BJCP Tasting Exam question

[savagedavid]

I am hoping someone can help me. I am taking the exam next week and one of the guys we practice judging with mentioned that not only do you need to know the attributes of each category and subcategory (which I am okay with), but you also need to have memorized the numbers (i.e. you will just be told "this beer is 15B" as opposed to "this is a Dunkelweizen")

I can't find any mention that this is the case, so I am hoping someone can confirm that you will at least be told what kind of beer it is.

 

[butterpants]

That seems stupid.... and hopefully doesn't fall under 'tough but fair'.

I take my tasting exam in 3 weeks and don't have room in my brain nor the time to memorize nonsence like that.

 

[bretto]

This was not the case when I did the tasting exam earlier in the year. Beer was placed on the table by the steward and we were told the style and the number and then the timer started.

 

[hoperific]

The exam administrator or steward should announce the style and category to the test takers. Basically, they should bring out a beer and say "Judge this as Category 2B Bohemian Pilsner." You don't have to guess the style, nor have minutia like style numbers and stats memorized. If the will not give you the name of the beer style, then they are doing it wrong. You should write at least the style name on the score sheet so the test graders know what beer you are scoring, and the number if you can when they give it to you. If you don't write the number, the worst case is you get a grouchy grader who might dock a point off of your completeness score. Hope that helps.

 

[Wynne-R]

The number is about the only thing you don’t need to memorize. You need to know everything else. Your knowledge of the styles is crucial, you can’t judge anything if you don’t know what it’s supposed to be.

It’s important to be able to demonstrate that you can perceive and describe flavors, but if you don’t know the styles you can’t pass.

Good luck with the test, we need more judges.

 

[savagedavid]

Thanks everyone, this is really helpful