My favorite NHC round 1 scoresheet

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

if anyone gets a score sheet from me please feel free to rip me a new one if I didnt score it appropriate. I try to score every beer as best as I can but sometimes I might slip up.

I have never complained about a score being inappropriate from any judge. It's always the explanation of why the score was what it was that has been a issue. Most of the time the comments are cryptic. I blame the time crunch judges are under, but still instead of telling me my beer is not to style, write that American lagers aren't amber. (For example.)

[barleypopmaker]

Dirk you are so right. And the NHC region that I was at, was under a tight schedule. They announced how much time we had per beer, and throughout the day kept calling out how many beers should be done and how much time was left. There are a lot of beers to do and not a lot of time compared to the size of your flight. Also, sometimes by the time you are in your third flight of the day, your sense of taste and smell are shot. I was having a hard time even with the smoked and wood aged beers, which are usually bigger or at least quite smokey with the rauchbier. I tried, but I felt that the whole flight sort of got the shaft because of where it fell in the day.

EDIT: I just got a response back from David, the Competition Director on my sheet. Turns out the Apprentice Judge is not a new judge unfortunately. So the reason for his apprentice rating is obvious now. They are contacting him about his sheets and it seems to be an issue with this guy. According to David, there is a point about this sort of problem raised with the board. Hopefully something is done to weed out judges like the ones talked about in this thread. The Non-BJCP judge is sort of out of their hands though I bet. Especially if that one judge was asked to judge just that once to fill in. Who's to say what the Non-BJCP judges beer experience is as well. I can picture this.

"Yeah, I have to judge at a beer competition this weekend. It will be a lot of fun."
"Oh Yeah, I love beer. I wish I could do that."
"Really? Well, I know they are short judges for this event. Do you think you would like to help out? What sort of beer do you like?"
"Hell yeah I'll do that. I like all sorts of beer" (Visions of Bud, Miller, Coors, PBR, Blatz, and Shock Top running through his head)
Then when a real beer hits their lips they think its shit because its not like the other beers they tasted. This one has some flavor......

[Petedadink]

Well yeah I agree its not a point to ream judges for bad or incomplete score sheets. I guess Im saying if you didnt agree contact me. If I missed an aroma or flavor that should or should not have been there Id like to know and work on doing a better job.
I have seen higher ranked judges give real crappy score sheets. People pay good coin to enter not just hoping to do well but for quality feedback. On a national and local level.
Doesn't matter what competition.

[thatguy314]

Well yeah I agree its not a point to ream judges for bad or incomplete score sheets. I guess Im saying if you didnt agree contact me. If I missed an aroma or flavor that should or should not have been there Id like to know and work on doing a better job.
I have seen higher ranked judges give real crappy score sheets. People pay good coin to enter not just hoping to do well but for quality feedback. On a national and local level.
Doesn't matter what competition.

I'm not saying you should ream judges for bad score sheets. I'm saying that people who don't really understand the BJCP or practice of judging (non-BJCP judges in general) tend to give crappy score sheets that don't say a lot, or tend to judge styles around one or 2 idealized examples that don't express the subtlety of the style. My big peeve is using so many non-BJCP judges, instead of having a few judges come for an extra flight or 2 the night before.

[Datamike]

Well yeah I agree its not a point to ream judges for bad or incomplete score sheets. I guess Im saying if you didnt agree contact me. If I missed an aroma or flavor that should or should not have been there Id like to know and work on doing a better job.
I have seen higher ranked judges give real crappy score sheets. People pay good coin to enter not just hoping to do well but for quality feedback. On a national and local level.
Doesn't matter what competition.

I'm not saying you should ream judges for bad score sheets. I'm saying that people who don't really understand the BJCP or practice of judging (non-BJCP judges in general) tend to give crappy score sheets that don't say a lot, or tend to judge styles around one or 2 idealized examples that don't express the subtlety of the style. My big peeve is using so many non-BJCP judges, instead of having a few judges come for an extra flight or 2 the night before.

I am good with reaming judges for bad score sheets! We need judging accountability!

This has been an issue for quite some time with the BJCP. It's much discussed on the BJCP forum. The bottom line is that no one can come up with a scoresheet oversight plan that makes everyone happy. So, the issue just lives in limbo.

I've long campaigned for some direction in dealing with non-bjcp judges, such as:

They're never the head judge at the table (I've seen it multiple times, usually with a "pro brewer")
The lead judge quickly checks the non-bjcp scoresheets, and assists them with filling it out correctly
If there's only two judges and they are far apart on scores, the BJCP judge's score prevails

If you're not a BJCP judge, please study, and take the test. One of the problems is that most comps have trouble finding enough experienced, qualified judges.

Although the BJCP board disagrees with me, I'd like to see more direction and rules for comps. The BJCP position is that they want the comps to have essentially free range on running their comps, but I think there needs to be clear directives from the BJCP leadership on the basics.

Michael Shannon
BJCP National

[Mylo]

I just got my scoresheets back - mostly with some good analysis and comments. I did get one sheet from a National judge that was almost as pathetic as the O.P. of this thread. I fired off a note, letting him know my dissapointment with his (lack of) evaluation. I've judged for three years now, and I have taken the test. I have entered many comps and have received a lot of helpful feedback and comments. I understand that sometimes your are pushed to judge faster. That doesn't mean you should be any less comprehensive in your evaluation. Write faster, !

I guess I expect more from National judges. They should be able to at least fill out a full sheet. Terse, three word descriptions are never acceptible at this level. They certainly wouldn't have attained National level with a scoresheet like this one...


Mylo

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

Write faster, !

NO! Don't write faster! I can barely read the score sheets now. In fact, one of my score sheets from Alamo City Cerveza Fest had one word I can't decipher. It looks like "s___________y." It was obviously written in a hurry. (I don't need the word dechipered. He didn't like the beer.)

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

I guess Im saying if you didnt agree contact me.

In general, I don't think I would contact a judge over a score sheet. By the time I get my sheets there have been a couple of competitions, and I'm sure the judge won't remember my mediocre beer. I'd probably be happier crying to myself in a darkened room.