BJCP exam, last minute advice?

So, I taking the BJCP exam this weekend. Any helpful last minute advice from you ranked judges?

Not a ranked judge, but I think the best advice is RDWHA(nother)HB. Good luck on the test! :cheers:

When you formulate your recipe on the recipe question, make sure your quantity of ingredients matches the amount of beer in gallons. I make 10 gallon batches and put some of my ingredients for a 5 gallon batch and some for a 10 gallon batch. It was just fatigue, and I did well, but I could have done better without making stupid mistakes.

The more detailed you can be about your answers, the more they like it, but don’t get stuck on one question for too long. Make sure you get to all the questions.

I thought I heard there was a new format. Are you taking the new test or has it changed yet? Anyway, good luck.

You’ve read your Fix, Noonan, and Jackson right? You should be good. Don’t spend too much time on the tasting part. Good luck and enjoy!

There will be a few of those during the test!! I must say I’ve had a few before exams and certainly my share after exams. Beers during an exam will be a first.

It’s still the original 3 hour essay exam. No seems to know for sure when the new exam format will be implemented. At least, if they know they aren’t saying anything in public.

Answer all of the questions. This can be a time-management issue.
You’ll do fine.
:cheers:

The hardest part is waiting 4 months for your results.

So how was it? I thought it was a fun exercise but a lot of writing. I am going to get to retake the tasting portion of the test in January, trying to get to Certified. I did well enough on the written but was weak on the judging part just because I hadn’t done it before. Now that I have a half dozen contests under my belt, I think I can pull off a 70 and make that next rank.

Well since it takes 4 months to get the results. I obviously got a master score on my 1st try till proven otherwise. :shock:

Good luck! Hope you did well! By the way, the best part about being a master (not that I am) is that you get to refer to yourself as Master. I’m pretty much getting my MA just for the title.

It took me closer to six months to get results as I recall. They’re probably catching up a little though since they gave fewer exams this year.

I just wondred how you THOUGHT you did. What beers were you asked about? Anything obscure? Mine were fairly mainstream.

I just got in on short notice to take the whole exam in January. I was going to jsut do the tasting but figured it wouldn’t hurt to do the whole thing again. I have the last week of the year off so I can do some more review.

[quote=“tom sawyer”]It took me closer to six months to get results as I recall. They’re probably catching up a little though since they gave fewer exams this year.

I just wondred how you THOUGHT you did. What beers were you asked about? Anything obscure? Mine were fairly mainstream.

I just got in on short notice to take the whole exam in January. I was going to jsut do the tasting but figured it wouldn’t hurt to do the whole thing again. I have the last week of the year off so I can do some more review.[/quote]

Our results took almost 7 months, just got them back the end of Nov.

Everyone I know says on a retake only do one part at a time, so your not as rushed as when you have to take both parts.

For the OP: make sure you manage your time. There’s a lot to cover in 3 hours, if you spend 30 minutes on one question your probably not going to finish.

First off speed through the T/F and BJCP stuff, then skip to the last written question (fill out score sheet for this commercial example). You should be able to get those done pretty quick and leave time at the end.

On a spare sheet of paper I wrote down when I started and finished a question so I could keep track of how much time I was spending on each. Seemed to help me.

What works for everyone else might not work for you. Just do the best you can. Good luck!

I was considering that. The guy said he would let me just take the tasting if I wanted. I just hate to pass up a chance to take the whole thing again. I’m one of these weirdos that likes taking tests. I got done on time the first time I took it, and I really think I could do better this time. Made a few bonehead mistakes on the written. I was weak on the tasting part, but I’ve had a lot of good practice this last year. I have no hope of getting National but it’d be fun to give it another shot.

Why on earth would it take that long to grade ANY test?

First of all, much of the test is hand-written, essay-style. Second, I think two National ranked judges have to score it. There are only so many of those and I’m fairly sure they aren’t paid for grading. Third, they give a lot of these exams, although this year they reduced the number significantly. I understand that the new test format is designed to further speed the process.