How many beers are in a typical flight?
Depends on the size of the competition. Most judging pairs will do 8 - 10 entries max.
How does the scoring system work?
0 - 50. However, that's not really true. In reality it's more like 13 - 48.
What is the mini-BOS and how does that work?
Mini-BOS is for categories that have a large number of entries and require more than one judging pair to complete. Let's say there are 20 entries total in the IPA category. There are 4 judges for two judging pairs total giving each pair 10 total entries to evaluate (a bit on the high side).
1st pair scores: 18, 22, 24, 26, 28, 34, 36, 38, 40, 41
2nd pair scores: 14, 15, 21, 23, 27, 29, 32, 35, 36, 39
Mini-BOS would work like this:
- Scores 40, 41, 39, and maybe 38 are pulled. The highest ranked of each judging pair sits down for a sample of each these beers, and assigns them a ranking 1 - 4 in this example. The two judges then discuss each beer and determine where they'll rank. Generally it's very easy to rank the top and bottom beers and 2nd / 3rd are more difficult to figure out.
Each site has own mini BOS for each category I assume?
Depends on the numbers of entries in each category. Some categories like sours or IPAs are a given. Less popular styles like lite lagers may not need a mini-BOS.
Does only the first place from each category go on to the next round? How many rounds are there until finals?
I believe the top 3 of each category will move on to the 2nd round of NHC, however you'll need a minimum score as well. I think it's a 30 - pretty doable.
How many judges taste your beer for one particular category before being given a score? Is it a composite score?
Most competitions have a judging pair. Your score is an average of their two scores. The competition director before the start of the competition will emphasis what range he or she wants the scores to fall within each other. For example you do not want one judge to assign a 40 and another to assign a 28. There's something really wrong there. Usually they want to fall within 3 - 5 points of each other. I would say that most judges can determine where a beer will fall (teens, 20's, 30's, or 40's) within 5 - 10 seconds of evaluating the entry.
Sorry for the NooB questions. Just never did a competition before and curious how it works.
I'd highly recommend entering one or two other competitions while you're waiting on the NHC. I'll be honest, the NHC isn't really the best competition out there in regards to feedback. Check out this BJCP's upcoming comp page and enter a few others:
http://www.bjcp.org/apps/comp_schedule/competition_schedule.php
If you can attend a local competition and help to steward even if it's only for a few hours it would be highly valuable. I always ask the stewards if they want to try the beers with us. You'll get to taste a lot of bad beer which will help to identify off-flavors and some good beer which I think is great as it lets you know where you're at.