Judging

When you get your feedback and score back from a competition, it is a good idea to try the beer again while reading the scoresheet. However, there is a lot of people who say they have no clue what the judges are talking about. True, there are times when judges just don’t get it right, I myself know I am not a perfect judge either. But, if you want to truly get an accurate read of what beer the judge tasted, you need to take some steps in understanding how your beer is presented in competition. The beer you pour directly from your tap or from a bottle directly from your fridge, may not be the same beer the judge is tasting. Granted, it is the same batch, but there are variables that change the flavor and aroma of the beer itself. Here, I am going to talk about what you can do to taste your beer in a similar manner as it was scored. This technique will also help you gear up for competition as well. Tasting the beer in this fashion before you send it off, may help you decide if you entered the beer in the correct category, or at least prepare you for what beer the judges may be getting. Because your beer straight from the fridge is not the same beer by the time it hits the judging table. Hopefully, if it was treated well it will be close.

The first thing you have to consider is the environment you are in. I don’t expect anyone to leave their house just to judge a beer, or go back to the place it was judged. But consider your surroundings. Are people smoking? Was something with a strong odor recently cooked or eaten? In a competition, most of the time at least, the environment is kept fairly neutral. Sometimes you get stuck in a bar somewhere that they allow smoking. But for the most part it is neutral. So if you are currently in an area that has some strong odors, you may be missing out on some subtle aromas.

The second, thing is beer temperature. Most of the time, your beer is not served at chilling temperatures that your fridge may be set at. Even if the beer does come out cold, many judges ask for cold beers to be pulled early to give them time warm a bit. If you recall from earlier posts, beers give up more flavor and aroma as it warms. So perhaps pulling your beer from the fridge a half hour before pouring would give you a more accurate depiction of what temperature the judge sampled your beer at. There is also a chance, that your beer was last in flight and may even have been sitting for longer. So when sampling, just keep that in mind.

The third thing is glass size and pour size. I can promise you that it would be extremely rare for a full glass size to be poured at any competition. Like it or not, this also may change a bit of perception between your full pint and the 2 oz sample that is poured at the table. In a two bottle competition, one bottle is opened and poured for two or more judges, and then recapped. Any remaining beer may be used for a mini-Best of Show if there is a dispute between the final placement of a beer, or a tie. The second bottle is not opened until the beer either does not move on to a full Best of Show round (where it is consumed by stewards and other judges) or it moves on to the Best of Show and is opened and evaluated again between however many judges are judging the BOS. In order to replicate the sample size, get yourself a small 4 ounce sample glass like the one below. Or,what I like to use is a mini-snifter glass too. It concentrates the aromas giving me a better evaluation.

Tasting Glass. Fill only half full at the maximum at first. (As a side note. this is my German Porter I am sending off to the Longshot. This was my pre-competition evaluation for this beer)

Same Beer but in a Mini-snifter

One last thing I want to mention, is variables that may change your beer that you have no control over. For example, you have to ship your beer. So depending on when and where the competition is, you have remember that transit time may affect the beer. If the beer gets hot and jostled around in a truck for five days, that will change some things. Also, if it is freezing cold and the beer hits near freezing…or even does freeze. That changes things as well. Another factor is how long the beer is stored before the competition, and if it was stored well. I have heard of some competitions where the beer is stored at someone’s house and then the day before competition it is chilled at the site. Well, if that person stored it in a warm room or in a room exposed to sunlight…..that can change some things that the beer in your fridge was not exposed to.

With these tips, I hope you can get a better feel for maybe why when you get a scoresheet back, it doesn’t seem like the same beer you thought you sent off.