Judging for the first time

[pwndabear]

I am judging in a homebrew competition for the first time tonight. I am not certified but I am well-versed in style guidelines, work for a brewery, and WILL be taking the exam come august.

I have an idea of what to expect but do any of you have any suggestions that could help me out on this first time of judging?

 

[Spartan1979]

Yeah, you will probably be paired up with an experienced judge. It doesn't mean his ability to taste are any better than yours. Don't be afraid to express your opinion about what you are sensing.

 

[Darwin18]

Don't be afraid to ask questions either. If you taste something unusual, ask your fellow judge if he/she is picking up on that as well. Let the stewards taste the beer as well - both good and bad if they want to. Be sure to be descriptive when filling out the score sheets and try to offer ways to improve the beer. Writing blanket statements like "appropriate to style" is not acceptable.

Oh and have fun! You're going to taste a lot of poor beer - that's the thing that really surprised me the first time judging.

Also if you're going for the BJCP, you technically have to take two exams. The online entrance exam followed by the tasting exam.

 

[weirdboy]

Try and use the most accurate descriptive words as you can when you are describing aromas and flavors. Instead of saying "malty aroma" for example you might say bready, toasty, grainy, biscuit, chocolate, coffee, toffee, etc. Instead of "fruity" say what kind of fruit it reminds you of: bananas, apples, peaches, pears, plums, raisins, prunes, etc.

Look at the BJCP scoresheet and under each section it tells you what things you should be trying to describe. e.g. for Aroma, you want to talk about the malt, hops, esters, phenols, alcohol, and whatever other things you might pick up. Naturally, if you are judging English Milds you probably don't need to mention it doesn't have alcohol notes (although I would on the written BJCP exam), but if you are judging Belgian Strongs then you should be describing the alcohol aroma just like the malt aroma--is it hot/solventy, sweet, perfumy, etc.