WilliamWS
Well-Known Member
I'm taking the the tasting exam in two weeks. Any of you guys have any tips that might help me prepare?
Thanks
Thanks
The BJCP Beer Judge Exam was revised in March 2012, and now consists of three exams:
The BJCP Beer Judge Entrance Examination, an online examination to screen prospective candidates.
The BJCP Beer Judging Examination, a practical tasting examination of six beers.
The BJCP Beer Judge Written Proficiency Examination, a written examination consisting of 20 True-False and five essay questions used to test skills and knowledge necessary for higher ranks.
-http://www.bjcp.org/examcenter.php
Ok, no tips or advice.
So I'll ask a more specific question: From everything I've read I'm a little unclear on the procedure. It is stated that the tasting exam is "closed book" but it is also stated that we will be judging the six beers as though it was an actual competition. At a competition the style guidelines for the category are read before judging, not what I'd call "closed book." So I guess my question would be, are the style guidelines for each style being judged during the exam read like a competition or is it truly "closed book?"
Yes, The tasting exam is closed book. You do not know what style of beer you will be tasting until it is served to you. There are no guidelines available to help you judge the beer. It all have to be done from your memory and knowledge of the 23 styles and substyles.
The judging sheet you will be using is slightly modified. The normal BJCP sheet has some helpful hints and check boxes you can use to pinpoint flaws. Those are blank on the test sheets.
The test is to determine your knowledge of the beer styles and how close to style the sample beers are. The test will also determine how well you pick up any flaws in the beer you judge.
It is a LOT more difficult than judging in a competition where you have the style guidelines in front of you to refresh your memory and descriptions of common flaws and their causes.
Good luck.
You will be marked on how complete the scoresheet is filled out.
Thanks. That's actually not as different as I thought it might be.
One last questionn the score-sheets, under "Descriptors," it says "Mark all that apply" but none of the example score-sheets that I've looked at on the BJCP site have any of the descriptors marked. What's up with that? If you mention it in your written description do you not need to mark it or something? Just curious-I've been marking them on the sheets I've been filling out.
You'll also be judged on how closely you come in scoring to the proctors' scores. Which can be a good or bad thing.
Thanks guys.
I know you meant "guys" as in plural for "folks" but I do think it's interesting to point out that some of the most passionate judges (and a couple of BJCP nerds in this thread) are women!
Yep. I grew up in Texas saying "y'all" but after a decade in New York it's "guys" or "you guys" (and I was aware that both you and AmandaK are women, btw).
I know they're out there but I just wish I could meet a few more of these ladies who are really into beer!
You may not want to meet a woman who is really into beer- imagine two total beer geeks sharing a household. Or worse, if they have a great palate and can pick out your brewing flaws!
The "doctoring" kit is great- but there is a link on the BJCP website that lets you do it yourself, with "prescriptions" for adding diacetyl flavor, alcohol flavor, etc. Try that, in case you're not sure of each and every one.
Yooper,
I can't seem to find the link you speak of. I'll keep looking and post here if I find it, but could you provide the link if you see this before I find it? Thanks.
You'll also be judged on how closely you come in scoring to the proctors' scores. Which can be a good or bad thing.
Yeah. The difference between an 80 and a 100 is which side of bed the proctors woke up on. A good example of this occurred at my tasting exam: we judged a bock entered as a "baltic porter". I dinged it hard for no roast, no hints of dark fruit, no alcohol warmth/complexity, and even suggested that it might place better as a bock! The proctors (2 Masters and a Grand Master) gave it a score of 35.
That's unfortunate. I'd hope the proctors would take the mis-categorized and seriously flawed beers and rate them as they'd expect the student to rate them.
I'm just now looking into studying for BJCP, so I'm still a long ways off from any tasting exam! Are there any hints (beyond the BJCP resources) for studying given the recent exam changes? What about for a non-brewer studying for and taking the exam (my brother is also interested, but he does not brew beer)?
Are there any hints (beyond the BJCP resources) for studying given the recent exam changes? What about for a non-brewer studying for and taking the exam (my brother is also interested, but he does not brew beer)?
Thanks for all the tips, y'all have been helpful. If anybody has taken an exam lately I'd love to hear from them, I take my exam in two weeks
Really, I think the only way to become more proficient is to judge more comps and gain more experience with bad (as well as good/great) beer.
Mine was in September, so not all that recently- but I don't think it's changed much.
The good thing was the results- when they analyzed my scoresheets, I got great feedback on the judging I did. I now see why it takes so very long to get the score back!
Pappers tested in July, and I tested in early September, and we both got our results around the 6th of January. I"m "certified" so the score was pretty good but I could have done better in my opinion.
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