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.
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)
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).