competition score record?

So I finally decided to enter one of my beers in competition earlier this summer since the Tennessee State Fair was hosting nearby. I had an american amber kegged up which wasn't bad at all--mashed too low so a tiny bit thin but flavorful and clean.

Scores were finally posted (no judges sheet yet) and I got an awesome 12.5!!!!


I'm about 98% sure that this was the result of me rushing to get the beer bottled off of the tap and stupidly forgetting to sanitize the tip of the tap which (of course) came in full contact with the beer in addition to the judging being delayed by a couple weeks. Yay for malt vinegar! (sorry judges who had to try that).

Do I get the record? or has anyone managed a score lower than mine ?

 

I wonder if they're trying to tell you something, since BJCP guidelines are:

13: Minimum courtesy score; the BJCP version of the
Mercy Rule. Only assign this score for beers that are truly
undrinkable. (Even then, be polite and try to describe the beer
as best you can.)

 

Sometimes a beer deserves truly lower than a 13. I don't do it because it's common knowledge that a 13 is a low as you should go but I've come close a couple of times.

 

The event coordinator said that we will get our score sheets (which is pretty standard). Not sure when though...but they should come in the mail.


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My lowest was a 19, and that was a beer that was definitely an acquired tasted. I enjoyed it, and folks who enjoy Laphroaig or Lagavulin (ie a super-smoked intense single malt) liked it too. Basically a highly peated Scottish Export that was aged a couple months on oak soaked in Laphroaig. Judges hated it. But to me, that was just a beer that wasn't really cut out for competition.

That said, the lowest I've gone in judging (not as experienced on that side as others but I'm going through the BJCP certification steps now) is maybe 16 or 17. And those were for pretty substantial issues. DMS, diacetyl, or acetaldehyde bombs, or blatant infections (and sometimes variations combinations of em). If you got a 12.5, either you had judges who blatantly did not know what they were doing, or there was a major, major problem. If your bottling process there left a flat and infected beer, yeah, that could be the issue.