To be honest, I am a BJCP “Certified” ranked judge. I do not claim this credential because I was not involved in the program for very long. I know that Martin, Jeffy, Jeff, and Denny are ranked judges, but are there others?
But of course. Certified A0511.
Yup, I’m a BJCP National
Show-off… ;) ;D ;D
Well, I’m 2 points shy of Master, so neener neener! 
Master since 2005
National here.
Mark, you are a lapsed judge. To become active, you need to judge 2 sessions to earn a point IIRC. Then you are in good standing. Review a little before, and it will be like getting back on a bicycle.
Most here are certifiable. 8)
Good on ya!
No, but im a ranked drunk ;D. in all seriousness i would love to become a BJCP judge just to be able to assess my homebrew better
Certified
F1284 (late to the game) :))
National - working toward M
Whatever the second rank from the bottom is, that’s what I am. Recognized? I judge our local comp when it happens and that’s about it.
I get to judge each and every beer that comes out of the taps at Bel Air Brewing…does that count?
Nope
No matter, as my taste senses are well refined. Actually, after reading reports about judges and contests, we have little if any faith in the results.
That’s a poor conclusion, IMO. BJCP doesn’t mean you’re perfect of course. But it means that there’s been a consensus about your tasting and description abilities. Try becoming BJCP…if your senses are that well honed, the brewing community would appreciate your input.
I’ve never had any interest, and I’ve been brewing for 30 years. It always seemed kind of silly, the idea of trying to match a made up standard for a style. I like to brew beer that I like to drink without any regards towards matching a style.
We agree. If I wanted an exact beer on tap, say a Pilsner Urquell, i would just buy a keg. Much easier.
While we do brew certain styles of beer, European Pils for example, or a Fest Bier, making a clone beer is not what we do.
Brewing good beer, that we enjoy drinking, is what it’s all about.
My partners jokingly say we have our costs down to $22 per 12 ounce bottle.
Our plan is to enter 3 samples of the same beer in the largest brewing competition event next year. We fully expect to get 3 totally different score sheets based on reports from others who have done this experiment.
The thing about competitions is that the judges are predisposed to look for and find flaws. The more experienced the judge, the better able to find and describe those flaws. But when a truly flawless (Limited perceivable flaws, anyway) beer comes across in a competition, there is usually a strong consensus among the judges. Any particular competition may have many inexperienced judges, such that pairing with experienced judges is difficult, in which case, the entry may be judged poorly - as to sensory analysis or descriptive analysis. That would prevent it from passing on to mini BOS in that category - a shame. However, those beers that pass on to mini BOS or overall BOS are generally assured of passing through a more highly refined Set of palates with better judging skills. It’s definitely not perfect, but it is a systematic approach to a subjective endeavor that attempts to insert some objectivity.