Competition Results

This past weekend was a large competition (593 entries). I entered 6 batches. Overall I didn't do amazing, average 28... Here are the results:

#- Category Style- Score- Best Quote- My Response
1- 9c- Scottish Export- 36- "Good drinking malty beer that hits many of the style guidelines"- Funny seeing how in March same batch scored 19..
2- 6a- Light Hybrid- 31- "Soft malt aroma… Moble hop aroma- good."- Thanks
3- 12a- Brown Porter- 25- "Definate Brett-like, baby diaper aroma up front!"- What?!
4- 27a- Common Cider- 27- "A subtle cardboard flavor..."- Mmmm.. Cardboard
5- 21a- Pumpkin Porter- 30- "Your porter is full of flavor & very enjoyable"- Thanks
6- 25c- Melomel- 22.5- "The aroma is exactly what is expected from description and well balanced."- Then why'd you give me a 23?!?! This took over a year!

36 is excellent and anything 30 or better is a stamp of approval from the judges. Even the 25 and 27 are respectable but with some flaws--I interpret scores in that range as indicative of beers most people would enjoy drinking.

So one very good to excellent score, two good scores, two decent scores, and one score indicating significant flaws but certainly not poor quality. Well done!

I don't know how the judges do it. I sip one bad beer and can't drink a beer for hours without remembering that ****e beer.

Are those comments from a certified judge or a novice? Look at the top of the score sheet it should tell you. A novice can literally be anyone and their comments should be taken with a grain of salt. I know as I just judged my first comp as a novice. .

BJCP certified judges opinions should carry more weight.

The only opinion that really matters belongs to the Grand Master VII.

iambeer said:

I don't know how the judges do it. I sip one bad beer and can't drink a beer for hours without remembering that ****e beer.

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Ditto!

jbeukelman said:

Are those comments from a certified judge or a novice? Look at the top of the score sheet it should tell you. A novice can literally be anyone and their comments should be taken with a grain of salt. I know as I just judged my first comp as a novice. .

BJCP certified judges opinions should carry more weight.

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Ditto!

I just judged my first competition as a novice and some of the beers were undrinkable! But, those were the EASY beers to score. It was much harder to judge the difference between good, very good & excellent.

Thanks guys,
Most of the judges were BJCP certified, however there were a couple novices, and I think a couple first timers in there...

Judging is very much based on the individual judges experience and palette, as stated BJCP certified judges will provide much better input and usually more accurate scoring. The best thing to do is enter the same berr in various contests and average out the input. all in all I'd say your scores placed quite well, especially those in the 30's. Usually scores in the mid to upper 30's will place.

Your Scottish probably aged quite well and became a much better beer:

As for the flaws stated, do some research on what may cause those flavors and go back to your process to see what might have caused them, sanitizing being a big one. Cardboard is oxidation so look inot your racking process and introduction of oxygen into the finished beer. Diaper is a little odd but could be an interpretation of medicinal or band-aid like. Brett like could be a little too fruity, too much esthers/phenols that could be associated with too high a fermentation temp for the style or yeast used.

Yeah those are pretty good all around scores! I've entered beers into 2 different competitions. I say I average in the high 20's low 30's. I captured my first medal about a month ago at the Ohio Brew Festival. My oaked aged old ale received a 42 !

Nice work. I recently got my results from the first competition I ever entered (Indiana State Fair Brewer's Cup competition). One of my entries, my second brew ever, an American stout that I was very proud of, did dismally. I think I got a 17 and an 18 from the two BJCP judges, with half a dozen of the terms defining the various off characteristics ticked off. I was really puzzled, I think one comment was, "This is very hard to drink." It was, in my opinion, a very good beer---maybe not great, but not hard to drink.

We had one bottle left in the fridge, so to drown sorrows over the puzzling disappointment, we opened it and tasted it. It was sour and utterly foul. Something had clearly gone wrong---oxidation or a slow infection or something. Bummer. I wonder if your "diaper" entry suffered a similar problem?

Judging can be difficult, especially for a beginner. It's a lot of fun, though I recommend you give it a try yourself.

Everyone has a different opinion about what makes a tasty beer, and judges are just people.

I sat at a table this spring and it was nice to have the BJCP guidelines on my phone. I judged Black IPAs with a woman and we were able to bounce our thoughts off each other and it was amazing how similar we were to each other. Our scores were rarely off by more than 2-3 points total and the flaws were very consistent in each category.

Most of the beers in that flight were ok, but nearly all were hoppy stouts, not Black IPAs. We got to judge some Cat23 beers after our flight finished and man there was some FUNKY sht in that group! one was called the Kitchen sink (I got a list of the beers entered after the big party the next week) and it was a crazy mix of many different funky things. I could taste that stuff when I went to bed that night!

I'd say your scores are not bad at all. 30 and up is a decent beer, with maybe a minor flaw or two. Mid-high 30 is really a pretty good beer. Anything above 40 is very good to excellent. 25-30 is pretty common from what I've seen. Usually people with scores like that need to focus on ferm temps, being careful with oxygen, or maybe entered in the wrong category (IPA should have been entered as IPA, that kind of thing.)

Homercidal said:

I sat at a table this spring and it was nice to have the BJCP guidelines on my phone. I judged Black IPAs . . . We got to judge some Cat23 beers after our flight finished and man there was some FUNKY sht in that group!

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Thought that Black IPA was Category 23?



Got me thinking about Category 23 and the mistakes we make entering our beers in there.

BJCP guidelines state:
THE BREWER MUST SPECIFY THE “EXPERIMENTAL NATURE” OF THE BEER (E.G., TYPE OF SPECIAL INGREDIENTS USED, PROCESS UTILIZED OR HISTORICAL STYLE BEING BREWED), OR WHY THE BEER DOESN’T FIT AN ESTABLISHED STYLE.

In theory, the judge evaluates by what you tell him. If you only say, "Black IPA" the beer should be judged as an IPA that been colored black. No roasty flavor allowed. If you say, “Black IPA with some dark grain character" it should be judged completely differently. Your description ties the judges hands. If you list a base style, the beer will be judged as that style except for any deviations that you specify.

(typing this as I struggle over how to enter a category 23 beer)

FloridaCracker said:

3- 12a- Brown Porter- 25- "Definate Brett-like, baby diaper aroma up front!"- What?!

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This is my favorite. Not because I'm mean-spirited, but because I had a Belgian Blonde come back from a small comp with "fecal aromas and flavors". 19/50. It had scored very well (36ish) in other comps, but it seemed that the 'higher ranking' judge (Recognized vs Novice) outweighed the novice judge and had the novice judge lower their score. (Easy to spot when you look for eraser marks in the scores and the comments.)

Oh well, my friends and family thought it was a good beer and I got quite a chuckle out of it, even thought they basically told me my beer tasted and smelled of sh*t.