Results from first comp... feeling frustrated, confused

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BmillaTheBrewzilla

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Hi everyone-

I just attended my first real BJCP homebrew contest last night and got the scoresheets back. It was a big competition, they claimed the biggest in Illinois. They had about 800 entries. I had no delusions of grandeur about winning any medals or anything, as I found out about the competition pretty late and didn't brew anything specifically FOR the comp. However, I had five different batches that I thought were drinking pretty nice... so I figured what the heck, I'll enter them and get some good feedback. Also- I should mention that I've been brewing for about ten months. So honestly, I wasn't expecting to do great... but I think my beers are pretty decent and I thought the judges' feedback would give me a few real concrete ideas for how I can make improvements to my process.

And this is where my frustration comes in. It's not that all my beers scored pretty weak, but it is that by looking at the scoresheets, there doesn't seem to be anything consistent that I can learn from. So I'm really hoping that some of you more experienced homebrewers can take a moment to look at some of the comments I received and help me piece together where my process might be improved. I figure the best way to do this is to give some key points from each brew I entered. I'd make this more concise... but like I said, my inexperienced butt can't see any common theme.

American Amber Ale- scored a 23.5. This was the oldest beer I entered and had been bottled about four months ago. One judge said "fruity" and "light musty note." He would have expected more malt and hop character. Other judge also said fruity aroma, "esters dominate." He said body is a little too full and try to low fermentation temps. This confuses me, because I fermented this in the mid 60s, as I do all my beers. I used Wyeast 1272- American Ale II. So I'm not sure where the fruity esters are coming from, although I agree that they are there. This was brewed with a ton of Chinook, Cascade, and Centennial hops.

American Cream Ale- scored a 25. This beer was inspired by New Glarus Spotted Cow, so I used almost two pounds of corn. I thought this beer turned out really well... many of my anti-IPA friends have consumed much of this batch. One judge said oxidation and apple notes (yikes!). He said no hops, DMS, or diacetyl. He said the fruitiness and lack of attenuation detract. This beer finished up at 1.012, which isn't bad attenuation since it started at 1.050. The fruitiness I'm not sure about, but I do get a lot of sweetness from the corn when I drink it. The other judge commented that it was too sweet for the style... fruity esters... some pear as the beer warms.

Belgian Blond - scored a 25. I love this beer but didn't expect it to do well in the comp. I fermented very low for using a Belgian yeast (and used Wyeast 1762, which is fairly clean for a Belgian yeast), so the fruity Belgian complexity is very low. It is too clean (IMO) to be a true example of a Belgian. One judge said the Belgian character was subdued, and it was malty sweet, dry aftertaste, fruity. The other judge said no obvious flaws- but lacking in pronounced Belgian yeast ester profile. He also mentioned a somewhat astringent finish.

California Common - scored a 36. I was surprised this one did the best of my entries. I entered as a California Common only because that was the yeast I used. I used German noble hops very heavily in the finish because I was going for that spicy hop character (like with a Boston Lager). Anyway, one judge said clean and big hop aroma... grassy... musty. He said good beer, but doesn't fit the style... very drinkable and complex. The other judge said he picked out DMS and vegetal qualities in the aroma. But he said it was a good beer, light color for the style, some off aromas and good flavor.

Special Bitter - scored a 25. This is the one where the feedback confuses me the most. This was bottled just about two and a half weeks ago.. but I figured since bitters are supposed to be low on the carbonation, why not enter it just to get some more feedback. One judge said malt flavors are low and slight cardboard flavor... may be a bit oxidized with some flat flavor. The other judge said skunky, light-struck aroma and oxidative notes... flowery, herbal hop character with mild bitterness... flowery, slightly fruity esters... some oxidation present and light-struck flavor persists... could use more malt complexity. I'm concerned about the oxidation comments... especially since the beer is still so young. I really think I am very clean and careful during bottling. I'm also very confused by the one judge's comments about "light-struck" qualities. This beer was fermented in an opaque plastic bucket... never saw any light and was bottled in brown bottles... always kept out of light.

Okay- if you've made it this far through my post, I REALLY, REALLY appreciate it. I truly love this hobby (I'm ten months in and have brewed 20 batches). I'm just not sure what to make of the feedback I received and I want to do something productive with it. I am espeically concerned about fruity esters in the beers where I didn't want them (all except the belgian blond) and the oxidation comments on the bitter.

One theory I have is that some of my flaws could be related to my mashing / sparging technique. Again, I'm pretty new. I am technically doing all grain, but I am doing BIAB mashing. I'm essentially using DeathBrewer's stovetop all-grain method. I'm wondering if taking my grains after I mash them and letting them sit in another pot full of "sparge" water for ten minutes is extracting too many tannins or other undesirables from the grains? Am I correct that when you sparge in the traditional sense, you can over-sparge and extract too much from the grains after you get all the sugars you do want? I also want to point out that I made a yeast starter with all the batches I submitted. They are usually about 1.5 liters. None of the beers were exceptionally high OG. The blond was the highest, at 1.060. Oh- one other thing... definitely worth mentioning. I use a "swamp cooler" during fermentation. I sit my bucket or carboy in a big tub of cool water and watch it like a baby during the first few days of fermentation. I kept all these beers in the mid 60s while fermenting... I keep them in primary for three to four weeks then bottle. The blond I did start in the mid 60s and then raised it up to 72 over the first three days.

Okay- again, I truly appreciate any feedback that will help me make sense of my first competition experience. I know you fine people on HBT are awesome and are constantly helping me enjoy this amazing hobby even more. :mug:
 
One competition, even several entries, isn't beginning to get down to it. Enter each beer in 10 competitions, then compare the score sheets from those. Your sample pool is too small. When you have 10 different competitions of the same beer entered, you will see a trend in the comments. That's what is important.

Don't be discouraged. Just get out and enter if that's what you want to do.
 
Well,first of all,these judges sip a lot of beers while judging. I tend to think their taste buds turn into Freddy Flame-out pretty quick. Not to mention,how knowledgeable are they,really? Don't they know that ale yeast by nature produces fruity esters? That's part of what ales are,to one degree or other. Depends on the exact style you're trying to achieve.
American ale is a pale ale,so watch it with the malt profile. Should be a little hoppy,but not overly so. I'm working on that kind of style,but more toward the malt-forward English style.
The cream ales i've seen people brewing are darker than,say,Little Kings or Genesee cream ale. In other words,clean,creamy smooth,but not sweet. Just a little bittering,the way the taste strikes me.
The Belgian blond was maybe a bit too young? Bringing out more of the Belgian classic flavor seems to be in order.
The Cali common Seems like you need to be sure you sanitize well. Not to mention good temps toward the low end of the yeast's range. The off flavors seem temp related to me. Maybe back off the Haulertau a bit?
As for the special bitter,IMO was too young,judging from what they said about it. And skunky light struck? I think we have a Freddy Flame-out here. Even ESB's aren't really all that bitter. Just not as malt-forward. I think they need more schooling on this point.
I hope what knowledge I've had to give up to this point helps a little. There are others far more knowledgeable than me about AG/partial mash than I. But I learn quick & study a lot. Being retired,I have plenty of time for that.
 
Another thing to keep in mind is that the judges are scoring it based on style - in other words, the comments have to do with how well the beer fits in the style. So a good beer can get a low score. Chin up!
 
I wouldn't worry about it. Do you like your beer? Does your family? Do your friends? If so, then that's all that really matters.

Amen!

Another thing to keep in mind is that the judges are scoring it based on style - in other words, the comments have to do with how well the beer fits in the style. So a good beer can get a low score. Chin up!

Agreed.
 
Thanks guys. Yes, I very much enjoy drinking my beer... as does my fiancee, family, friends. And definitely- I didn't brew these beers with the intention of entering them into this competition, so I wasn't really trying to brew classic examples of the styles. So I wasn't expecting great scores or anything.

I guess what concerned me was that I thought my beers were a little cleaner than the comments from the judges would indicate. I mean, I didn't think they were flawless... I guess I was just hoping that scoresheets would provide me with the guidance for a couple ideas for how to attack the most major flaws in my process.

All that said, I'm sure that as I brew more and more, the beers will get better. I don't expect to be the same brewer after three years of experience that I am with one year.
 
Another thing to keep in mind is that the judges are scoring it based on style - in other words, the comments have to do with how well the beer fits in the style. So a good beer can get a low score. Chin up!

This is key here, your beers may have been fantastic, just did not fit into the tiny little style box. I have a truly fantastic blueberry ale, it is designed to be a great summer drinker, it doesnt have a solid style base to be a 20a fruit beer, but it is not over the top style-wise to fit into 23. I score in the mid to upper 20s every time I enter it, comments are always the same though, fantastic complex beer, just not quite to base style, or would have scored better in xx base catagory due to xx. I get a lot of comments relating to it being a fantastic beer, it just isnt a good scoring comp beer.

As stated by others, brew the beer for YOU, not for others, and if it wins a comp, thats just icing.
 
None of these scores is poor. I believe the range for "good" starts at 21. It does sound like the judges hit upon some key points: your Steam beer being out of style, your Belgian not having enough yeast flavor.

As far as fruity esters are concerned, it's not just fermentation temps that matter, it is the consistency of those temps and the amount of year you use. Do you think those may be issues?
 
As far as fruity esters are concerned, it's not just fermentation temps that matter, it is the consistency of those temps and the amount of year you use. Do you think those may be issues?

I don't THINK the amount of yeast is an issue, but it could be. I used about a 1.5 liter starter when I brew. So I think I'm getting plenty of good, healthy yeast. I usually notice airlock activity anywhere from 6 to 12 hours after pitching.

My temps are not entirely consistent, which I know is not good. They may fluctuate a degree or two. If I notice them creeping up, I'll toss in a frozen water bottle or two into my swamp cooler. I keep a floating thermometer in the cooler and watch the temps closely. Not a perfect system, but it is the best I have right now, and I have read about other people having pretty good success with swamp coolers like mine. I also know that my first couple batches I did without the swamp cooler, and using the swamp cooler has made a drastic improvement starting with the first batch I used it on.
 
congrats on the scores brewzilla.. there not too bad... so dont feel to fustrated.. remember opinions are like A** Holes everyone has one... if you like your beer dont sweat it.. ive never entered a contest because i know if my beer is good or not... im the only one i have to please... i enjoy swmbo coments (she doesnt drink):confused: of thats the worst Fkn Beer ive ever tasted:D
 
I've been brewing for 4 years and have just recently started thinking about entering in competitions. I wouldn't take the score sheets to heart too much.

So you're concerned about the fruity esters... I notice in the Amber ale you used Wyeast 1272. This yeast gives fruitier esters in my experience. Without sampling the beers (oh and you should send me some ;) ) I have no clue what the judge was tasting, but the fruity note might just be from that yeast so there may be nothing to worry about process-wise there.
 
So you're concerned about the fruity esters... I notice in the Amber ale you used Wyeast 1272. This yeast gives fruitier esters in my experience. Without sampling the beers (oh and you should send me some ;) ) I have no clue what the judge was tasting, but the fruity note might just be from that yeast so there may be nothing to worry about process-wise there.

Yeah- I know the 1272 is a little fruitier than the 1056. So possibly those are comments I should expect on that beer using that yeast.

By the way, one thing that was fascinating that I noticed at the competition.. there were three or four people who kept winning golds and silvers in category after category. So I'd send you some of my beer to sample.. but I think those dudes are the ones you want to contact :D
 
Well,first of all,these judges sip a lot of beers while judging. I tend to think their taste buds turn into Freddy Flame-out pretty quick.

This right here. I asked recently how judges cleanse their palate and the answers of oyster crackers, matzo's or whatever really doesn't cut it IMO. As I mentioned in the same thread, if I have a Paulaner hefeweizen then a Franziskaner right after the Franziskaner will taste like ass, even if I eat some crackers or pretzels. It just doesn't cleanse the palate to get an honest clear taste of the next brew.

I also see some of this judging as people sitting down and simply intentionally trying to find the worst in a beer rather than the good. Some of the score comments just come across that way. "OK... I'm a beer judge... here's this beer... now let me see in how many ways it's bad".

Don't get me wrong, it obviously can't all be like that as then how would they really judge the winner? "This one had the least I could find wrong with it or just didn't care to analyze enough so late in the game".

As mentioned already by someone, submit the same beers to a few other competitions and see if similar comments come back. If they do then you know what to work on. But if some of them wind up winning a top medal then you're really going to be confused lol. :mug:

By the way, one last thing I wanted to say. I bet if you entered top notch gold winning brews by the pro's you'd get some similar criticisms. Everything varies from person to person.


Rev.
 
Yeah- I know the 1272 is a little fruitier than the 1056. So possibly those are comments I should expect on that beer using that yeast.

By the way, one thing that was fascinating that I noticed at the competition.. there were three or four people who kept winning golds and silvers in category after category. So I'd send you some of my beer to sample.. but I think those dudes are the ones you want to contact :D

Definitely talk to them and get some tips. They can help find flaws and help you understand what you are tasting and how it could have gotten there. Maybe see their setup and refine your process a little as well. You will learn something new everyday.
 
None of these scores is poor. I believe the range for "good" starts at 21. It does sound like the judges hit upon some key points: your Steam beer being out of style, your Belgian not having enough yeast flavor.

As far as fruity esters are concerned, it's not just fermentation temps that matter, it is the consistency of those temps and the amount of year you use. Do you think those may be issues?

Exactly! Those scores are actually above "average". It seems like the recurring theme in all of them are unusual or unexpected esters. That's something useful to key in on. When you ferment at 65 degrees, and use a not-estery yeast, that would be unexpected. Perhaps the starter wasn't large enough and the yeast produced more esters than you expected? That's just one example of something to look at. You've mentioned that your starters are big enough- but it does sound like yeast health. Maybe constant 65 degrees (beer temp, not room temp) are an issue? Fluctuations can produce some weirdness. But you've handled that as well, too. I'm not sure what the cause is, either, but now you have three things to try- a cleaner yeast strain, a bigger/healthier starter/and watching the fermentation temperature more closely.

As far as the "light-struck" and "oxidation" comments on the bitter, I think light-struck and early oxidation do taste very much alike. Not so much the "cardboard" that's talked about, but more of a slight astrigency on the sides of the tongue. It's not quite sherry-like (that's severe oxidation) but has those notes if you've ever had sherry.

Oxidation is by far the most common flaw I've seen in competition. It might be very slight, but if it's present it will be noted.
 
I was there with you (and a few hundred others). I received good scores for the most part, 29 to 39, and had some "ester" comments also. I sat with and am friends with a judge that may have judged your beer. I'll send this link to him and see if he has some input.

My ester comments were about a lager and it scored a 33. I was told to "watch my fermentation temperatures" and "I might have a water problem".

Awesome! Congrats on the good scores. Despite that it may seem from my original post like I didn't have a good time with the whole experience, nothing could be further from the truth. I thought it was a great time and I look forward to entering the Drunk Monk Challenge every year... as well as some other comps.
 
As far as the "light-struck" and "oxidation" comments on the bitter, I think light-struck and early oxidation do taste very much alike. Not so much the "cardboard" that's talked about, but more of a slight astrigency on the sides of the tongue. It's not quite sherry-like (that's severe oxidation) but has those notes if you've ever had sherry.

Oxidation is by far the most common flaw I've seen in competition. It might be very slight, but if it's present it will be noted.

Thanks Yooper. When oxidation is present, does it show up pretty quickly? I always thought that oxidation would show up more after the beer had been in the bottle for at least a couple months. It was confusing to me that the one beer I entered that had the oxidation comment was the youngest of all of them. It hadn't even been in the bottle for a full three weeks yet.

And yes- you definitely make some good points about yeast health and maybe using a cleaner tasting strain. Thanks! :mug:
 
Thanks Yooper. When oxidation is present, does it show up pretty quickly? I always thought that oxidation would show up more after the beer had been in the bottle for at least a couple months. It was confusing to me that the one beer I entered that had the oxidation comment was the youngest of all of them. It hadn't even been in the bottle for a full three weeks yet.

And yes- you definitely make some good points about yeast health and maybe using a cleaner tasting strain. Thanks! :mug:

Severe oxidation won't show up early, but subtle signs sure can!
 
It can be frustrating to enter what you think is a good beer, only to get a bad score and/or negative feedback. It happens to everyone, even to those who win a lot. Yesterday I got my best score ever, and my worst score ever.

Comps aren't for everyone. Some people take it a little too personal, and get all salty about being snubbed. I, for one, enjoy the camaradery and passive nature of competing in a homebrew comp.

Try to have fun with it. You'll get your high-scores (and awards) eventually.
 
It can be frustrating to enter what you think is a good beer, only to get a bad score and/or negative feedback. It happens to everyone, even to those who win a lot. Yesterday I got my best score ever, and my worst score ever.

Comps aren't for everyone. Some people take it a little too personal, and get all salty about being snubbed. I, for one, enjoy the camaradery and passive nature of competing in a homebrew comp.

Try to have fun with it. You'll get your high-scores (and awards) eventually.

Yes comps aren't for everyone.

To the op;
But look at the anticipation you had before receiving the results. Sure you probably were a little disappointed a with the scores, but a score in the high thirtys is IMO a really good score, and the feedback could have been more detailed with advise from the judges, but that's the nature of a large comp where time and volume of entries play havoc with the judging.
I have only began to start winning medals in comps but my scores have gone up and the judges comments are always something I look forward to when my score cards arrive.

Oxydation issues could be from not decanting the starter spent wort which could be oxydized.
 
It can be frustrating to enter what you think is a good beer, only to get a bad score and/or negative feedback. It happens to everyone, even to those who win a lot. Yesterday I got my best score ever, and my worst score ever.

Comps aren't for everyone. Some people take it a little too personal, and get all salty about being snubbed. I, for one, enjoy the camaradery and passive nature of competing in a homebrew comp.

Try to have fun with it. You'll get your high-scores (and awards) eventually.

I just really want to emphasize that in no way did I feel disappointed in the results or that the judging wasn't fair or anything like that. I had a GREAT :fro: time and was very impressed with the way the whole thing was run. It was a huge competition, but very well organized. There was even an amber ale being run through a randall full of centennial hops! It KICKED A$$.

I am just looking for ways to make my beer better, and (as I knew you would) you HBTers are looking at the comments the judging gave me and giving me more things to think about than I was coming up with on my own. Seriously- I love this forum. And thank you to everyone who is giving me helpful advice. And experienced perspective on competitions ;)
 
I agree with Yoop, it seems that fermentation seems to be the recurring "issue". I think that's something you can take away if you were looking for something to hone in your process. Like Yoop said, your starters may not indeed be big enough. The age of the yeast has a lot to do with it's viability, so the size of your starter can very greatly depending on the age of your yeast. This is a great calculator to help you determine the proper size yeast starter.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Notice the production date and drop down where you can select between a "simple starter", "continuous airation" etc. Those are important features. If you get a stir plate you can actually propagate more yeast with the same size starter. I would use that calculator to determine whether you are indeed making big enough starters.

The other thing you may want to address is aeration. How are you aerating your wort? Most esters are produced during the aerobic growth phase for the yeast, and that is the phase where oxygen is important for yeast growth. Even with proper pitch rates you can stress your yeast during the propagation phase if there is insufficient O2 in solution... fruity esters!

Hope this helps! Congrats on getting good scores on your beers!
 
Oh, one more tip. If you want to be able to brew a more estery (is that even a word?) beer, like a Belgian, pick up an inexpensive aquarium heater and throw it in your swamp cooler. You can hold the temps anywhere between 70-80* with most aquarium heaters. :mug:
 
How are you aerating your wort?

I'm not :drunk:

Okay- well, I do run my wort through a big strainer before it goes into my fermenter. That seems to froth it up quite a bit. Then I stir for a few minutes with big sanitized spoon before I pitch the yeast. I have read (somewhere, probably on HBT) that running through a strainer can increase the oxygen in the wort quite a bit. That said- I know I should do something more. What do you recommend? I know a lot of people use oxygen stones... I've also read and heard on Brewing Network that sometimes people OVER oxygenate their wort.
 
Oh, one more tip. If you want to be able to brew a more estery (is that even a word?) beer, like a Belgian, pick up an inexpensive aquarium heater and throw it in your swamp cooler. You can hold the temps anywhere between 70-80* with most aquarium heaters. :mug:

Done and done. The heater is how I raised the temp when I was fermenting that belgian. It worked great- my apartment was very cold during the winter... and the heater took it up from 65 to 72-74 with no problem.

Great suggestions - thanks! :mug:
 
I'm not :drunk:

Okay- well, I do run my wort through a big strainer before it goes into my fermenter. That seems to froth it up quite a bit. Then I stir for a few minutes with big sanitized spoon before I pitch the yeast. I have read (somewhere, probably on HBT) that running through a strainer can increase the oxygen in the wort quite a bit. That said- I know I should do something more. What do you recommend? I know a lot of people use oxygen stones... I've also read and heard on Brewing Network that sometimes people OVER oxygenate their wort.

I would bet a home brew that lack of aeration is what is giving you your fruity esters. Running the wort through a strainer then stirring is certainly better than nothing but it's probably not enough. An O2 tank with an air stone is what I use and it works great for me. If you ferment in a bucket, a paint stirring attachment on the end of a drill is a great cheap and easy solution. It is true that you can over-oxygenate but it's probably a lot harder to do than under-oxygenating.
 
I agree that aeration and pitching quantity/health are major causes for the off flavors they are detecting, assuming that you are able to keep the fermentation temperatures in the low-mid 60s on a consistent (at least within 1-3 degrees of your goal) basis. If you are swinging from 62-72 in the course of 24 hours, you are going to get a lot more esters than if you keep it 62-65 in any given day.
 
I'm not :drunk:

Okay- well, I do run my wort through a big strainer before it goes into my fermenter. That seems to froth it up quite a bit. Then I stir for a few minutes with big sanitized spoon before I pitch the yeast. I have read (somewhere, probably on HBT) that running through a strainer can increase the oxygen in the wort quite a bit. That said- I know I should do something more. What do you recommend? I know a lot of people use oxygen stones... .

I also strain my wort from BK to fermenter. But I have to stop and clean the gunk from the strainer(always spray out and re-sanitize) 3 times before I get all 5+ gals through. I think I differ in most with my procedure because I will strain it again back into the BK. Then I will scrape out the strainer again and re-sanitize. Then I dump the yeast slurry into the fermenter and strain from the BK again. Then I dump back and forth one more time to mix up the yeast. Thats a total of 5 pours to get adequate aeration and I usually have foam over the top of the bucket.
As far as your comps go. I certainly wouldn't worry about the scores. I think it is very important to get your system down and just be able to brew consistantly. I just entered my first comp from brews I made last fall from my first five batches. I hadn't considered entering any at the time I brewed them but I sent them in just to be able to read the comments. I think it was good feedback and I'm already planning some new recipes just for comps.
I think you can brew great beers to drink and then I think you can brew great beers for comps. If you want medals, I would suggest reading the style guidelines and plan your recipes accordingly. But, like others have said, just because it doesn't fit a style doesn't mean its not great tasting.
 
I hate competitions too. I just my sheets back yesterday and it made me as mad as the last time. What I've learned is to put way more weight in what a National judge says over a novice.

Previously I entered an American Stout that was judged by 3 novices. All the comments were "too much hops", nothing really constructive. They didn't even read the guidelines of " Medium to high bitterness. Hop flavor can be low to high, and generally reflects citrusy or resiny American varieties."

I had also entered a beer that was between a Pale and an Amber as both categories. A certified judge said the APA was very Oxidized, Phenolic and that I needed to cool my wort faster and to watch my pH while sparging (score 26). (I cool 12 gal to 65F in 20 minutes, I batch sparge not fly and the pH was at 5.3.) A National Judge noted none of the flaws and scored it a 37.

Yesterday within the same flight I had a Novice say I should "try a bit less roasted malt to reduce the astringency" in my Sweet Stout (score 32). National judge said "Making roast more prominent may improve character. Increase roast bill 10-15%." (score 38) Who is right? I'm going with the National judge.


Generally I see lower scores from inexperience judges and random comments. They seem to think judging is more about tearing a beer apart and the more zings they can through in, the better a judge they are. Often they also don't seem to know the styles at all or have even read the guidelines.

What gets me the most mad (not the $6 fee or giving up the beer itself) is that I had to take the time to bottle some of my beer for some amateurs off the street to unconstructively rip on.
 
Not a judge at all here, but I'm guessing that those with more experience probably either know how to better preserve their palates throughout the day, or know how to "read through" the fatigue to know what a beer should taste like. Personally, I find that when I switch up beers, whatever is different from the last one is very pronounced while whatever flavors they share seem suppressed.

I entered my first competition a couple of months ago and got exactly the comments I was expecting. It was an ESB with a bit of diacetyl. Personally, I like it that way (although this one was a bit high even for me), but if I tasted just the first sip or two after sampling a few other "clean" examples, I'm sure it'd taste just like butterscotch. For what it's worth, I happened to receive thoughtful comments from both judges and scored a 23, which I think is pretty good considering the known flaw. So not all of 'em are idiots.
 
I would not get worked up about it. Judges will vary in their tastes and opinions to a certain degree, and really your scores are above "average" for beer. I've seen and tasted a few beers that didn't even make 20.

The big thing is, if you want to improve, do what you are doing: Enter competitions and use that information to improve your process. Whether the cure is found in a book, or advice from a judge, or advice from the peanut gallery here, you will eventually find what you need to make bigger points.

But you won't really get what you need from a single competition. Enter the same beer in a few competitions if you can. Or maybe enter in a smaller competition, where there are fewer entries. The judges might have more time to not only sample the beers better, but to also write their tasting notes a bit better.

When you have a lot of entries to go through, it can be a hurry to taste them all and difficult to do each one proper lip service.

I think my first competition scored a 27 and I was a bit bummed, but after changing a few things I got better scores the more I did it. You'll usually have the odd off batch, but it sounds like you are doing most of the important stuff, so I would not worry.

Remember that one trick to doing well in competitions is to brew for a competition! The judges aren't looking for a great beer, per se, they are looking for a beer that matches a style's guidelines EXACTLY. They are tasting to see if you have the ability to brew to those guidelines. They are expecting you to brew to those guidelines. It doesn't leave a lot of room for goofing around with your recipe sometimes, but it can help you determine if your process is solid.

If I were to advise you based on your information, I'd say check your yeast health and quantity, water profile, and yeast strains. But mostly I think you are ok from what you've said. I don't think a degree or two in fermentation temp is going to make a huge impact as long as you can keep it fairly low. Large swings are going to be a problem, but it sounds like you keep an eye on it and adjust as needed.

Most of all RDWHAHB and keep on brewing!
 
Okay- if you've made it this far through my post, I REALLY, REALLY appreciate it. I truly love this hobby (I'm ten months in and have brewed 20 batches). I'm just not sure what to make of the feedback I received and I want to do something productive with it. I am espeically concerned about fruity esters in the beers where I didn't want them (all except the belgian blond) and the oxidation comments on the bitter.

Honestly, those comments and scores are not bad for someone with only 20 batches under their belt. Keys to keep track of are that you are not producing off flavors or showing signs of any other major flaw in your technique that appears across your entire range of brews.

You may not be brewing exactly to style (such as the comments about the grassy or vegetal tastes probably due to the heavy late/dry hop), so just take every comment with a grain of salt and try to learn whatever you can from the comments.
 
Oh and by the way, would you mind sharing the recipe for that "California common?" Sounds like the only thing they didn't like is that it didn't fit the style. I'm intrigued enough to want to try it.
 
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