I am. I need to start brewing my big beers for the Bluebonnet Brew-Off in March. Bocks, Marzen, Pilz, Helles, and Kolsch. Helles and Kolsch aren't big but do need to lager also I'll brew them last.
The epiphany I had was while sitting with a group of brewer's one asked my friend, who is the best brewer I've ever known, why he wins so many metals. Rich looked at him and said "It's the water stupid". Ta-da! I got an RO system.
So it sounds like your beers don't place well. It is true there is some luck involved, how do the judges feel, what beer did they just taste. As far as the BJCP certification goes it is not a guarantee that a particular judge is knowledgeable about every style and subcategory. Also...
Has anyone ever seen this? As I opened HBT this morning a window popped up asking if I wanted to gift Garrett_McT a lifetime membership for $200 or a one year membership for $25. Garrett_McT I'm sure you're a nice person but.. WTF
IMO scores of 30 & 32 are good enough to receive a bronze metal. Gold and silver would obviously be higher. Per the BJCP score sheet 30 - 37 = very good. Maybe the rules of that competition has set levels for a given placement.
It looks like you have an eZboil in the control panel. You might want to check the settings, there is a value you can set that compensates for overshoot (manual). That could account for the higher temperature. Before I installed the steam slayer I had 15% evaporation now I have about 5%. I had...