Did anyone else run way short on time doing the exam? I only got about 150 of the 200 questions done.
I finished, but had to crank through about 50 questions in the last 10 minutes. Luckily I still passed. It is not an easy exam, and thinking you have time to refer to the BJCP guidelines or any other materials is a mistake.
I finished and passed. I would do a quick pass and answer the questions where you know the answer and flag the rest for follow-up so you could know how much time you have for the heady questions.
I did the same as jlo, and I passed as well. I think the key is to bank as many points as you can, saving those questions that take a bit of though for a second pass.
If I may so inquire; what is the fee to take this on-line test, and what would you say is the minimum required level of understanding (how many months/years brewing or batches brewed, how many books read, how many beers tasted, comps, etc.)?
It’s 10 dollars.
As for the amount of knowledge, you would need a basic knowledge and the ability to look stuff up quickly. I started the exam without any reference material cause I thought that would be cheating but quickly realized that there was no way that anyone could remember all the style differences that they were asking for.
I would head in over to http://www.bjcp.org/ and check it out. I’m not sure what the minimum would be, but for me I listened to all the episodes of The Jamil Show where he covered all I the styles. I also read through the BJCP style guidelines quite a few times. Brewing Classic Styles also helped me with learning and brewing styles I was not familiar with.
I’ve been brewing for about 2 years and have approximately 80 batches so far. For me it really solidifies the book knowledge when I actually brew a couple of beers in the style.
I’m not sure what a passing grade is. I did pass with only 150 answered but my list of topics I failed was pretty short.
I’m glad you passed, though I certainly don’t agree with this statement.
ability to look up things quickly is not knowledge.
True…looking stuff up is not necessarily knowledge but c’mon it is a beer judging exam. I have heard that even experienced judges bring a copy of the style guidelines with them. Far better to look something up and be right then to just “know it” and be wrong.
Knowing how to efficiently use reference materials is essential knowlege. Trying to memorize everything is a waste of time and mental hard drive space. Unless you are one of the few gifted with an eidetic memory.
I forget what this means…so I guess not ;D
From what I understand there are no reference materials available during the tasting or written parts of the exam. The online exam is only the first part of the testing process.
When judging you are able to have the BJCP guidelines on your mobile device or some competitions will provide printed copies. When judging and trying to provide feedback according to style for the entry the guidelines help inform and provide information to the judges.
And if you don’t bring your own when you judge they are provided for you.
off on a tangent, but OK; my fault.
knowing how to look things up = extremely useful. It’s what I call “on the frontier of my knowledge” - I know that I don’t know it, and know where it can be found.
Still, I don’t know it, and when someone asks for the “minimum required level of understanding” it seems silly to me to include something you don’t know.
I would assume that anyone taking the online exam is preparing for a written/tasting exam, where they will have ZERO reference materials. Rote memorization can be a waste, but once you pass online you’re going to have 12 months to know the material whatever method you use…
If someone answers ALL the questions they (think they) know, and uses the rest of their time to find as many answers to questions they don’t know as possible…sounds like a good plan. jlo and a witty man did this and perhaps the OP did too.
If someone doesn’t get a chance to answer certain questions they might know because they were spending too much time looking up other answers, then I call it poor time management.
I am simply stressing that you only have 18 seconds per question including the time to read it and answer it or mark it - don’t waste time and possibly miss a single question you knew.
…I should have just avoided this discussion and echoed Mark G: “It is not an easy exam, and thinking you have time to refer to the BJCP guidelines or any other materials is a mistake.”
cheers–
–Michael
Wow - now THAT’s what I call a well rounded answer! Thanks guys.
I’m glad you passed, though I certainly don’t agree with this statement.
ability to look up things quickly is not knowledge.
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Well let’s put it this way. If I had to invest the amount of time I’d need to remember every subtle nuance of all 70+ styles, I wouldn’t be doing it. I’ve read the BJCP style guidelines more than once for all of the styles, I’ve listened to Jamil’s show, many of them several times and I’ve read most of the popular brewing books as well as brewing over 50 batches a year and I still struggled because of the way some of the questions were worded.
The reason I posted this in the first place was because I wondered if everyone else got through it and also because I really don’t understand why they have the survey first. The survey asks “is 1 hour enough time…” After doing the test, my answer would be no.
I took it at lunch while at work, on a whim, with no reference materials…and just barely squeeked by. I thought I was done, and then had a few unanswered questions that I thought I had answered…my intent was to fail to get an understanding of what they were asking, but I passed by the hair on my chinny chin chin (as they say).
The wording of such entrance exams are designed to throw you off…after all, it is beer nerds testing you to see if you are worthy of being in the club.
The real challenge is finding a testing slot within a 12 month window. I have one in March 2013 *I think, and I tested just after the opening of the new on-line exam in April 2012. There are at least 5 exams scheduled in my area in the next 12 months, and to my knowledge, I got the last slot. I even checked my old home town (fly to test) and the 3 or 4 scheduled in the next year were also booked.
That is the biggest problem with the BJCP exam process. I want to study,take, and pass the online test. But…why if there are no testing slots in the major metro area I live in (Los Angeles)? I can travel either 3-4 hours south or 5-6 hours north and “maybe” find an open slot. Seems like a major headache…just so somebody can wave a wand over my head and say “you are a beer judge”. Yet everytime there is a comp…they are hurting for judges and will take just about anyone.
The reason I did the exam was because there is a tasting exam coming up. Sept 30 I will do the tasting exam with absolutely no ability to study or practice because there is one exam per year in my area at most and I couldn’t get in last year. But, I had to do it at the last minute cause thats when I found out about it.