Achieving Top BJCP Scores

[bethebrew]

I never thought I would be a "stylist". Someone conforming to what someone else said defines a style. I am an "artist".

Or so I thought. I thought brewing to a style would be confining, instead of expanding.

How wrong I was.

To research a style, to try to conform, is to respect the past, live the present, and move into the future.

Really though can you make a GREAT tasting beer? What does that take?

Commitment, dedication, ingredients, recipe, process, sanitation, temperature control, and love.

You gotta love what you are doing.

Well that and leaf hops, and no plastic. For starters. I know, pellets and Better Bottles rock!

 

[BigJack]

I entered a contest in my local homebrew club for the first time this year. It was an APA contest, and I found brewing within the style guidelines to be more challenging than I ever anticipated. Ever since then, I've been thinking that perhaps learning to brew to the BJCP guidelines is like a musician learning read sheet music. Yeah, you can learn without it and a select few might become great without it, but for most the key to unlocking creativity starts with mastering conventionality, not avoiding it.

My brew calendar is set for the year and we'll be moving in a few months- but after the move I plan to spend a year or two brewing to style and entering contests as a learning experience. I'm also seriously considering becoming a BJCP judge to help refine my pallet. I've farted around with this hobby for a decade and while I've made some damn good brews along the way, I'm far from being the brewer I want to be.

 

[Wynne-R]

Volunteering to help judging will definitely help your beer. Instead of just reading the style guidelines, you can taste the winners.

You can have a flawless beer completely within style and not even place. It’s pretty hard to describe a flavor, but when you taste it yourself, you get an idea what’s possible. Those last few points are hard to get. You need more than good, you need ‘Wow’.

I used to think my beer was pretty damn good and I didn’t care what anyone else thought. That is so wrong. When you give away a homebrew, don’t you want tasting notes? Problem is, very few people will give you an honest analysis to your face.

Enter the BJCP. We only have entry numbers. We really want to help, ‘cause we want more better beer.

 

[Yooper]

I'm also seriously considering becoming a BJCP judge to help refine my pallet. I've farted around with this hobby for a decade and while I've made some damn good brews along the way, I'm far from being the brewer I want to be.

That really does help, believe it or not!

As a BJCP judge, you really train your palate and also memorize the style guidelines. That training helps you really pinpoint what you see, smell, and taste.

It doesn't mean you're locked into always brewing by the style guidelines, of course! It just means that you're really able to pick up the nuances and flavors that you're trained to find.

I think being a BJCP judge made me a better brewer in those ways.

 

[ResumeMan]

Becoming a BJCP judge will definitely make you a better brewer.

In addition to what Yooper says, the study and test include a ton of information you need to know about techniques, in addition to the sensory evaluation. Plus you learn a lot of cool brewing history. It really is an excellent step in making you a complete brewer.

 

[bob1852]

Great recipe, quality ingredients, knowledge of water chemistry and how to adjust, proper yeast pitching rates and fermentation management, and a helluva lot of luck.

 

[tgmartin000]

You've gotta know where the lines are before you can color outside of them.

 

[estricklin]

I entered a contest in my local homebrew club for the first time this year. It was an APA contest, and I found brewing within the style guidelines to be more challenging than I ever anticipated. Ever since then, I've been thinking that perhaps learning to brew to the BJCP guidelines is like a musician learning read sheet music. Yeah, you can learn without it and a select few might become great without it, but for most the key to unlocking creativity starts with mastering conventionality, not avoiding it.

My brew calendar is set for the year and we'll be moving in a few months- but after the move I plan to spend a year or two brewing to style and entering contests as a learning experience. I'm also seriously considering becoming a BJCP judge to help refine my pallet. I've farted around with this hobby for a decade and while I've made some damn good brews along the way, I'm far from being the brewer I want to be.

Well said, well said.

I too have have been brewing recently for competitions.

My journey into becoming an accomplished guitarist, has taught me this as well. If I just played my own songs all the time, I would not lean nearly as much. It can be difficult to emulate something. So many of the techniques I've learned, were from learning a particular song. That allows me to then use those same techniques, in my own music.

While I do get irritated easily when it comes to the hole "style" or "genre" thing, I have come to believe there is a lot to be said about brewing within the guidelines. I think only as more time passes, will I fully understand what I'm "learning" when I competition brew. brew.

 

[pjj2ba]

I tell my students, that learning is like any other skill (sports, playing a musical instrument, etc) and requires practice. One can certainly improve their skill (at learning, etc.) by doing the training you like to do. However, as I tell my students, if you really want to get better at learning, do your "training" in an area you are not comfortable with. If you can master that, then when it comes time to learn about something you are interested in, it suddenly becomes very easy - this applies to all students, not just college kids

I'm not advocating brewing beers you don't like, heaven forbid! However, one might try out some new ingredients, or procedures once in a while.

My advice, at least for most of the beer styles I brew, if you want that high score, freshness of the beer matters. If I'm entering a lager/pilsner, then they shouldn't be over 12 weeks old from brew date. The beer might taste pretty good for a couple of months after that, but it is at it's best around 9-10 weeks. This is if you are really after that top score.

Also use fresh/well stored ingredients, of course use good brewing/fermenting techniques. I've had beers that did well but not as well as I would have liked and I could trace it back to my malt being a bit old (the danger of buying in bulk). The older malt still made pretty darn good beer, and they scored well, but were just lacking the freshness of those with fresher malt.

 

[SuperX]

Is there a style guide for Cascadian Dark Ales / Black IPAs? This style is very prevalent here in the PNW and I love to drink and brew them. I would enter a contest if I could brew what I like.

 

[Leithoa]

Last I heard CDA/BIPA's weren't a BJCP recognized style though there were some people petitioning to get a style guide finalized.

 

[shelly_belly]

I never thought I would be a "stylist". Someone conforming to what someone else said defines a style. I am an "artist".

Or so I thought. I thought brewing to a style would be confining, instead of expanding.

How wrong I was.

To research a style, to try to conform, is to respect the past, live the present, and move into the future.

Really though can you make a GREAT tasting beer? What does that take?

Commitment, dedication, ingredients, recipe, process, sanitation, temperature control, and love.

You gotta love what you are doing.

Well that and leaf hops, and no plastic. For starters. I know, pellets and Better Bottles rock!

Really?

 

[jbaysurfer]

Really?

Yup. Ruined an otherwise fantastic post for me.