Your worst beer comp score

[HumboldtBrewer]

We all love to brag about our good scores, but lets hear some bad ones and the comments that went along with them. Sorry for the negativity, but I am sure this bottle I just opened is infected, soooooooooooo cheer me up!

Cheers

 

[sudbuster]

We all love to brag about our good scores, but lets hear some bad ones and the comments that went along with them. Sorry for the negativity, but I am sure this bottle I just opened is infected, soooooooooooo cheer me up!

Cheers

29: off syle. No esters.

 

[reinstone]

29 on a beer that scored a 39.5 a week earlier in a much bigger comp. still waiting on score sheet.

 

[weirdboy]

I am pretty sure I win this thread.

I got an 11.5 combined score on my Robust Porter in a competition last year. I am thinking about framing those scoresheets because they are perfect examples of how not to judge a beer. There were maybe a total of 10 words on each scoresheet, and absolutely no useful feedback whatsoever. The really sad part is that the bottle must have been infected or otherwise contaminated (hard to tell from the useless feedback), and the correct action on the part of the judges would be to ask for another bottle from the steward.


The 11.5 is notable because there is an unwritten rule that you don't score a beer below 13.

 

[Azurecybe]

I saw a 12. It was a barleywine submitted in a Surly Furious clone competition. It was a good barleywine, just in the wrong comp.

 

[Dok]

He last club competition people where laughing about a scoresheet where one of the entries had notes on it where the judge said it smelled like human feces. Well I got my score sheet back for my Schwarzbier and got a low score the judge tore it to shreds. It wasn't really that bad. Well I found out the infamous poo beer scored better than my Schwarzbeir.

 

[Realispatt]

23, was also my first and only thus far. Comments were solvent off flavors from fermentation temp too high and body too thin.

 

[lester77]

He last club competition people where laughing about a scoresheet where one of the entries had notes on it where the judge said it smelled like human feces. Well I got my score sheet back for my Schwarzbier and got a low score the judge tore it to shreds. It wasn't really that bad. Well I found out the infamous poo beer scored better than my Schwarzbeir.

Cannot stop laughing... great story!
Just enterred my first competion... nervous to hear the results! Hopefully there are no fecal notes on my score sheets!

 

[Braufessor]

20.... Amber Ale. Judges said it was a great brown ale that they could drink all day, but out of category....... No idea what happened. It was definitely an amber and not a brown.... it was high on gravity, hops and it was 15ish on color.... but not a "brown." I am still wondering if I grabbed the wrong beer off my shelf and actually sent a brown...

Also got a 21 on a Belgian Golden this past weekend - that would be my second worst...... waiting to see why. I don't know much about belgians though and it was the first one I brewed. Thinking I was out of style or it was too young because the beer is decent tasting... have to wait and see I guess.

 

[mattd2]

I am pretty sure I win this thread.

I got an 11.5 combined score on my Robust Porter in a competition last year. I am thinking about framing those scoresheets because they are perfect examples of how not to judge a beer. There were maybe a total of 10 words on each scoresheet, and absolutely no useful feedback whatsoever. The really sad part is that the bottle must have been infected or otherwise contaminated (hard to tell from the useless feedback), and the correct action on the part of the judges would be to ask for another bottle from the steward.


The 11.5 is notable because there is an unwritten rule that you don't score a beer below 13.

Also isn't another unwritten rull to provide 1 feedback comment on how to improve your brewing for every 10/5(?) points off 50.
I would woder if your beer had been mistreated or mixed up somehow.
Also any chance you can scan and post the scoresheets on here?

 

[Brewcrew02]

Cannot stop laughing... great story!
Just enterred my first competion... nervous to hear the results! Hopefully there are no fecal notes on my score sheets!

I also just entered my first comp. Sole purpose for entering 5 beers is for feedback. If somehow I place in the competition, awesome, but I can't wait to get my (potentially) embarrassing scores!

 

[sikkingj]

We all love to brag about our good scores, but lets hear some bad ones and the comments that went along with them. Sorry for the negativity, but I am sure this bottle I just opened is infected, soooooooooooo cheer me up!

Cheers

Alright, it seems most people are keeping quite with their bombers. I scored a 20 for a Belgium triple. As you can guess from the score it was low in every category. However, I believe the important point is the notes I received. Based upon them I was able to retrace my process and see that I did not allow the yeast enough time to do their thing.

I was following the kits instructions without listening to the yeast - with proper hydrometer measures, etc. from the tasting notes and additional tastings I was able to discern that the beer never had a chance convert all of the sugars to alcohol goodness (my basement was cold in January). I was left with a beer that finished at 1.030 (SG 1.096) as opposed to the style norm of 1.008 -1.014.

As a result I eschew secondaries and allow my beers to send a month in the primary - finding their way. This has resulted in better beers being brewed. The only way to learn this is entering your beers into completions and reading the feedback. Scoring a 40 for a beer is gratifying, but it does not necessary teach you as much as a lower scoring brew with good tasting notes.

Don't let it get you down. A saving grace for me was I had already had three or four beers I the pipeline after receiving this feedback, so it did not derail any future brews.


-John

 

[andysim]

24 two weeks ago..... Pale Ale was too sweet

 

[duboman]

A month ago, 26

One judge said too much bourbon, not enough vanilla, second judge said the complete reverse
Go figure....

Who cares, the beer is fantastic

 

[PseudoChef]

and the correct action on the part of the judges would be to ask for another bottle from the steward.

This is not standard protocol as part of brewing great beer is having great sanitation and packaging processes. If every bad beer were rejudged on a second bottle, we'd be there more than all day (and for every competition I've judged, we're already there all day).

 

[weirdboy]

This is not standard protocol as part of brewing great beer is having great sanitation and packaging processes.

Not sure what competitions you've judged in, but the one in question specifically has 3 bottles per entry to cover things like this. Granted there was something wrong with my sanitation procedure for that bottle, but for any competition with more than one bottle per entry, there is no reason NOT to try another bottle when scoring an entry. It's not like the infected one is going to BOS. Maybe the competitions around here are run more efficiently, but it shouldn't take all day to judge a flight and then do BOS, and the incidence of infected bottles is generally quite low in every competition I've judged.

Of course if you've got 20 beers in your flight it's another story, but for an average flight what difference does it make? Set that bottle aside, judge the next beer, then come back to the infected one later.

 

[mattd2]

This is not standard protocol as part of brewing great beer is having great sanitation and packaging processes. If every bad beer were rejudged on a second bottle, we'd be there more than all day (and for every competition I've judged, we're already there all day).

I agree that every bad beer should not have the second bottle open, and I always though the second bottle was for if the beer progressed to best in show, etc. type judging. But if you scored someone a 11.5 would you not want to give them the benifit of the doubt that it was an isolated bottle?

 

[cshamilton]

I got a 23 on an IPA a bit over a year ago, I think a few of the bottles must have had a slow infection which led to some off flavors almost solvent like. Not a strong off taste, but clearly there.

 

[PseudoChef]

Not sure what competitions you've judged in, but the one in question specifically has 3 bottles per entry to cover things like this. Granted there was something wrong with my sanitation procedure for that bottle, but for any competition with more than one bottle per entry, there is no reason NOT to try another bottle when scoring an entry. It's not like the infected one is going to BOS. Maybe the competitions around here are run more efficiently, but it shouldn't take all day to judge a flight and then do BOS, and the incidence of infected bottles is generally quite low in every competition I've judged.

Of course if you've got 20 beers in your flight it's another story, but for an average flight what difference does it make? Set that bottle aside, judge the next beer, then come back to the infected one later.

Just judged in the largest competition in the Midwest (Drunk Monk Challenge - 2012 and just two weeks ago) and it's not the norm. Like I said, we'd be there all day. 850 entires max each year - morning and afternoon sessions plus BOS.

I agree that every bad beer should not have the second bottle open, and I always though the second bottle was for if the beer progressed to best in show, etc. type judging. But if you scored someone a 11.5 would you not want to give them the benifit of the doubt that it was an isolated bottle?

I gave the customary 13 on a beer last year. It's just a bad beer - we need to move on. Get the sanitation right. That's all I can say. I've never been instructed to ask for another beer.

 

[weirdboy]

Just judged in the largest competition in the Midwest (Drunk Monk Challenge - 2012 and just two weeks ago) and it's not the norm. Like I said, we'd be there all day. 850 entires max each year - morning and afternoon sessions plus BOS.



I gave the customary 13 on a beer last year. It's just a bad beer - we need to move on. Get the sanitation right. That's all I can say. I've never been instructed to ask for another beer.

How many beers are you getting in each flight? That's the determining factor. It sounds like maybe you there just aren't enough judges for the competition.

 

[PseudoChef]

How many beers are you getting in each flight? That's the determining factor. It sounds like maybe you there just aren't enough judges for the competition.

This year I did Cat 1 in the morning. Two teams of judges (2 and 3) with 19 total beers. The afternoon I did 14A and C with 4 teams of judges (2, 2, 2, and 3) and 25 total entries.

With 3 bottles, maybe you're right. This is a two bottle comp with the first bottle being recapped for mini-BOS.

 

[weirdboy]

So 19 entries split between two groups would be pretty average, plus mini BOS adds maybe another 20 minutes. 25 entries split among 4 judge pairs is almost nothing.

Of course I wouldn't want to judge e.g. 18, then 14, then do BOS. That would be a bit rough on the liver.

 

[mattd2]

I gave the customary 13 on a beer last year. It's just a bad beer - we need to move on. Get the sanitation right. That's all I can say. I've never been instructed to ask for another beer.

I supose it is also one of those things in where to draw the line - rejudge a 12, well what about a 13... a 14... a 17...
I hope you gave better feedback than 10 words on your 13 though

 

[Krovitz]

I've only entered one BJCP competition. I got a 26 on my American ipa. The comments didn't seem that bad, they just thought it was "meh". One woman kept putting question marks in the comments though; "lackluster?", "watery?", "not very exciting?". I thought that was funny. Are you asking me, because I thought it was pretty good. Ha.

I think this number will be beaten soon though; I entered a pale ale in OSHC that has since shown strong signs of infection.

 

[mysteryshrimp]

22, for a Bohemian Pilsner that was 9 months old and most of the hops had faded. The sheet said that it would have scored better if entered as an American Pilsner. Also that I had under-pitched.

But not bad for my second all-grain and my first lager.

 

[Mb2658]

I entered my Maibock into a competition and one judge gave it a 32 and the other gave it a 20. I was surprised by the widely diverging scores. The judge who gave it a 32 is a professional brewer. The judge who gave it a 20 was listed as Other (whatever that means) and only put his first name on the score sheet. pretty lame if you ask me. I put more stock in the pro brewers score. I also sent in a Vienna lager that had probably aged to long and got a 21. Those scores were close and one of the judges was a Master BJCP judge. Can't argue with that.

 

[Darwin18]

During my early days in brewing, I entered an APA that was brewed without temperature control and scored a 19. The feedback is helpful, but getting scored by a complete stranger is also helpful as it validates whether your process and recipe are down. Purchasing a dedicated freezer to control fermentation temps was the best piece of brewing equipment I ever purchased as my beer has increased dramatically in quality and I've scored well in competitions since.

I gave an APA a 17 at a competition I judged last week. It was to be blunt, terrible. Musty, oxidized, full of esters, and had a nasty solvent finish that made me gag. I tried to give the brewer good feedback (watch sanitation, try to avoid splashing while bottling, watch fermentation temps). You don't want to kick someone when they're down already with a bad score. Sometimes, in my case when I first started brewing, you don't realize your beer has all these flaws and while having them exposed to you is a good thing, it can be tough to take constructively.

 

[Darwin18]

I entered my Maibock into a competition and one judge gave it a 32 and the other gave it a 20. I was surprised by the widely diverging scores. The judge who gave it a 32 is a professional brewer. The judge who gave it a 20 was listed as Other (whatever that means) and only put his first name on the score sheet. pretty lame if you ask me. I put more stock in the pro brewers score. I also sent in a Vienna lager that had probably aged to long and got a 21. Those scores were close and one of the judges was a Master BJCP judge. Can't argue with that.

That is a wide score difference....the goal is for the judges to be within a few points of each other. It sounds like perhaps the 2nd judge didn't know what he was doing.

 

[Billybrewer09]

I entered a smoked ale in a local competition. 2 of the 3 judges scored it 34,32 respectively. The other judge scored it a 19. His one and only comment, "totally undrinkable"

 

[SLI]

I got a 7 and an 11 on a golden strong! I never thought it was an amazing beer, but these two bottles were infected or something. They opened both and both were gushers. I just laughed at the comments, one judge said it tasted like tomato bisque.