BJCP

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Not sure if this is the right forum (didn't seem like any forum really fit the description) and if this isn't relevant at all, feel free to delete and let me know in PM...

But I was wondering if anyone has become a judge through BJCP and done all of that? The exam, etc.

There is a local group meeting up to do studies for it, and their about 3 weeks into it all, and a member invited me to come out. I don't know what all it entails and I want to get as much information on it as possible and it definitely looks interesting.

Any/all help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all!

 

[NTexBrewer]

I have done it and would recommend doing it.

Usually, people will form a study group and each session you will cover a brewing topic and then taste commercial beers from a BJCP category.

Take BJCP 1. Standard American Beer as an example. You would sample styles in each of the four categories. Read the style description and compare and contrast the styles.

You may end the session filing out a judging sheet for a beer. Usually if people have Homebrew in the sessions category they will bring some to share.

Having a BJCP Judge helping out with the group is also helpful.

Part of judging and the BJCP taste test is knowing off flavors. Test kits can be ordered to give you a chance to taste and smell common off flavors.

The other plus of joining a study group is to get to know homebrewers in your area or Homebrew club.

I would not worry about missing some of the meetings. Once you know what styles you missed you can sample and read about those on your own.



The key to being a good judge is to practice, practice, practice. The best way is to volunteer and judge at local Homebrew competitions. Most competitions will pair you with an experienced judge to help you out.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Yes.

There's a lot of judges out there. There's quite a few of us on here, some pretty high ranking, although you'll get the most widespread feedback from a lot of high rankers on the BJCP Facebook page. I don't see many Master+ judges on here (but there are a few of us), but a good few National judges (I think Yooper is National). And LOTS of Certified and Recognized judges.

Basic process:

1. Take online entry exam. Multiple choice, and open book. But timed, so you still need to be prepared. It'll be a combo of style questions, and some judging ethics questions, as well as some questions about the program. The BJCP Exam Study Guide and BJCP style guidelines should get you passed it.

2. After passing online exam, you have to take the tasting exam within one year. Tasting exam is a blind judging of 6 beers just like you were in a competition. You're given a beer, told what style it's supposed to be, and expected to fill out a scoresheet (without the guidelines in hand). You're compared against 2-3 proctors, high ranking (National+) judges who are given the same info as you and also fill out sheets (basically they taste blind so there's no biases and they have the same beer under the same conditions). When your exam is graded the graders will use the proctor scoresheets as a sort of answer key to determine what the examinees should or shouldn't be tasting.

You're graded in 5 sections, scoring accuracy (compared to the consensus score of the proctors), perceptive accuracy (compared to descriptions provided by the proctors), and then descriptive ability, quality of feedback, and completeness. The last three are completely up to you- proctors don't factor into those.

The best thing you can do for this exam is to practice. Judging comps is best, but any practice helps. Fill out sheets for every beer you can, and do it timed. You'll have 15 mins per beer on the exam- practice doing it in 10 mins. If you can taste and compare to good palates even better.

Comment on every aspect of the beer (they're listed on the scoresheet hint hint), with *what* you perceive and *how much*, the more evocative the better. Medium high tangerine > some citrus > hoppy. Doing that will get you a decent score for completeness and description.

Feedback is where almost all examinees struggle. You want to provide feedback that is technically and stylistically sound, that is actionable (gives the brewer something to correct) but also makes no assumptions about their process. Common mistakes are vague ("watch fermentation"), make assumptions ("use less gypsum"), or stylistically inaccurate (see this a lot, saying "try entering as [xyz different style]" when their description doesn't meet that style).

Once you take the tasting exam, that score combined with experience points (judging and non-judging, the latter usually from a stewarding or staffing competitions until you reach a rank to start grading exams) will determine your rank. Half of all points for a given rank must come from judging (the rest could be judging OR non-judging).

Failing the exam means Apprentice.
Passing the exam means Recognized with no points required.
70+ with 5 points (2.5 judging) means Certified.

Certified is the highest you can get without taking the written exam. That's 5 timed essay questions (and some T/F) and is the hardest exam I've taken, including in college. To take the written, you have to have an 80+ on the tasting and 10 judging points.

After the written exam,

80+ average between both tasting and written, and 20 points (10 judging) is National.
90+ average and I think 40 points (20 judging) is Master (but it could be 50/25).
And then Grand Master ranks are a 90+ average and then each GM rank is another 100 points (half judging) plus required service to the BJCP (mainly grading, proctoring and administering exams).

For ANY rank, if you don't meet all the requirements you'll stay at the highest rank where you DO meet all the requirements.

Most commonly, you get say a 75 on the tasting exam but only have 2 total points (both judging). Even though your exam score qualifies you for Certified you'll be a Recognized judge until you get 3 more points for thay 5 total (and at least 0.5 judging so you have those 2.5, though you'll always get at least 1 point for judging a comp). Once those points are in the system you'd automatically be promoted to Certified.

It takes work, and time. I rose through the ranks faster than most. I first took the tasting exam in 2014, and I'm currently Master ranked and on track to finally make Grand Master at some point the first half of this year.

 

[Yooper]

I'm a certified BJCP judge- @Pappers_ is National, and I know there are bunches more.

One thing that I could add to all the reasons being a BJCP is valuable listed above is that it made me a better brewer. By studying off-flavors and flaws in a multitude of beers, and why those flaws are present, I became a better brewer in the process.

I've judged the national homebrew competition several times, and I've always learned something from my fellow judges. It's a continual growing process.

I've stopped at certified, mostly because it's a huge chore to go to a testing site. I took my tasting exam in Minneapolis, about 7 hours away from me, and just don't have the ability to continue the process at this point. I admire those who advance to National and above. One of my friends is a Grand Master V- she judges almost constantly and is a great judge. I almost hate to serve her my homebrew at times!

 

[shetc]

Just started down this path so will be following with interest.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'm a certified BJCP judge- @Pappers_ is National, and I know there are bunches more.

One thing that I could add to all the reasons being a BJCP is valuable listed above is that it made me a better brewer. By studying off-flavors and flaws in a multitude of beers, and why those flaws are present, I became a better brewer in the process.

I've judged the national homebrew competition several times, and I've always learned something from my fellow judges. It's a continual growing process.

I've stopped at certified, mostly because it's a huge chore to go to a testing site. I took my tasting exam in Minneapolis, about 7 hours away from me, and just don't have the ability to continue the process at this point. I admire those who advance to National and above. One of my friends is a Grand Master V- she judges almost constantly and is a great judge. I almost hate to serve her my homebrew at times!

Clearly I misremembered. Thanks for correcting me.

But agreed. Learning to detect off-flavors and what cause them, as well as learning to critically evaluate beer will only help you as a brewer.

But it can be kind of tough to turn it off sometimes and get in the way of being a drinker.

 

[Pappers_]

My advice to folks thinking about getting BJCP credentialed but not sure about it is to sign up to judge as a novice at a competition, as mentioned above. The judging director will pair you with a more experienced judge and you can see if you enjoy it. If you do and you think you'd like to judge at competitions, then go for it. Even judging at a competitions occasionally, like @Yooper because she lives in the middle of the boondocks, can be fun.

 

[Pappers_]

@Qhrumphf I knew Amanda was a Master+ judge, glad to know that about you. I hang out with the same Grand Master judge Yooper mentioned and now others and it makes me want to work towards that. On the other hand, I'd have to increase both my tasting and written exam scores - which looks a bit daunting. I do a lot of organizing for the BJCP - I do workshops, off-flavor sessions, judging director at a competition, and administer exams. I need to wade back into the exam grading waters, I did that once and it wasn't great. But I plan to do that again.

 

[Qhrumphf]

@Qhrumphf I knew Amanda was a Master+ judge, glad to know that about you. I hang out with the same Grand Master judge Yooper mentioned and now others and it makes me want to work towards that. On the other hand, I'd have to increase both my tasting and written exam scores - which looks a bit daunting. I do a lot of organizing for the BJCP - I do workshops, off-flavor sessions, judging director at a competition, and administer exams. I need to wade back into the exam grading waters, I did that once and it wasn't great. But I plan to do that again.

I should start doing classes/workshops. Last tasting exam I admined I coached a few and two of em scored 80s (and another who's a long time judge finally got his legacy score high enough for National with a Master tasting score). I woulda got plenty of bonus points from that.

Grading exams helped me make Master. It helps EVERYONE make Master. Almost no one makes Master without grading.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

So what should I do to prepare for this first (for me first) session on Tuesday? Its UK Styles 13, 14, 15, 16.

Is there a booklet or book or PDF I can download to read? Is there style sheets I should read up on? I really don't know what all to expect going in. So any/all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Qhrumphf]

https://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf

Start there. That's the style guidelines for all BJCP styles.

https://www.bjcp.org/docs/BJCP_Study_Guide.pdf

A worthwhile study course should be based on the study guide.

https://www.bjcp.org/docs2/BJCP-Exam-Program.pdf

http://dev.bjcp.org/exam-certification/judge-procedures-manual

Those are worth reading for both the entrance exam and if you eventually get there the written exam.

 

[shetc]

My club is hosting a competition in March so I am going to sit with the judges to see what it's like.

 

[wepeeler]

I'm a certified BJCP judge- @Pappers_ is National, and I know there are bunches more.

One thing that I could add to all the reasons being a BJCP is valuable listed above is that it made me a better brewer. By studying off-flavors and flaws in a multitude of beers, and why those flaws are present, I became a better brewer in the process.

I've judged the national homebrew competition several times, and I've always learned something from my fellow judges. It's a continual growing process.

I've stopped at certified, mostly because it's a huge chore to go to a testing site. I took my tasting exam in Minneapolis, about 7 hours away from me, and just don't have the ability to continue the process at this point. I admire those who advance to National and above. One of my friends is a Grand Master V- she judges almost constantly and is a great judge. I almost hate to serve her my homebrew at times!

So you stopping at certified means you passed the online entrance exam, and passed the tasting test with a score above 70 but below 80 and didn't sit for the written exam?

I'm looking at starting my journey too, so any info helps. Thanks, in advance.

 

[Yooper]

So you stopping at certified means you passed the online entrance exam, and passed the tasting test with a score above 70 but below 80 and didn't sit for the written exam?

I'm looking at starting my journey too, so any info helps. Thanks, in advance.

If you pass above 60(I think) on the tasting exam, you are recognized. If you pass above 70, and have at least 5 judging points, you pass as certified. I scored a 75. I had judged before I took the test, and they counted those points so I started out as Certified. I've judged quite a bit since then, and have enough points for National, but I did not take the tasting exam again to improve my score. If I lived near a city, I could see doing that, but at this point it's such a low priority for me that I just haven't considered working towards it.

I've judged the nationals about five times, in both a first round and in several final rounds at the NHC. It's fun and I've learned so much from my fellow judges. However, I have to admit I skipped judging the last one in Portland and hung out at the Oregon coast exploring tide pools instead.

 

[Qhrumphf]

So you stopping at certified means you passed the online entrance exam, and passed the tasting test with a score above 70 but below 80 and didn't sit for the written exam?

I'm looking at starting my journey too, so any info helps. Thanks, in advance.

Not quite but close. Any tasting score above 70. You have to score above 80 to even take the written exam (and to advance beyond Certified score an average of 80 on both exams). You could score 95 on the tasting exam, never take the written exam, and stay Certified forever.

 

[wepeeler]

If you pass above 60(I think) on the tasting exam, you are recognized. If you pass above 70, and have at least 5 judging points, you pass as certified. I scored a 75. I had judged before I took the test, and they counted those points so I started out as Certified. I've judged quite a bit since then, and have enough points for National, but I did not take the tasting exam again to improve my score. If I lived near a city, I could see doing that, but at this point it's such a low priority for me that I just haven't considered working towards it.

I've judged the nationals about five times, in both a first round and in several final rounds at the NHC. It's fun and I've learned so much from my fellow judges. However, I have to admit I skipped judging the last one in Portland and hung out at the Oregon coast exploring tide pools instead.

I hear you. I think that would be my issue, traveling to actually take a test. But at least I know I have options. Thanks.

Not quite but close. Any tasting score above 70. You have to score above 80 to even take the written exam (and to advance beyond Certified score an average of 80 on both exams). You could score 95 on the tasting exam, never take the written exam, and stay Certified forever.

Gotcha. Thanks for the info.

 

[Pappers_]

I'm looking at starting my journey too, so any info helps. Thanks, in advance.

One great way to get going on this is to volunteer at a competition as a novice judge. The judging director will pair you with a senior judge, it's a great way to learn, plus you'll find out if you enjoy it.

 

[wepeeler]

One great way to get going on this is to volunteer at a competition as a novice judge. The judging director will pair you with a senior judge, it's a great way to learn, plus you'll find out if you enjoy it.

Oh, I know I'll enjoy it, that won't be the problem. I'm more doing it to increase my knowledge of beer overall. I figure there's no way it can hurt!

 

[SoCal-Doug]

my suggestion...

1. study study study
2. sit with judges during a competition or two. observe. ask. take notes.
3. study more
4. do off flavor classes whenever available
5. when you feel somewhat ready, judge a few times as a non-certified working with certified judges
6. study and practice more
7. review other judges comments and writings
8. judge every beer you make or buy, compare your findings with others
9. if it still looks like something you would be interested in, take the exam
10. judge a few more times with experienced judges
11. identify your weaknesses as well as your strong/weak smell and taste abilities. everyone is different
12. never stop learning. never stop honing your skills.

other thoughts...

Be honest with yourself and be humble. You will judge some seriously nasty beers and few really good ones. You were a noob once also.
Always be helpful and positive, but write honest and kind comments
If you absolutely hate a certain style, ask not to judge that style. If you are very familiar and like a certain style, ask to judge that style.
Even a grand poo-bah super wonder judge is going to be wrong or detect something in error. We are all human, never forget that.

For myself, I stay clear of judging IPA's. Sure, I can detect the difference between a piney or citrusy hop, but I can't stand sipping on something that has 150 IBU's of either. My taste buds won't let me detect any malt or yeast character, once they have been burned off by 100 IBU's of first wort dank-ass hops. I simply think its not fair to the person i'm judging, to judge something I dislike that much

I've also noticed over the years that there are styles that are hit and miss in judging depending which panels get which flights. For example, Saison's, historical, and some Belgians are a tough nut to crack. Unless the judges for that style are very familiar with them, they will generally score much lower than they should. I've sent bottles from the same batch to 3 different competitions and scored from low 20's in one event, to low 40's in another event, on the identical beer. This is why I say to be honest with yourself and the entries you judge.

 

[shetc]

Passed the Entrance Exam [emoji2]

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

I took a 10 week class or so, passed the tasting exam about a year and a half ago. Got like an 81 or something. Was super into it at first.

Started judging etc but quickly realized it wasn't enjoyable enough for me to pay actual money for overnight expenses etc for ones that are further away. Then that evolved into me not wanting to spend 6-8 hours doing that on a nice Saturday when I could be doing something else, so I have basically quit.

If you're interested in those things though I would say go for it.

 

[kingmatt]

I took a 10 week class or so, passed the tasting exam about a year and a half ago. Got like an 81 or something. Was super into it at first.

Started judging etc but quickly realized it wasn't enjoyable enough for me to pay actual money for overnight expenses etc for ones that are further away. Then that evolved into me not wanting to spend 6-8 hours doing that on a nice Saturday when I could be doing something else, so I have basically quit.

If you're interested in those things though I would say go for it.

I'm in a similar boat but haven't completely given up...just scaled way back on judging since I had a kid.

I scored an 84 on the tasting exam and had every intention of taking the written to move up to National but never got around to it. I still judge 2-3 local competitions a year but have basically given up on any that are more than an hour from my house.

I still find judging to be a rewarding experience, and would recommend it to anyone interested, but I will most likely top out as a certified judge and be happy with that.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

I enjoy judging, but I don't travel far, nor do it every weekend somewhere... I gotta be honest though... Most competitions allow for non-certified judges. If someone studies, brews, continues to learn and expand their knowledge and skills, and keeps judging, I don't see where becoming certified does anything more than give you another ID number to remember and maybe a little bragging rights because you past a written and a practical test. There's nothing different about judging when certified versus non-certified. You do all the same things. You might not get to judge some BOS rounds, and you might not get to judge at GABF, but other than that... bleh... It's your choice.

I know some EXCELLENT judges that have no certification and some crappy judges who hold a few levels of BJCP. The certification doesnt make you a judge.

 

[Homergah]

I highly recommend it. I was fortunate to have David Houseman as my mentor. My palette was always exceptional but I didn't know how to express fully what I was sensing. As to the slight irritation of not being able to turn off the "evaluating" and just enjoying a brew, it was much more annoying to my friends than it was to me. Lol

 

[shetc]

I have 2 reasons for getting certified. First, the club I belong to uses its annual competition to raise our funds for the year -- not enough certified judges limits the size of the competition. Second, and most importantly, I hope it will help me make better beer.

 

[55x11]

There are many valid reasons to become certified BJCP:
It will make you a better brewer
It will make you understand and appreciate the nuances of various styles
It will make you more skillful at recognizing flaws and trouble-shooting them down to the process corrections needed
It is a great service to the homebrewing community

There are several misconceptions about BJCP though:

You can judge in many/most competitions even without BJCP certification - you will be likely paired with a more experienced judge, this is a great learning opportunity. But eventually, try to pass the certification process.

The certification is not about having "a refined palate" or "being a super-taster". I am convinced that any person with proper training can become an excellent beer judge, but it takes attention/focus, knowledge of styles/brewing process, understanding of judging vocabulary, and a lot of practice. All people/judges have different sensitivities to various compounds (such as diacetyl, acetaldehyde, DMS, oxidation etc.) - its crucial to know your senstivities and by judging with more experienced judges you constantly re-calibrate your scale and it makes you a better judge.

A major component of being a judge is not to simply pick up a certain off-flavor (and off-flavor focus is generally overstated - as quality of homebrew increases, we mostly deal with stylistic balance type flaws), but more importantly clearly identifying the off-flavor and its origins and communicating it to the brewer in a constructive, helpful way. Even filling out a scoresheet properly, as trivial as it may sound, is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced often.

While there are always comments along the lines of - I know person X who is not even BJCP certified, but they can pick up oxidation in beer at a lower threshold than person Y who is BJCP Certified - as if a single anecdotal story undermines the whole purpose of BJCP training.

Generally, in my experience, best judges I know are all BJCP, and the level of knowledge/experience roughly scales with Master/National/Certified/Recognized ranking - with only a few exceptions where someone is either very recent judge or deliberately decides not to pursue higher rank due to lack of time/exams in the area etc. As a homebrewer I also see a pretty clear correlation between the quality of evaluation and feedback in my scoresheet, and the level of BJCP judge - which is why we need more BJCP judges who know how to properly evaluate homebrews. In fact, I would argue that with internet knowledge (homebrewtalk etc), quality of homebrew in many areas of the country is now higher than quality of judging the competitions provide (wasn't the case 10 years ago).

To add more anecdotal evidence - in my experience, some of the most difficult judging sessions is when judging with some professional brewers, or folks who got BJCP credentials 20 years ago and judge 1 competition every year or two. It usually comes from attitude: "I know this, I don't need to read guidelines, I know what I am talking about", and that could be frustrating - having a non-BJCP judge or novice judge is better since they tend to be more open to discussion. So I wish BJCP encouraged continued education and more "practice" or even tests for old-timer judges who don't judge a lot.

 

[shetc]

Tasting exam in Miami today at MIA Brewery. Now wait for 6 months [emoji16]

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Good luck!

 

[TooManyTacos]

Good Luck! I took my tasting exam in mid-May this year, found out I scored a 75% on the tasting exam last week, so around a 4 month wait. Wished I got an 80% so i could eventually take the written exam, but still happy I passed.

 

[riceral]

good luck.

I took my tasting examination July and awaiting my results.

 

[H0phead]

I sat the BJCP tasting exam on 9 June and received my results yesterday, 27 October. ~4.5 month wait.

I scored a 73 which I'm pleased with, now to get my judging experience points!

 

[riceral]

I sat the BJCP tasting exam on 9 June and received my results yesterday, 27 October. ~4.5 month wait.

I scored a 73 which I'm pleased with, now to get my judging experience points!

I also got my results yesterday.

Scored a 78. Very pleased with my score.

 

[Pappers_]

I sat the BJCP tasting exam on 9 June and received my results yesterday, 27 October. ~4.5 month wait.

I scored a 73 which I'm pleased with, now to get my judging experience points!

I also got my results yesterday.

Scored a 78. Very pleased with my score.

Congratulations @H0phead and @riceral, that's great news! Hope you enjoy volunteering at competitions as much as I do, it is great fun.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Congrats guys!

 

[TheMadKing]

I got my results on 9/8 and scored an 80, which I'm happy with.

I've since helped to judge two competitions and I've learned a ton from both.

I got a bit frustrated with the whole competition process in the last competition because I was pared with a very experienced judge who tended to evaluate beers based on personal preference and not in the guidelines, and thought "vegetal" and "green apple" described the same thing. Then finally he and the other more experienced judge chose a barleywine that had declared it's abv on the entry at 18% as the winning beer. While I agreed that it was well made, for a beer that big, it was far outside the guidelines on ABV which they deducted no points for at all. In the same flight they scored an extremely well crafted barrel aged tripel very low because it was too clean and didn't have enough yeast character.

Then when I was between sessions, I observed another table. It was being judged by a pro brewer and a non- certified but experienced judge. When they finished, I tasted their gold medal beer and while it was a great beer there was soap in it! It was obvious the brewer had not rinsed his bottles or something and there was an intense dish soap after taste. That won gold.

Of course, it wasn't my table and I had an entry in the category (which did receive decent feedback) so it wasn't ethical for me to say anything, but it was disappointing and frustrating as both a brewer and a judge

 

[Bobby_M]

My latest exam sit was 3 months ago and I was so looking forward to seeing the results in this last website data push. Alas, what is one more month...

 

[shetc]

I took the exam on 9/14/2019 and received my results today. I am a beer judge.

 

[H0phead]

I took the exam on 9/14/2019 and received my results today. I am a beer judge.

Congrats!

 

[Jmarsh544]

I took the exam on 9/14/2019 and received my results today. I am a beer judge.

Congrats! That’s a pretty cool accomplishment

 

[Wayne1]

Congratulations from an old fart (BJCP #D0025) to a young whipper snapper

Now get out there and earn some judging points