BJCP moving up the ranks question

I’m a bit confused by exactly what exams are required to move up to National. I don’t have enough experience points yet but I can’t really figure out what exams are required.
Can someone please fill me in on what exams are necessary? 
Thanks.

I think I found it, didn’t scroll down far enough on the site. Need to take the written proficiency exam next. Now to find one in Canada…

The BJCP is moving to having quarterly regional written exams. That means that you should be able to find one more easily and the grader pool isn’t as stressed.

You need at least a score of 80 on your tasting exam and 10 points to be able to take the written exam.  The average score between your tasting exam and written exam then need to be 80+ in order to get to national rank (which also requires you have 20 judging points)

10 points for National can be from stewarding, staffing, etc. But you must have all 10 of the required judging points to take the written exam.

I created this flow chart to help some interested in my homebrew club to more quickly understand the exam process without having to dig it out from the BJCP documents. If the version in the post is too small to read, you can see a bigger version on the web page I use to give info on the exams I administer here: https://sites.google.com/site/arizonabjcpexams/home. I find it useful to visualize processes like this.

Can I steal that graphic and share on the BJCP Facebook page? All credit will be given to you.

That’s awesome. Exactly what I was stumbling to find. I scored exactly 80 on my tasting exam and I have 10 points or I think I should when the last comp gets entered so I shall start the search for a written exam. Now I just need to get 100 on the written to qualify for Master :slight_smile:

Mike, Steal away. :slight_smile:

Gmac…good luck with that 100! :wink:

Nice chart. 
gmac, I think you’d only need a 95 on the written, since it’s still 70% written versus 30% tasting, unless that has changed.

It should be a lot easier to find a written in the future with the new quarterly exams, I believe you just have to find an active exam grader to administer the test.

Jeff - it is now 50/50

It’s a good thing I don’t have to take it again then.

That’s a nice chart. I keep reading all over BJCP that apprentice is disappearing, but they don’t seem to actually be making it disappear.

well, what people keep telling me is that nobody fails anymore, so I suppose if that were true then Apprentice would disappear.

Though I did grade one exam in 2013 that did not pass.

I read in a report, maybe the annual report, that there is a low percentage of tasting exam fails so they think the online exam is working at weeding out the unprepared, but it’s not zero.

I agree that the online exam has weeded out a lot of would-be failures. I don’t think I’ve heard of a tasting failure yet, but it is possible.  I don’t think I graded any that failed since the new exam replaced the old one, but I know I came very close and the Exam Directors have final say.  The ratio is far lower now, though.

Any sage advice for somebody taking their first shot at the tasting exam here in a couple weeks?
Things to be absolutely certain of, or areas to focus on? Any tips are appreciated.

I haven’t taken it yet. Does that help?

My plan though will be to not over think it, and comment on what I’m seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. What kind and how much of each. If something’s missing, or present but not supposed to be, mention that. Give a couple improvement suggestions. Hopefully get all of that done in about 12-15 min.

Pinski,

Judge the beer in front of you. Be as descriptive as possible (try to answer “how much?” and “what kind?” for each descriptor). Make sure you comment on each of the little words/phrases under each section (e.g. hops, malt, esters, other aromatics in the aroma section). Provide accurate and useful feedback. Try not to leave any lines blank.

I think it is helpful to understand how the exams are scored, so I would recommend reading the exam scoring guide that is online: http://www.bjcp.org/docs/BJCP_Scoresheet_Guide.pdf

Also, Mike Dixon, the BJCP Communications Director, wrote up a nice post on his blog about Mastering the Tasting Exam: BJCP – Mastering The Taste Exam | Bangers and Mash

Good luck! Don’t forget to relax and enjoy. You’ll have plenty of beers to drink in the 4-6 months while you wait for your exam score (3-4 months if you are lucky). :slight_smile: