BJCP Certification Exam Thread

[Gonzoillini1]

Get used to writing a lot would be my best advice. The tasting part is easy, but the 12ish pages of hand written essay question answers made my ******* hand cramp up. I hadn't hand written that much since college.

Luckily the way that the exam is broken up now I will not have to take that portion of the exam (unless I want to get a ranking of National or above), so this coming weekend is just the tasting exam.

My handwriting is thankful for that

 

[Phischy1]

My class is still waiting for their scores. I bailed on the written and I need to get studying for that and there's a mead exam in Oct here that I'd like to take. Anyone done that?

 

[Phischy1]

My 3 all passed the tasting exams with a score each in 60's, 70's and 80's. Started class #2 with 4 people in. Written exam for me in the spring.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

My 3 all passed the tasting exams with a score each in 60's, 70's and 80's. Started class #2 with 4 people in. Written exam for me in the spring.

When did you give the exam? I took mine in June and haven't received a peep from BJCP since then (I assumed they would have reached out to confirm information to be able to look up past judging over the last year for my points by now).

 

[Phischy1]

When did you give the exam? I took mine in June and haven't received a peep from BJCP since then (I assumed they would have reached out to confirm information to be able to look up past judging over the last year for my points by now).

I didn't give the exam, I just taught a class for an exam given in the city. Last exam was April 30th and they found out 3 weeks ago.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Took my exam on 6/3/2017, and got my results back on 9/19/2017 (so roughly a 3.5 month wait from exam day to results which isn't too bad based on what I've heard from other folks who have taken the exam).

Ended up with a 78 on my tasting exam which is kind of a burn considering I was shooting for an 80, but the last beer in my flight really threw me off (an Imperial Stout I could have sworn had some oak / barrel aging, but in reality was just a blend of a number of beers including some Dark Lord which didn't help). I'll have my necessary judging points to be Certified after our Brixtoberfest competition on 10/7/17, and at that point I can't see myself retaking the exam to move up to National status.

Based on the RTP (Response to Participant), I scored in the National / Certified section for almost everything descriptive, but had an apprentice ranking for Scoring on two of the beers (the aforementioned Imperial Stout and a heavily oxidized Marzen that I picked up on but the proctors didn't think was as bad as I did).

Overall a good experience with some minor flaws in my opinion, but glad that I have the ranking now.

 

[Phischy1]

Took my exam on 6/3/2017, and got my results back on 9/19/2017 (so roughly a 3.5 month wait from exam day to results which isn't too bad based on what I've heard from other folks who have taken the exam).

Ended up with a 78 on my tasting exam which is kind of a burn considering I was shooting for an 80, but the last beer in my flight really threw me off (an Imperial Stout I could have sworn had some oak / barrel aging, but in reality was just a blend of a number of beers including some Dark Lord which didn't help). I'll have my necessary judging points to be Certified after our Brixtoberfest competition on 10/7/17, and at that point I can't see myself retaking the exam to move up to National status.

Based on the RTP (Response to Participant), I scored in the National / Certified section for almost everything descriptive, but had an apprentice ranking for Scoring on two of the beers (the aforementioned Imperial Stout and a heavily oxidized Marzen that I picked up on but the proctors didn't think was as bad as I did).

Overall a good experience with some minor flaws in my opinion, but glad that I have the ranking now.

Sweet! It is draining and I told myself I stop taking it after every exam and 6 months later I'd start studying again. Just get more experience and once you have the 20 points for National then take the exam again. I now have the written to undertake. Not looking forward to the time devotion but I've come this far and it'll be the last beer exam I take (or until I pass). I don't have the nose for Master so National is the end of the line for me.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Helped lead an off flavor tasting tonight for 20ish people in our local homebrew club. We've got some newer members who are taking the exam and lots of folks who were interested in tasting the off flavors for their own experience.

Isovaleric Acid in Miller Lite is awful, followed closely by Indole and Oxidation (which is far too intense for what we typically taste in homebrew / commercial beers) and Diacetyl. DMS and Acetaldehyde were obviously off the control beer, but not strong enough for me to call them out blind.

Two of the officers in the club are teachers, and put together these killer laminated sheets so folks could place each off flavor on its appropriate square and help identify what they were tasting. We are doing the 6 other ones next month, and now that we have a good system for pouring / serving we can knock it out in under an hour.

 

[Phischy1]

I taught nother class this spring. Started with 8, ended with 2 and 3 people took the exam. It was unfortunately the same day as the club crawfish boil and that convinces a lot of people to skip the test. My wife took the exam and thinks she didn't oass, but she was hung up on getting all the beers "right" and I told her the bulk of the exam has nothing to do with being right if you describe what you taste. So...we will see.

I hope she passes or she will probably be upset and not take it again.

 

[anteater1]

I just took the tasting exam over the weekend. I think I was within 2-3 points from the proctors for most of the beers, maybe up to 6 points off for one or two of them. I feel pretty good about filling in all the lines and being descriptive about all the aspects of each category. Not as sure about the quality of my perception, and even less sure about my ability to pick up flaws and offer feedback.

Beers were California Common (2 year old homebrewed Blonde Ale), Pale Doppelbock (homebrew), Saison (old bad homebrew), British Golden Ale (commercial), Foreign Export Stout (award winning homebrew), and Flanders Red (homebrew). I think the proctors scores ranged from 22 to 37.

 

[JCastle1]

What are the certifications like? I've been considering taking it but I'm so confused by the website. There's a guy I know that's been showing off his "certification" but as far as I can tell he's only passed the entry exam, whatever the hell that means.

 

[anteater1]

What are the certifications like? I've been considering taking it but I'm so confused by the website. There's a guy I know that's been showing off his "certification" but as far as I can tell he's only passed the entry exam, whatever the hell that means.

Provisional judge: Passed the online entry exam. Only good for one year and required in order to take the tasting exam. Not an actual certification as far as I've been told.

Recognized judge: 60 or higher on tasting exam, no experience points (judging/stewarding)

Certified judge: 70 or higher on tasting exam, 5 experience points. This is what most people are actually aiming for when they want to become a "beer judge", and the highest rank that most BJCP members achieve.

National judge: 80 or higher on tasting exam, 20 experience points, pass written exam

Master judge: 90 or higher on tasting exam, 40 experience points, pass written exam

Honorary Master, Grand Master, Honorary Grand Master: All of the above plus either a lot more experience points or deep involvement within BJCP

 

[JCastle1]

Provisional judge: Passed the online entry exam. Only good for one year and required in order to take the tasting exam. Not an actual certification as far as I've been told.

Recognized judge: 60 or higher on tasting exam, no experience points (judging/stewarding)

Certified judge: 70 or higher on tasting exam, 5 experience points. This is what most people are actually aiming for when they want to become a "beer judge", and the highest rank that most BJCP members achieve.

National judge: 80 or higher on tasting exam, 20 experience points, pass written exam

Master judge: 90 or higher on tasting exam, 40 experience points, pass written exam

Honorary Master, Grand Master, Honorary Grand Master: All of the above plus either a lot more experience points or deep involvement within BJCP

How hard is the tasting exam? Similar to Cicerone? I imagine less focused on off-flavors and more on styles.

 

[anteater1]

How hard is the tasting exam? Similar to Cicerone? I imagine less focused on off-flavors and more on styles.

I don't know anything about the cicerone exam, and I won't get my tasting exam results back for like 14 weeks. But basically you have 90 minutes to taste 6 beers and fill out 6 score sheets, then you're graded on the following:

• 20% scoring accuracy - how much your scores deviated from the proctors
• 20% perception - noting flaws and errors
• 20% descriptive ability - describing intensity and characteristics using the right terminology
• 20% feedback - how to adjust the recipe or procedure to produce a beer closer to style
• 20% completeness - organization, legibility, checking all the boxes

 

[JCastle1]

I don't know anything about the cicerone exam, and I won't get my tasting exam results back for like 14 weeks. But basically you have 90 minutes to taste 6 beers and fill out 6 score sheets, then you're graded on the following:

• 20% scoring accuracy - how much your scores deviated from the proctors
• 20% perception - noting flaws and errors
• 20% descriptive ability - describing intensity and characteristics using the right terminology
• 20% feedback - how to adjust the recipe or procedure to produce a beer closer to style
• 20% completeness - organization, legibility, checking all the boxes

Sounds interesting, I think I could give it a shot. Already took the online part, that was fairly straightforward.