I always find something i don't like about my beer

I think I tend to be my biggest cheerleader, not critic. While I absolutely strive to get better each time, my personality is such that if I beat myself up about it too much I will stop enjoying it. I understand the urge to be a self-critic, and was that way most of my life. Then I started changing my paradigm and everything became a lot more fun.

AK7007 said:

From what I've gathered, judges behave as if no beer that ever was or will be is a 50. So, it sounds weird that you are trying to get there.

Not that it's a great beer or anything, but I just remember reading a old BJCP scorecard for Anchor Steam entered into Cali Common. The beer that you are supposed to shoot for - in what I considered the most narrowly defined style (seriously, the 2008 guidelines essentially said "clone anchor) - scored a 41 according to Gordon Strong. The main complaint was that it could be fresher, but he only knocked off two points. Meaning the cap was really 43, not 50.

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kombat said:

Not exactly, but the stars really have to align for a beer to score a perfect 50, including several factors that aren't even within the entrant's or judge's control (such as if it was mishandled during shipping, stored improperly prior to the competition, delivered to the judges sloppily, etc.). From the BJCP Study Guide:

"In general, the best beers at a competition should be assigned scores in the 40+ range, with real evaluations of the beer identifying some characteristics of the beer that make it non-perfect. A beer receiving a perfect score of 50 must indeed be perfect; it must have absolutely no flaws, exemplify the style as well as or better than the best commercial examples, be perfectly brewery-fresh, and be wellhandled and presented. These conditions might not all be under the brewer’s control, so achieving a perfect beer at the point of presentation to judges is extremely rare."

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Yes, a 50 point beer is a very abstract concept. I have never seen a homebrew worth 50 points, that I've brewed, judged, or otherwise. Best score I've received was 44. Best I've given was 45.

Even doing practice scoresheets with world class examples of styles (when I was studying for my tasting exam), they aren't 50 pointers. There I've given 47-49, but even most world class examples don't score that high due to factors above (most often freshness). I gave a 50 on a practice sheet once to a very fresh, non-skunked Saison Dupont. But I'll readily admit that my love of that beer (when fresh and not skunked) provides a bias.