Since I’m on the committee for this competition I can offer some specifics.
Judging is by BJCP category with the exception of 27 and 28 (Cider and Perry) which are combined for judging.
In multi-flight categories “queued judging” will be employed such that all of the beers in the category are pulled in order and each set of judges gets one and then when the finish gets the next one in the pull order. For most categories pull order would be in subcategory letter order (and in no particular order within the subcategories) but for fruit, smoke and wood aged, spice herb vegetable, specialty, and meads and ciders the head judge may choose to alter the pull order with the aim of pulling in increasing order of assumed palate impact (so a smoked hefeweizen before a smoked imperial stout, for example).
The average number of beers per set of judges does not exceed 10 in this case but in multi-flight queued judging the fastest pair may judge 1-2 more than the slowest pair (hopefully not a bigger discrepancy than that). As others have said ten minutes per beer is a good pace that everyone can strive for. Highly experienced judges working together can go quite a bit faster. Our two Saturday sessions are set 4 hours apart. Most judges will finish in under 2 hours so this isn’t a terribly aggressive schedule (by design as the afternoon session must start on time since we have the brewery tour after). In our case we gave some consideration to the palate impact of a particular category when deciding how to split it into flights. For example 10 sour ales were split into two flights. I can’t think of a real example off the top of my head but had we had 10 English Brown Ales we would have kept those in one flight.
We will have around 1 printed set of guidelines per every other judge. Given how many phones I see out lately at competitions I believe this will be more than sufficient.
We will provide labels to judges. We will also provide round stickers that you can write the entry number on and stick on your cup so you don’t have to use a sharpie or grease pencil.
Every flight has a Certified or higher judge and most categories have a National or higher judge so you will be paired with more experienced people. Feel free to ask them questions, almost everyone I run into is happy to help other people.
Seriously, thanks for the heads up. I’ll work on a time frame of 10min per beer, that should be plenty for 10 beers in 2hours. I’m really looking forward to the competition, the tour, the talks, the BBQ and the wine. And if theres beer thats good too.
I forgot to mention the best part of this weekend, I get to call my wife a wench for two days straight, to her face.
Don’t drink coffee the day of the judging. According to Carr’s Sensory Evaluation Techniques, it can impact your palate for up to an hour. Smoking is bad, too, but according to the book, its effects don’t last quite as long.
I just judged my first comp a week ago. The previous pieces of advice were great, but I would also pick up a sample from one of the classic styles from your category…If you know your category ahead of time. The comp I judged provided a classic example for the first session, but not the second.
Actually, do any of you find yourself catching a buzz when judging? Should I be wary of that? I’m no lightweight but some of these styles can be pretty strong.
As for classic examples, we don’t know which styles within a category we’re getting so I’d be trying several beers from each category. I’ve done quite a bit of homework in the past though. I’ll probably just go with the style descriptions and trust my tastebuds in the end. There aren’t many beer styles I don’t like, and I appreciate them all.
don’t sweat it. in fact, most times the comp provides lunch for the judges/stewards which often includes a beer. when you’re judging, you really don’t need to drink very much of each sample. an ounce or less is usually enough - though some beers you’ll sample more if really searching for something, discussing with co-judge, etc.
let’s say you judge two flights in the morning. each flight is usually 10 beers or less (though not always). if you drink an ounce or less per beer evaluated, then you’ve consumed less than two beers over the course of the morning. You may judge more flights in that time, but if so, usually there are less beers per flight. ditto for the afternoon. so can you ‘catch a buzz?’ sure, it’s beer after all, but you’re not going to get sloshed.
though I do remember judging at a NHC where a judge at a neighboring table kept drinking his sample and asking the steward to repour… again, and again. I was told he was a local club member, not an experienced judge - and (thank the beer gods) this is very unusual.
as for the classic examples, many competitions don’t use calibration beers. if they do, it’s just one. just judge each beer against the style guidelines and you’ll be fine.
Thanks for all the advice, it helped calm the nerves a bit as I entered my first judging gig. I enjoyed it and now I understand why the BJCP test is so demanding in terms of time. Its a lot like the actual judging! We did 7-10 beers per 2hr session. The more experienced judges did a nice job of helping me out without trying to steer me one way or another. I think I did a reasonable job for a first effort, although I will work on developing more positive comments. The best judges seemed to have those at the ready at all times. The 1oz per beer was more like 3, I wasn’t buzzed but there was a certain amount of fatigue at the end of the porters and Scotch/Irish ales. I also worried that the beers were served fairly cool and they really changed (for the better) as they warmed.
I’m looking forward now to seeing the judges’ comments on my own entries, I think I’ll learn some more about judging from those.
