering it's my 1st competition entry. Very interesting to get feedback from someone who isn't my mom, who tells me every beer i brew is the best beer she's ever had. She's a liar but i love her. I've got to say that i think the judges comments are spot on. I agree with pretty much everything they wrote.

__________________
Holly Court Brewing Co.

Fermenting:
On Tap: Nothing
Bottled: East Riding of Yorkshire Northern English Brown Ale, Brown House Honey Porter, EdWort's Apfelwein, 1876 IPA

jeremy0209

Recipes 

hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

rexbanner

Recipes 

Don't take these people seriously.

I've been brewing for 4 years and have several medals. They didn't give any of my beers above a 30. Their commentary made no sense. They said both my English mild and pumpkin ale, both mashed at 154 and fermented with WLP 002, were "too dry." Numerous other comments made no sense either.

This gave me flashbacks of when I attended a brew club meeting and everyone there seemed to live for putting other people down. It really seemed like these judges were trying as hard as they could to give low scores. One comment on my mild was "a very boring beer."

I think the lesson here is never enter this comp again.

__________________
Waiting:
Nature's Warden brown ale
Nature's Wrath brett triple IPA
Warden's Lament sour tripel

On tap:
Red Summer apple amber saison

Coff

Recipes 

Got my score sheets last night to, and the correct ones to boot. One beer I entered is a Saison that Ive been tweaking the recipe on and I want to dial it in so I entered it to get an idea of what I should be doing differently and I think it helped alot. The judges reaffirmed some of the same things I was thinking so I'm glad I was on the right track, and its scored a 35.5 as well so not bad for a working recipe.

The other beer I entered was the exact beer I entered last year and won a gold medal with, same batch only a year later. I was digging in my beer fridge and found 3 counterpressure filled bottles of my Blond that scored a 42 last year. I cracked one opened and it was super oxidized, and kind of solventy, drinkable but not enjoyable. Maybe it wasnt the nicest thing to do the judges but I entered it to see if I was picking up on some of the same off flavors due to the age as they did and they certainly did and then some, scoring a 22. So I got what I wanted out of this comp

soonami

Recipes 

I think the qualifications of the judges matter too. Dave Houseman and Pete Garofalo were there judging (both Grand Masters)-- those two guys were contributors in the first study guide and the style descriptions so I would trust their opinions. Newbie judges without any BJCP credentials? Maybe not as much.

Also, since I was stewarding, I remember certain categories were judged the Friday night and on Saturday in the morning session and which were judged later, so I think the quality of the palettes and comments might have dropped off a bit during the course of the day as people had more to drink

MachineShopBrewing

Recipes 

Isn't a mild by definition a boring beer? haha.
BJCP-
That stuff drives me nuts. I understand they are just doing their best, but some of this stuff gets a little frustrating.
My IPA comments from judge on aroma-
From BJCP-

Quote:

Aroma: A prominent to intense hop aroma with a citrusy, floral, perfume-like, resinous, piney, and/or fruity character derived from American hops. Many versions are dry hopped and can have an additional grassy aroma, although this is not required. Some clean malty sweetness may be found in the background, but should be at a lower level than in English examples. Fruitiness, either from esters or hops, may also be detected in some versions, although a neutral fermentation character is also acceptable. Some alcohol may be noted.

So, where the hell did I lose 4 points? Looks like I pretty much nailed the aroma according to the comments.
Comments from one judge on mouthfeel-
Comments from the other judge on mouthfeel-


The beer had an FG of 1.010. How much more attenuated do they want it to be?
I got dinged on having some grassy notes too.

BJCP-
Like I said, everyone is a volunteer and is just doing the best they can, but when they write things on the scoresheet that directly contradict the style guidelines, how the hell is someone supposed to craft a beer to style? You shoot to hit the style and the judges don't even seem to read the guidelines when judging the style.

Flavor comment from a well known and experienced judge who will remain nameless-
If he tasted "hops, hops, and hops" then why is he dinging me for not bringing out the hops more?

jeremy0209

Recipes 

Yeah, I was wondering that myself. My numbers are: Aroma-7/12, Appearance-3/3, Flavor-13/20, Mouthfeel-5/5, and, yet, the overall impression was only 4/10. WTF? Based on the other numbers, I would think it should be at least 6/10.

Dukeman9988

Recipes 

I literally had the same except thing except I got a 3/10 for overal on my bitter. Haha