B) The 2015 BJCP Study Guide
The exam consists of a multiple-choice section and a tasting section. Immediately after submitting your answers, youll be notified whether or not you passed the exam (no numerical score is given). Exams are graded by volunteer national and master judges whose scores and comments are reviewed by both an associate exam director and the exam director. To augment my drinking I poured over the style guidelines multiple times. The BJCP is certainly right about one thing: you will not have time to look up the correct answer for, Go take a few minutes and check your answer using the, Or, find the answer in a matter of seconds using the, Of course, its important that you spend some time practicing using the Compare-O-Matic to become comfortable with quickly finding and comparing beer styles. So lets talk briefly about why those things are the most useful. Study groups: The next step in helping judges pass the exam is to organize study groups based on a syllabus of material that parallels the material covered in exams. Oh yeah, and its free. In fact, if used by itself or even in conjunction with tasting sessions, the reader will have difficulty answering the essay questions in sufficient depth. A clean lager is generally doctored with near-threshold amounts of compounds that either occur naturally in beer or mimic those that do. Needless to say, the pace of the exam is rather brisk. You have to remember that a score in the mid 40s doesnt mean that you personally think this is one of the best beers youve ever tasted, it simply means that the beer exemplifies what the style guidelines say it should be. I knew that class in vector calculus would pay off). Getting on a wait list is good advice though, I have a couple of friends who got a last minute spot that way. The original version was modified by removing extraneous material that was too heavily focused on brewing and by updating the sections on the BJCP, beer styles, and the judging process. Here is what the BCJP has to say about your status once you pass the online exam: Those that pass this exam areProvisionaljudges this is not a BJCP rank, no BJCP ID is assigned, and those who pass are not yet BJCP members! Passionate homebrewer, with much still to learn. They are Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, and Westvletteren in Belgium and Schaapskooi in The Netherlands. Monitoring Your Pace: A Balanced Approach. The essay portion includes 10 questions covering beer styles and brewing techniques. 60-69: The judging exam demonstrates the minimum acceptable communication and judging skills expected of a Recognized judge. We cant overemphasis that it is very important that you have prepared by, The two major areas to focus on in the study guide are, or all of the true-false questions beginning on page 18 of the. ***Coming soon:How to Pass the Online BJCP Tasting Exam***, [Anyreference to the BJCP Style Guidelines is provided for educational/judge training purposes. Unfortunately, I overshot that mark by a sizable margin, giving it 36 points. I gave it a score of 28 points, but given the fact that the beer in front of me was within the style parameters with only minor flaws I should have scored at least in the low 30s. ], Like this tutorial? Give commercial examples of each. The goals of the class are: Fully prepare students to pass the BJCP beer tasting exam and judge at competitions. I was also running short of time at this point, which didnt help. Tales of ales from the heart of Ohio to the ends of the Earth. Similarly, if the descriptions and comments on the beer score sheets are weak, it will be difficult to pass the tasting portion. 50-70% of the exam], 2. In scoring a test, the scorer should be comfortable that the examinee has demonstrated skills that relate to the judge level for which the score qualifies, using the following scale: < 60: The examinee displays weak tasting skills, and the scoresheets will generally have unacceptably low levels of completeness, descriptive information and/or feedback. The total time for each class should be approximately three to four hours, depending on the number of commercial examples and the depth of the presentations and discussions. And frantically scrambling through a cluttered up computer screen with a dozen different webpages that may or may not be relevant will only shave more time off an exam where every second counts. 90: it should be obvious that the examinee is an experienced beer taster. Ill report back toward the end of the month with my exam prep strategy (spoiler alert, it involves drinking beer). Passed the online test. I did spend one evening tasting beers that were dosed by my friend Hans with drops of imitation butter (diacetyl), banana extract (esters), and white vinegar (acetic sour). Beer 3 British Brown Ale (Category 13B). I do have a spot for an exam in Dayton on July 22. Thanks Stephen for the good wishes. HowtoPreparefortheExam BJCPExamScoringBreakdown MasteringtheBeerJudgingExam MasteringtheWrittenProficiencyExam Resources StatedBJCPPurpose PromoteBeerLiteracy PromotetheAppreciationofRealBeer RecognizeBeerTastingandEvaluationSkills AlternativeDefinition TheBJCPisavolunteer-basedorganizationthat: Maybe I should have read one of his brewing books prior to the exam, or at least listened to and read more of his reviews on the internet. I liked it so much I gave it a score of 40 points. The first part of a discussion of how positive and negative attributes are perceived and produced, the beer styles with which they may be associated, and corrective measures. Taken together, the examination, certification levels, and judging service that the program offers help set a standard for knowledge and accomplishment in brewing and enhances the integrity of the pursuit of high-quality, hand-crafted beers. You are graded on five criteria: Each of the five criteria is equally weighted (20 points each), and there are various levels of qualifications depending on your score. the legacy BJCP mead exam. Looking back I can see that my overall scores were a little out of line on some of the beers. podcast with Mike Byrne of Lineage Brewing, A.J. Even though its an online exam, when you only have 20 seconds per question its impossible to look up the answers to more than a handful of questions. This is a followup to my article: Judging and the Anatomy of a Scoresheet. Change). The beer style is announced along with a two-ounce sample a beer every 15 minutes. The accompanying box lists the current exam schedule, with dates, locations, and contact persons. I thought that would torpedo my score, but I still ended up with an 85. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. One of the most unusual beers in Belgium is made by Orval, the only beer brewed by that monastery. Some of you might think Im already qualified to judge beer, but regular readers of the column will know better. This examinee will be an Apprentice judge. I thought beer #2 was a solid example of the style with expressive yeast derived esters and black peppery phenolics. Whether you pass or fail, you will be given an Exam Report which identifies the topic areas where you scored below the passing standard, and youll also be sent an e-mail message summarizing your performance. In the highly probable scenario that the two are different, you are deducted 5% for every point that the two scores deviate from each other. I hope to write a blog post breaking down my performance soon. They also prepare and distribute handouts that outline the background and flavor and aroma characteristics of each style, as well as a technical topic relevant to the exam. That was crucial, because during the exam I needed every one of those 90 minutes to finish. Please, give us a brief introduction about yourself, feel free to add anything you'd like to share. With that in mind, if we could only choose three resources for taking the BJCP, it would be these: A) The Beer Style Compare-O-Matic (Based on 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines)
Assistant Communic. Hands-on brewing experience, while helpful and recommended for beer judges, is not essential for passing the exam. Ester levels are generally subdued by Belgian standards, but some examples do have moderate bubble-gum or banana estery flavors. and I just cant imagine giving any of those beers a score in the 40s. Now that you know what the online BJCP exam is like, lets talk about how to optimize your study time and test taking strategies. The 60-minute timed exam consists of 180 true/false and multiple choice questions (some questions with multiple correct answers). Im pretty sure that Gordon would have sighed in resignation if he could see my scores of 33 for Anchor Steam or 35 for Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, both prototypes of their respective styles. I was also getting a buttery diacetyl note in the background, which at low levels is allowable in many British beer styles and did not seem to detract too much in this beer. One or two members of the study group are assigned to the task of collecting commercial and home-brewed examples of a given style. The malts used are almost entirely Pilsener, with light candi sugar used to increase the alcohol content and prevent the body from being too cloying. Amber and dark lagers: Vienna (Dos Equis, Negra Modelo); Oktoberfest/Mrzen (Spaten, Paulaner); Munich Dunkel (Spaten); Schwarzbier (Kstritzer); Bock (Paulaner); Helles/Maibock (Ayinger, Fordham); Doppelbock (Paulaner Salvator, Ayinger Celebrator); and Eisbock (Kulmbacher Reichelbru). The exam questions are written and graded in a manner that is independent of the particular style guidelines used as a reference. This calendar shows exams registered with the BJCP. This is a list of unofficial resources Thomas has developed over the years to help people prepare for the BJCP exams. If you pass, youll be emailed a certificate with your name and the date that you passed the Entrance Exam. Examples of Poorly Done, Incomplete Scoresheets The brewing techniques portion focuses on the relationship between the finished beer and the ingredients and the brewing processes behind it. Sample Study Program Commercially Available Beers and Technical Study Topics. Whatever the outcome Ill be sure to let everyone know the results once they come back. I tried to explain that judging beer was qualitatively different from doing a keg stand. In many areas of the United States and Canada, these numbers represent barely enough growth to keep pace with the increasing number of competition entries. Constantly toggling between screens on one single monitor only adds more stress to an already stressful exam, so if possible, strongly consider using two monitors when taking the exam. All volumes. Paid for the 3 for 2 just in case, but passed tonight on the first attempt. The first step is to pass an online exam that tests your knowledge of beer, primarily the characteristic features of various styles of beer. After the exam is over someone who was not at the exam, probably not even from the same state, will grade the exams by comparing the examinees descriptions and scores of the beers with those of the proctors. The proctors were not in love with this beer, noting that it was a little too bitter for the style, and mentioning some subtle but hard to identify off flavors, but they were considerably more generous than me arriving at a consensus score of 31 points. Although the current exams are formed from a large pool of essay questions, the BJCP exam committee is currently investigating the feasibility of replacing some of these essay questions with multiple choice questions. I didnt study a whole lot and I feel I only need to answer a few more correctly. In fact the last beer I judged as part of my exam prep was one of my homebrewed saisons. (LogOut/ and reach out to other judges for advice most of us are very friendly (even ones from Ohio!). This is not a style I drink very often, its probably been a few years since I last tried a British Brown Ale, but Im old enough to remember when it made you seem vaguely worldly to order a Newcastle Brown Ale. Of course, how you choose to monitor your pace is up to you. Because judges need to translate their knowledge into practical evaluations of beer quality, communication skills are also important. I was advised to practice for the exam by setting a time limit of 12 minutes per beer. Online Exam: It should be noted that you can't take the tasting exam unless you get a passing score on the online exam. The Compare-O-Matic is seriously effective and ridiculously easy to use. Notice the exclamation point when they point out you are not yet qualified to judge beers. Category 26A Trappist Single (Spencer Trappist Ale): 43 points, Category 23A Berliner Weiss (Jackie Os Berliner Weiss): 43 points, Category 4A Munich Helles (Paulaner Original Munich Lager): 41 points, Category 3B Czech Premium Pale Lager (Pilsner Urquell): 41 points, Category 7A Vienna Lager (Devils Backbone Vienna Lager): 41 points, Category 24A Witbier (La Trappe Witte Trappist): 41 points, Category 9A Doppelbock (Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock): 40 points, Category 21B Specialty IPA (Commonhouse Summer Sesh): 40 points, Category 20C Imperial Stout (Founders Imperial Stout): 40 points, Category 5D German Pils (Sierra Nevada German Pilsner): 38 points, Category 25B Saison (Yellow Raven, my homebrew): 38 points, Category 5C German Helles Exportbier (Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold): 37 points, Category 19C American Brown Ale (Telluride Face Down Brown): 37 points, Category 17B Old Ale (Bells Third Coast Old Ale): 36 points, Category 6B Rauchbier (Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier): 35 points, Category 20A American Porter (Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald): 35 points, Category 5B Klsch (Gaffel Klsch): 34 points, Category 4C Helles Bock (Rogue Dead Guy Ale): 34 points, Category 27 Gose (Fate Brewing Gose): 33 points, Category 7B Altbier (Fort Collins Brewing Red Banshe): 33 points, Category 19B California Common (Anchor Steam): 33 points, Category 1A American Light Lager (Actual Photon): 30 points, Category 23B Flanders Red (Destihl Flanders Red): 29 points, Category 5B Klsch (Drifting Sun, my homebrew): 28 points, Category 21A American IPA (Fly to the Rainbow, my homebrew): 27 points.