NHC 2009 East Region scoresheets delivered.

I received all of my scoresheets back from 1st round judging yesterday. Kudos to the organizers on such a quick turnaround - I received my scoresheets 8 days after the final flight was judged.

Apparently the bottle of Baltic Porter I chose to send them was a real stinker... horrible score.

Sticke Alt - Averaged a 26. I can't say that I disagree with this assessment, but I was hoping it would perform a bit better.

Biere de Garde - Averaged a 34. Alcohol content is what killed me. It started high and finished much lower than I ever anticipated at 1.005 resulting in a bit over 10% abv that it didn't hide very well. All 3 judges stated that this was a 2nd round beer with less alcohol bite.

Old Ale - Averaged a 37.33, I'm very happy with my scores on this beer. One judge even gave this beer a 42.

Hopacles '08 - Averaged a 36. All of the judges stated that this beer is a medal winner if it had more hops in the nose. 5 months ago it had incredible hops in the nose. Unfortunately the nose has faded with time.

I'm thrilled to have scored well with this beer, but next time I'll be sure to brew it a bit closer to the NHC entry deadline date so there's some nose!

Woo Hoo! That's great Kyle!

Do you have any "fresher" Hopacles to send for the second round? I remember having the first version of Hopacles, and loving it but thinking it was more like a barley wine because of the aroma. When I looked at the recipe and saw all those hops, though, I thought that beer does hide them pretty well. That's a great beer, no doubt about it.

I'm excited for you to be advancing- that's great. I didn't enter, but will root you on!

Unfortunatley I do not. Even if I had all those same hops lying around (which I'm not sure that I do) I don't think I could get another batch ready in time for 2nd round judging.

It will just have to stand on its own as is. Hopefully the hop bitterenss and flavor are enough for it to score well.

Yoop - Hopacles '08 is a vastly different beer than '07 was. I agree with your assertion that '07 was too malty. '08 is 72% 2 row, 14.5% Munich, 3.6% Dextrine and about 9.6% sucrose. I used quite a bit more hops in '08 vs. '07 (23.5 oz. vs. 13 oz.).

Congrats! Now I'll just be that much more disappointed when I get my scoresheet (yes, singular) back.

I mentioned in another thread I'm doing a Sticke this weekend...could you elaborate on the deductions that beer got? Maybe I can make an adjustment on mine.

I certainly will later. I don't have them with me atm.

Well apparently I'm a tool and I have no idea how to read the cover sheets that they sent back. I'll have to wait until they post results to see if any of these advanced or not.

Rookie NHC mistake on my part. Regardless, I'm pretty happy with the scores that I got on the Biere de Garde, the Old Ale and Hopacles '08 even if they don't go on to the 2nd round.

Congrats. Even if they don't go farther you can still be stoked about the decent scores.

I received mine back yesterday as well. I was under the impression if you got 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in a category and received a score of 30 or over, you qualify to advance to the 2nd round.

I think I received two 1sts (schwarzbier , and smoked beer (22B)) from how I read the sheets, and 2 second places (Special Best Bitter, and Vienna Lager). Only 4 entries were in the Vienna Lager, and the score was exactly a 30, not outstanding but a good drinkable beer.

I hope I am reading the scoresheets correctly. I am going to wait until they post the results to bottle for the 2nd round, just in case I read the results incorrectly. Anyway, most of my entries were first attempts at brewing these recipes, I think they can improve with a few minor changes.

It was interesting to see what some judges said. On the IIPA I sent in, the scores I received ranged from 22 to 37. It definately had some issues in my opinion, and I didn't expect any high scores on it (the average is around what I expected on it).

I am glad I entered, hoping that some of the feedback helps me improve my beer.

ohiobrewtus said:

Well apparently I'm a tool and I have no idea how to read the cover sheets that they sent back. I'll have to wait until they post results to see if any of these advanced or not.

Rookie NHC mistake on my part. Regardless, I'm pretty happy with the scores that I got on the Biere de Garde, the Old Ale and Hopacles '08 even if they don't go on to the 2nd round.

Click to expand...

The coversheets dont always have the advancement info on them. If you scored less than 30 then you definitely didn't advance. Sometimes you will get a checkoff of the "advanced to miini-bos" round, which means your beer was one of the top in the flight.

The one aspect I wish the head judge at the table (or whoever is doing coversheets) would fill out is the position in flight. I think its really a nice thing to know, since its one of the big variables.

malachai24 said:

It was interesting to see what some judges said. On the IIPA I sent in, the scores I received ranged from 22 to 37. It definately had some issues in my opinion, and I didn't expect any high scores on it (the average is around what I expected on it).

Click to expand...

It's really interesting that your scores went from 22 to 37. The scores should at most differ by 7 (and ideally 5).

I entered to get quality feedback on my beers - I got that and then some. Having anything advance would just be icing on the cake.

Bokonon said:

It's really interesting that your scores went from 22 to 37. The scores should at most differ by 7 (and ideally 5).

Click to expand...

You beat me to it. If there's a spread of more than 7 between judges, typically someone comes up or down so that all are within at least 7 points of each other.

My Old Ale, for example. I had a 42, 35 and 34. Obviously the guy who gave me a 42 liked it and convinced the other guy to come up, so you can see on the scoresheet where he erased his 34 and made it a 35 to get them all within 7 points.

Bokonon said:

It's really interesting that your scores went from 22 to 37. The scores should at most differ by 7 (and ideally 5).

Click to expand...

Yeah, I was a steward at a local competition and I saw this happen on occasion. I mean the practice of adjusting the scores when they are far apart.

The judge that scored it high made comments that he liked it even though the other judges did not. I know it was somewhat flawed (definately weak in the hop aroma, and probably could of finished drier).

Do entries into the second round get another round of score sheets?

Yes, entries that advanced are scored again at NHC. I believe Judging takes place the Tuesday or Wednesday before the conference/pro brewer night starts on Thursday.

malachai24 said:

Do entries into the second round get another round of score sheets?

Click to expand...

Yes, 2nd round will be judged again by judges down in Oakland. Last year they used the new version of the scoresheets, and I suspect they will again

Let me find a link to the new sheets

Edit: Here is what you should get back from the 2nd round http://www.bjcp.org/docs/Beer_checklist.pdf

Congrats on the comp and your scores. I still am waiting mine, but I don't expect to see anything for a while. The Southwest Region was just judged and that is all I know.

As for the score sheets in Oakland, yes they are different. We used them two years ago in Denver. It was a pretty simple form, but allowed for a thorough evaluation. I believe there is a form available on the BJCP website.