So you want to be a beer judge?

Quite a few times I’ve been asked what it’s like to be a beer judge along with what's involved. So, I’ve put together a short piece covering some of the different aspects of what it takes to be a beer judge and experiencing a competition.

Who judges beer?

We all do! Whether it’s a brewer during the process, retailers buying stock, consumers at the bar or judges in competitions. We’re all assessing the quality of the beer in that first sip.

As consumers we look at a range of factors to assess the quality of a beer – usually tied to a particular brand e.g. Budweiser:

• Branding – is it the right glassware?
• Appearance – color, clarity, and foam? Is the glassware clean?
• Taste – aroma and flavor? Does the beer meet my expectations of this brand profile?
• Mouthfeel – carbonation, body, and aftertaste?
• Temperature – is it too warm or too cold?

If all these factors are correct, according to the consumer – it’s a good quality beer meeting their expectations. Think not all the above matters? Please enjoy consumer feedback examples on (@shitlondonguinness) ? Instagram photos and videos

When judges assess at competitions, they’re looking at very similar factors, however, instead of a brand profile they’re looking for a ‘style’ profile (which is not as strict). Beers are tasted ‘blind’ meaning without branding, and therefore focus on four areas:

• Beer style – does the beer meet the expectations of the style and is it a good example?
• Appearance – correct color, clarity, and foam?
• Taste – aroma and flavor? Does the beer meet my expectations of this style profile?
• Mouthfeel – carbonation, body, aftertaste?

Judging on the day

When it comes to being selected as a judge many factors come into play:

• Training – have you had formal off-flavor or sensory training?
• Qualifications – BJCP, Cicerone or IBD / University
• Experience – what other competitions have you judged? How long have you been in the industry?

Often people will start with smaller homebrew, regional and national competitions before being invited to larger international events. Stewarding at beer competitions allows individuals to look behind the scenes of how judging works and what is expected of individuals – it also provides a great opportunity to sample some of the beers alongside judges!

Expectation of the judges

On the morning of judging, it’s important that you have a full large breakfast. Many competitions start at 9am in the morning and tasting beer until lunchtime on an empty stomach is not a formidable idea – beer is unlike wine in that we don’t spit whilst evaluating!

The day is also not the one to wear your favorite deodorant, cologne or perfume. The strong aromas can impact the assessment of the beers. At nearly all competitions the hand soap utilized is unscented – it is very hard to assess a beer when holding the glass near your nose and all you can smell is potpourri.

During judging it's important to have plenty of water to stay hydrated and crackers to ensure your stomach isn't completely empty. Best practice can be to have sparkling water and rice crackers; the extra carbonation helps cleanse the palate and rice crackers are more neutral in taste.

Judges should complete the entry forms with detailed, constructive feedback – labelling something as 'out of balance' without specifics or context does no service to the brewer entering. Talking is not allowed until all judges are finished assessing in order to avoid any bias. Once a flight of beers is done judges will share their thoughts and opinions on each of the beers. It is the role of the Table Captain to ensure everyone is heard and that no one person is dominating the table discussions.

Expectation of the competition

When the day arrives of judging, the format will usually include a judges briefing – where the competition organizer or chief judge will discuss the expectations of judges when assessing the beers and any particular nuances of the competition; scoring tables, how many rounds a beer will be judged etc.

The beers should be stored in a cold dark environment before the competition begins. Once ready, the beers are brought to the judges by the stewards, and should be a consistent:

• Temperature
• Pour size
• Glassware

The order of the beers for judges to try are often presented in the following way:

• Low alcohol before high alcohol
• Less intense flavour to more intense
• Low bitterness to high bitterness
• Light bodied before full bodied
• Pale before dark
• Young before aged
• Non-flavored before flavored

Beer competitions

There are a lot of musings as to why breweries enter competitions. Across the years I have narrowed it down to three common reasons:

• Recognition and feedback for the brewers: when a brewer has an award-winning beer it is recognition of their hard work by a group of their peers and experts. Staring up at that award hanging on the brewery shop floor can remind someone that they’re doing an amazing job and people are appreciating and recognizing their skills. ??
• Distributor, retailer, and investor decks: it never hurts to have in your sales deck that your beers are award winning. It’s an objective opinion from an independent third party that your beers are of a good quality. Whilst it’s rarely a key purchase intent reasoning, having this input as an extra add on creates depth and sincerity to your deck.
• Consumers: are awards a key driver for purchase? No. But for some consumers it can be a factor. I’ll give you two examples:

1. At many chalkboard brewpub tap lists across the US I will see a Great American Beer Festival medal next to a beer name. They’re always the one’s I will try first when it's a new brewery to me (many of my peers do the same).
2. Anyone who has been at the Great British Beer Festival when they announce Champion Beer of Britain. You will know the rush that occurs to try the winning beer and line that forms in a matter of seconds.

There are many local, regional, national and international beer competitions out there. These usually divide into two categories:

• Multiple winners per category e.g. multiple beers may win Gold, Silver or Bronze
• A single winner per category e.g. only one beer can win Gold, Silver and Bronze

There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these methods and we’ll take a further look below.

Multiple Winners – World Beer Awards and Australian International Beer Awards

If a beer taste of good quality (meets the expectations of the style and has no clear defaults), then why shouldn’t the beer be commended with an award. The medal is a seal of approval by the completion and judges that this is a quality beer. If a beer is exceptional, then it may be awarded a higher medal such as silver or gold, and in some instances awarded a category or best beer overall winner. The downside to this is medals are less discriminative and some may feel there's an incentive to just give out awards for doing the bare minimum. For this latter point I can conclusively say that brewing a beer perfect every time with raw materials that change along with varying distribution channels – having a beer tasting well at any bar let alone competition is no mean feat.

Single Winner – World Beer Cup and European Beer Star

Sometimes you really just want to know what’s the best beer. These competitions offer the upside in that if you win that year, you truly can claim to be the best. A downside is when it comes down to the first losers. Often the final tasting round of a category will have 6 different samples – all of which taste great! This can do a disservice to the really good beers and brewers that missed out.

Regardless of the type of competition, controversially a category may only have a beer that was awarded a bronze – with no gold of silver awarded. Why does this happen? Firstly, it's very uncommon. However, competitions aren’t about handing out as many medals as possible. They’re about recognizing good quality beers and, in some circumstances, higher medals for beers that are in perfect freshness, balance and flavor. Sometimes you have a flight of beers where the best of them simply tastes true to style and free from faults. It may be lacking some vibrancy in the aroma, slightly more carbonation and slightly less acrid bitterness. ?

Conclusions

Judging beer can be a rewarding experience. You meet individuals from all over the world with a similar interest and unique background. Involving yourself allows you to understand what styles may be emerging as popular (usually quite obvious by the number of entries into a particular category) along with the execution and interpretations by the brewers entering those beers.

Cheers!