I was just looking at my BJCP record and saw that I have enough experience points to hit Master. All I need to do is retake the tasting portion and score 2 more points on it! Unfortunately, the only exam around here in the next year is one I’m administering, so I can’t take it! 
Having the “official” paper and designation is nice but I’m sure that many would agree you are already a master of the craft 
If you get ready to retake, drop me a note and I can offer some pointers on the taste portion to maximize the score.
I need a written retake for Master, but I ain’t gotta take the taste again 
I got 89 on written and 85 on taste, ended up with 88. No friggin’ way am I gonna retake the written! I’ve gotta run the numbers to see what I’ll need on the tasting to make it.
This seems like a good place to ask.
What does it get you? Is it personal; is there a career path; does it get you a lot of chicks?
Is it just cool in our geek world - like a 300 level Paladin in World of Warcraft?
For me and a lot of other BJCP judges I know, it’s a sense of personal accomplishment. I’m not really looking for anything but the enjoyment of learning about beer and being able to pass that knowledge along to others who are interested.
Well you should do pretty well then!
Well, you see, every time you level up it unlocks another BJCP subcategory. ;D
;D ;D ;D
Quoting Denny here. Correct me if I’m wrong.
"I was just looking at my BJCP record and saw that I have enough experience points to hit Master. All I need to do is retake the tasting portion and score 2 more points on it! Unfortunately, the only exam around here in the next year is one I’m administering, so I can’t take it!
I got 89 on written and 85 on taste, ended up with 88. No friggin’ way am I gonna retake the written! I’ve gotta run the numbers to see what I’ll need on the tasting to make it.
For me and a lot of other BJCP judges I know, it’s a sense of personal accomplishment. I’m not really looking for anything but the enjoyment of learning about beer and being able to pass that knowledge along to others who are interested."
Why would you not re-take the written, your statments seem to contradict what your beliefs are. Take the written, you have taken it before how hard can it be. You can pass on the knowledge better by taking it twice. Are you taking the easy way out? Just the tasting? Maybe you need a 91 on your written instead, that knowledge can be passed on. Tasting is personal.IMO
A disclaimer here I have never taken the BJCP test or have attempted it, so I my be talking out of you know where. I mean no disrespect to Denny. But Come On Man! (ESPN flavor)
You ARE talking out of you know where. Why not retake the written? Cause it is friggin hard. There’s nothing to be gained for Denny by retaking the written with the score he currently has. A taste retake makes more sense to move up plus it would only be 15 beans.
yeah, the written is no joke - a lot of essay questions with a lot of points to be made for full credit with very little time.
I want to retake mine, but we can’t seem to get any local exams, and I’m not up for driving 4-6 hours each way, hotel room, and a blown weekend just to get a few more points - maybe when I get closer with experience points I’ll get the itch.
Den - is there any other exams given in the area? Portland, etc.? Maybe you can just tag on to that, have the wife go with you and you could make a day trip of it?
I’m giving one on Sunday, Denny, fly on over and I’ll save ya a seat. 8)
So how does the tasting only test work? I recently took the BJCP and ended up with a total score of 68. I got 71 written and 60 on the tasting (I ended up having to rush through all of the tastings in order to finish on time).
I’d like to get to the “certified” level and I reckon I could do that with a better tasting score.
Any input on the tasting only test is appreciated!
if its anything like my exam, unfortunately, the ‘tasting only’ part of the test spans the length of the exam.
Ron Bach was our administrator (great guy if you ever met him - one of the only GM2s I think) - he gave us 1 tasting at set intervals throughout the exam to give us some separation in between the styles.
This is kinda good though as you get the entire time to write out your answers for the tasting and really analyze it, rather than being rushed.
That said, I would probably think about retaking both parts - you can probably increase your written score and can definitely increase the tasting - who knows, you may be able to hit National.
The official position is you have an hour for a taste retake. In reality bringing out a beer every 15 min tends to overtax the proctors since they need a little extra time IMO to fill out the much longer score sheet. For that reason I bring out the brews every 20 min so in effect someone sitting for my exam could have 80 min to fill out the sheets. In reality as an examinee or as a judge at competition you should be able to do it in 10 min or less or you are wasting time. Proctoring takes a little more time.
The key to a taste retake is to describe what you smell, see, taste and feel as descriptively as possible and then to describe what you don’t smell, see, taste and feel. IMO on the exam the only place to speak about style is in the Overall Impression. However I feel for competition one should always relate what is sensed to style.
If, for the exam, one only focuses on what is perceived they really cannot be incorrect. The problem is many do not have the vocabulary or the ability to convey what is sensed. What I would suggest is to put down the description of something else you have perceived in your life experience. If is tastes like toasted marshmallows, instead of trying to come up with something clever, write that down. We all know the chances of someone putting toasted marshmallows in a beer is slim, but if that is what you taste, it is what you taste.
The one part of the taste exam you cannot control is score. The lowest score is 13 so I tell examinees to never drop below 15. The highest scores generally given are 45 so I tell examinees to stay below 42. Unless the proctors and examinees were trained by the same judge the scores tend to vary wildly and it makes that portion of the taste scoring (20%) a wildcard. The nice thing is at worst you will ever get on scoring is 9/20.
Keys IMO are:
Fill up the sheet with comments and no BS
Fill in the sheet 100% complete
Score as best you can
Be as descriptive as you can
Reserve any comments about style to the Overall Impression
I’ve been judging for quite some time, but when I took my taste retake I did not study at all. Just drove down 3 hours the morning of the exam and took the taste portion. IMO style is only important for the comments made in the Overall Impression.
I saw that, Mike, and I wish I could!
Paul, there’s one in Seattle on 3/21, but my work schedule doesn’t allow me enough time to head up there. There’s one being given before NHC, but I won’t be there in time for it.
:D Now Thats Funny! ;D
Ours is being postponed until April due to really bad weather in the forecast for this weekend. Looking at April 24, c’mon down ;D
We have several in Colorado this Spring. I could hook you up!