Why do you get novices in final round judging?

[crupp]

There is no sense complaining to the competition organizers. They won't read or respond to your emails/complaints. Pretty much the only thing you can do is not enter that competition in the future.

I respectfully disagree. I run a growing competition in Michigan (458 entries in 2010) I take EVERY email responses seriously, and answer each email with thoughtful consideration. I know a number of organizers that feel the same way. In the same breath, I agree with Petedadink in that if you don't get a response from an organizer, move on. Perhaps it's my professional training, but I want to make sure my entrants are happy.

I have been judging beer for over 20 years as a "novice". You would be lucky if you had me as your judge. Don't discount the comments of a judge based on rank. Listen to what they say. There is good feedback in there if you allow yourself to see it.

I couldn’t agree more. I know a number of Non BJCP judges that I would take over some BJCP judges any day. They just have no desire to take the test. They're damn good at what they do, too.
MikeB is absolutely right, too...that NON BJCP box is extremely misleading. I’m not sure why you would have received score sheets with two non BJCP judges. I always try to pair a non BJCP with a BJCP, but sometimes, as a competition organizer, you realize that you’re better off pairing one of your really good non BJCP with a lower ranking BJCP member or non BJCP member. The test is great and all, but you can’t score experience.

[BDawg]

Yeah, I know some of the non-BJCP judges MikeB has in mind, and I agree with him on them. When I wrote my comments, I was really thinking about the volunteers that showed up out of the blue, not those guys.

There used to be checkboxes for "Novice" and "Experienced Non-BJCP". Not sure where/why they went. I for one would like to see those boxes back in.

[DCBC]

I just got my score sheets back from my first competition, the Bluebonnet Brew Off. I had a National Judge score it a 42. In the second round, I had a non BJCP judge score it a 33, while a "recognized" BJCP judge scored it a 32. The beer was overhopped pretty significantly by accident, but I entered it just to see how it would fare otherwise. The two second round judges each noted this in my score sheet. Surprisingly, the "national" judge said nothing about this.

I'd attribute lower second round scores to being in a more competitive flight with better beers in the second round. Feedback, no matter the source, can be quite helpful.