2015 Midwinter Homebrew Competition

This being my first competition I have ever entered, I really do not know what to expect. I have entered 3 different brews, all registed with all the required information. Can anyone tell me if I will get judging coments back? I do not have any intentions of acturally winning this competition I just want someone to tell me what is wrong and how to correct any problems that there may be.

Also, what goes on durring the judging besides the judges drinking a bunch of beer? Do the people that have entered hang out and dring beer? I just assuming that’s what happens.

Awesome! Good luck to you! I entered a couple beers in this one as well. One of them is still carbing up so hope its done before I have to ship!

To answer your questions, it depends on the comp. Some will scan and upload the review sheets directly to the website. Others will snail mail them to you after the comp.

As far as what goes on behind the scenes I can’t say. I’ve never been involved in the judging part. Most of the comps I’ve submitted to have been many states away :slight_smile:

TLDR: yes you will get scoresheets back (google BJCP scoresheet) with constructive feedback on the beers you entered.

Beer comps are not as fun as they sound. The judges are maybe drinking 1-1.5 pints over the course of a few hours, and likely developing carpel tunnel syndrome from writing so much, sitting around fold-out tables. Sometimes after all the entries are judged, the unused samples are poured (and enjoyed) for some social time, but the judges are honestly doing a lot of work through sensory analysis. In short, they are volunteering their time to help you make better beer, so don’t take negative feedback personally. Usually, any award ceremonies are a different day, so the comp organizer(s) can tally scores, etc.

The reason they are writing so much is specifically to provide you, the brewer, with their sensory analysis and possible diagnoses. So yes, you should get really constructive useful feedback on your beer. If you want more, the judge has to have his/her email on the scoresheet, so you can typically email them any questions you have (but try to only do this if you can’t read something or have a specific question that can’t be answered on the internet, not if you simply disagree with the assessment).

The main reason I got certified as a judge is to evaluate and diagnose my own beer, but it has been really rewarding helping out other brewers as well. Comps are one of the ways for this to happen.

Best of luck, let us know how you do.

Pietro and Mattniak,

Thanks, that’s exactly what I’m Looking for. I’ve submitted 3 brews, 2 that I feel are Ok and one with great flavor but some real sediment issues. If I remember, I will let you know how I do. :cheers:

Licking my wounds. I got 31 for my APA, a 31 for my IPA and a 24.5 for my 80 shilling Scottish ale. A total of 6 judges with a high of 34 and a low of 20. The 20 came from a Grand Master Mead judge and she really didn’t leave any helpful comments or check any off flavors. Anyway, overall a great experience. Reading through all the judging reports I can see I may have a sparging problem, over sparging with a high PH water possibly. Also, dry hopping too long seemed to be duplicated comment.

I will return, because yes I am a competitive person. :cheers:

[quote=“Klosterbräu”]Licking my wounds. I got 31 for my APA, a 31 for my IPA and a 24.5 for my 80 shilling Scottish ale. A total of 6 judges with a high of 34 and a low of 20. The 20 came from a Grand Master Mead judge and she really didn’t leave any helpful comments or check any off flavors. Anyway, overall a great experience. Reading through all the judging reports I can see I may have a sparging problem, over sparging with a high PH water possibly. Also, dry hopping too long seemed to be duplicated comment.

I will return, because yes I am a competitive person. :cheers: [/quote]

Scores in the 30’s are respectable. I still haven’t gotten my score sheets back from this comp but I scored a 37 on my weizenbock and took 3rd. IPA’s and APA’s are pretty competitive categories so chances are you’ll need to score into the high 30’s to low 40’s to medal in most comps.

I do agree, low scores can be a real kick in the junk though. Just use it as motivation to find the flaws in your process and improve them. In the end, their goal is to help you make better beer, not to criticize or belittle.

I would actually go the other way and note that low scores are a great way to fix some pretty simple problems in your brewing. A story since I’m desperately trying to avoid work on this Monday:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=116205

On another note, low 30’s to me is a beer that I would order more than one of in a bar. Not something I would necessarily seek out or find a bar that carries it if in a random city, but good enough for more than one if I’m already somewhere with friends. If you can consistently brew high-30’s/low 40’s beer, you should basically rarely be buying beer at all, unless you are into the ‘baseball card-collecting’ side of beer consumption!

Congrats on the first comp, they can be a blast!

I’m not a judge but I too entered this competition (my home club’s comp) but did not fare as well as I had liked, though to be honest, it was a bit of an experimental beer that I wanted feedback on. I thought the comments I received were pretty good. Anyways, what I wish is that scoresheets better reflect how the judged beer fits the style guidelines. Comments hit all/most of the descriptive targets for the style but I’m left to my own device to figure out the seemingly arbitrary scoring.

This is the translation of my personal taste guidelines against BJCP:

Most decent craft beers (and decent homebrewed beers) fall into a range from 39-28. Beers with minor technical flaws go from 26-32, beers with more serious faults, or a couple of little faults, go from 20-28. Beers with several serious problems which are very hard to drink go from 14-20. Only a beer which is truly undrinkable gets a score of 13. Only a beer which is truly wonderful gets a score of 40+.

I think:

45+ = plan a vacation around it,
~40 = road trip to get it,
~35 = typical craft beer, worth getting if you’re in the area,
~30 = So-so commercial/craft beer, worth drinking if you’re at the bar.
~25 = Will finish the pint, won’t get a second one, might send it back.
~20 = Have trouble finishing the pint, will send it back if you can.
~15 = Have trouble drinking more than a few sips, definitely send it back or leave it unfinished. Rinse your mouth out afterwards.
13 = Smell it, gag a bit, decide not to drink it. Consider using it as weed killer.

That makes a lot of sense. You hit my entry on the head!