Beer Forum

Hi guys,

I was just curious if anyone else has experienced huge swings in comp scores for the same beer? I have a Munich Helles I bottled from the keg and sent off to two different comps that were happening at the same time. So it was bottled and shipped and judged at the same time.

One comp scored it a 44, with the comment it was a little yeasty. The other scored it a 24 and said I did not pitch enough yeast.

That's a 20 point swing and the judges notes read exactly opposite of each other. Look forward to hearing other peoples competition experiences.



Oh and I pitched MrMalty.com recommended amount of yeast.

Welcome-

It sometimes happens. Which comp was first, the low score or the high score?

Several years ago I brewed a big English style barleywine (around 11-12%) with a majority of the grainbill being Munich malt. Nice toffee notes to it. Sent it to the Big Beers, Belgians, and Barleywine Festival out in Vail, CO. Scored in the high 40's and won the silver medal. Same beer, same weekend in the Upper Mississippi Mashout only scored a 27. Judges decided that the toffee flavor was due to a fermentation defect rather than a characteristic of the malt.

This happens a lot. Most judges suck. The newer judges don't have to take the big essay exam that some of us did >10 years ago. Also look at their rank. Many "judges" have no real qualifications whatsoever.

The biggest swing I've had is 10 points. Same beer from the same keg bottled at the same time. 27 from 1 comp with multiple flaws and 37 from another comp with may compliments. Most aggravating...