first competition entry

I got a 37 and somehow won my category against 10 other entries. Is 37 decent for a first attempt? Reading the scorecard has definitely educated me on what I thought I was tasting…haha

That’s a great score anytime. Nice job, man !

Cool. Thanks.

I assumed since I won the score would be higher. I guess bordering between very good and excellent should make me feel a bit better.

Gratz! Nice work!

Great job!

37 means you did a really good job.  Congrats!

37 is very good.  You should be proud of that. Congratulations!

I would love to taste Annie Johnson’s Mow the Damn Lawn - she was last year’s Homebrewer of the Year and I hear that beer was close to, if not, a 50 pointer.

Winning scores in the high 30’s are common in small to medium sized competitions. I always say 35 is the point where “If I paid for this at a pub I’d be happy with the purchase.”

You’re the man, goschman!  Nice first entry.  I figure anything at a 36 or higher is a pretty dang great beer that really doesn’t need any tweaking.  Many commercial beers are the same caliber.  You’re done.  Great.

Thanks everyone. I have the same beer entered into a competition this weekend. I am curious to see how it scores in comparison.

Very impressive! Congrats!

A friend of mine always says that if a beer scores a 35 or higher, then it’s just a matter of luck from there if it wins a medal.  Different judge, different flight, different day, different result.  Lately my beers have been on the unlucky side: still scoring well, but not winning.

Look at the scores that are given to production beers in the Zymurgy Commercial Calibration columns. Usually 38 =/- a few points.

A 37 is a good score. Years back I won a Blue Ribbon is the State Fair with a 35. Things have gotten tougher in the last several years. Recently my beers score well, sometimes really well, and don’t place.

My Scottish export got a 36 and a 40 at Seattle nhc this year. The higher score was a national judge and the lower score wanted more peat/earth. Not shooting that dead horse anymore. But i also judged. Of about 30 beers I recall only two hitting 40s and the highest I saw was 42.

You have to understand that the scoring isn’t like a regular scale of 1-10. An absolutely undrinkable beer gets 13. And it has to be truly world class to get a 45. World class on its own, compared to all beer in that style, not just world class for home brew. That’s only 32 points between overwhelming gag reflex and tears in your eyes ecstasy.

Ha Ha!  Nice way to put that Jim!

The numbers are relative.  What’s important is the feedback and winning your category of course…congrats.

I’ve scored in the 40’s before with entries and ended up not placing.  I’ve also received Gold and Silver with scores in the mid-30’s.

For your first competition, I say you did pretty well…keep it up!

This is the fun part.  I’ve had entries win Gold and got nothing in others comps, some judged on the same day.

True. But assuming the BJCP system is working, and your specific judges are scoring appropriately,  if your beer gets a 42… its a 42. Whether or not it placed is just a matter of how much competition you had. So you could end up with a medal on a 35 beer, which is cool, but I’d be more proud of the 42 that didn’t medal. Kind of like winning a 100 yard dash with a 15 second time, vs taking 4th place with a 10 second time.

What kind of hippy talk is that?  :wink:

Who knows

Are there participation medals too in this hippy competition?