I think “realistic” exists somewhere between “woo hoo I didn’t get a 13” and "damn it, that was a 49 beer! "
I just don’t think you can make rules like a certain score means a certain thing. Too many things that are beyond the control of the brewer influence the scores . I’ve had the same beer get a 45 and a 23 in competition, and the latter entry was not a bad bottle. Based on the judges comments, it finished both dry and cloying, with a specialty flavor both overwhelming and absent, depending on which score sheet you read. That’s an extreme case, however not all judges score the beers the same way. I tend to run a few points higher than most people I judge with, so a 33 from me could be a 28 from another judge. That doesn’t mean the beer in their cup is 5 points worse.
To me, meeting other homebrewers is the best part of the hobby. No, really!
Hey now! 
The couple beers that I judged to be more than 5 points lower than tye other judges were beers that I detected both phenolic and oxydation. So when I read the scoring guide at the bottom, where it says “off flavors” plural, more than one… I was thinking that two off flavors would limit it to a score between 14-20. They explained that the score guide isn’t the rule, and if tye off flavors are minor it could score higher. IIRC I adjusted up to 22 and they came down a couple.
I dont know what that has to do with anything, but im curious for thoughts on how much the Score Guide should be followed.
That’s pretty cool man. Hope to get into judging after the Army moves me to Ft Lewis. Good to see your wife get involved with everything. Did you have to twist her arm or she just that kind of person?
We do everything together. Hence the avatar. But yes, it meant the world to me that they accepted her and she super enjoyed it. She was even light heartedly annoyed by the cellar master, cuz he was telling people she was head steward.
Edit:
Literally everything. Even at work she’s telling me where to go, who to talk to… or constantly asking me what I’m doing.
Ft Lewis actually has a rather large homebrew competition sponsored by the MWR. They are always looking for judges, so you shouldn’t have a problem with it.
That’s good to hear. I knew that there would be a homebrew scene up there. It was either that or germany. Wife didn’t wanna go
My wife agreed to go, had the time of her life.
Business assignment for me, not military.
Jim, I thought she was your daughter… Just kidding. It’s great that you both enjoy many of the same things.
I second Denny that one of the best things about homebrewing is the people you meet. I haven’t been to one of the “Biggies” but have been to several smaller homebrewing/craft beer events. Always come away with some new friends.
Bruce
I just went to my first BJCP prep class last night. One of the questions I had which just hung in the air (didn’t get answered) is: Does every beer start out with a 50 and then have points deducted, or does every beer start out a 0, and have points added. It seems like a significant difference to me, with the latter leading to lower scores and the former leading to higher.
How do some of you experienced judges approach this?
Id like to hear some views on that too.
I don’t think I use either. I look at it, smell it. Make notes on that. Then taste and make notes. Then I start thinking about where the beer fits in the Scoring Guide. Some parts might be world class, like appearance ffor example, so that gets 3/3. Maybe aroma is just good. Good is 21-29 points out of 50, roughly 50%, so “good” aroma would get about a 6/12. This should all add up to an appropriate score, but you can adjust it later. As I gain experience and skill, I would like my score sheet comments to match the scores, and give at least one kudo and one suggestion. I have a long way to go.
Yeah, I tend to view the beer in it’s parts, add them up and then see where we’re at.
I think of scoring as an additive thing. Thinking of it as being “50 down” primes you too much to look for flaws. BJCP judges do that enough without having it reinforced by the scoring drive to turn into flaw monsters.
There are two approaches, and I can’t say I’ve seen one used more than the other. You can do “top down” where you start by assuming a perfect score in every category and subtract for things that aren’t right. Or you can do “bottom up” and start at 0 and add points for things that are good. I tend to do more “top down”, but it’s really a combo of both.
Here’s one of my score sheets from a recent competition. The judge who scored the beer is an experienced national judge.
I field tested the beer scored above before entering it into the contest. I knew that it was very good beer. However, as one can clearly see, a beer that had no major flaws and was “not too far off the mark” only received a score of 31.
I like to score aroma, appearance and mouthfeel first, then I try to get an impression on how the overall beer will score before scoring the flavor and overall impression sections.
This is kind of a blend between top down and bottom up. Any time I get near the upper limit of scoring I find myself looking for things I can notate that subtract the score from 50. Same with a score under 29 - I make sure I write some specific reasons.
Check out the bottom left of the score sheet. 31 falls into “Very Good: Generally within style parameters, some minor flaws.” While sparse, his notes seem to indicate exactly that.
I usually judge each category and then, after adding everything up, see if the score matches the scoring band I feel the beer should be in. Usually, I’m in the right area. Every once and while I’ll have to adjust up or down a couple/few points if I think a beer deserves to be capped at a certain level (say a 29 because it misses the mark on style when my original scoring had come out at a 32 or bump up to a 38 when my original scoring was a 36).
I guess I’ve never really thought of starting at one extreme (0 or 50) and moving in a direction from there. I like a more holistic approach.
I posted the score sheet in response to udubdawg’s reply to an earlier posting where I stated that the difference between a 30 and a 40 beer is often style guideline related, not beer quality related. He stated that he personally feels that a score of less than 36 is a waste of an entry fee. I am fairly certain that the best of show beer at this contest barely made it into the forties. Most of the first place entries were in the mid-thirties.