NervousDad wrote:BDawg wrote:Congrats!
NervousDad-
1) Find an exam that will be held in your area in the next year or so. Any closer to now will put you on a long waiting list.
2) Sign up with the exam administrator for one of the slots.
3) Study your butt off. Perhaps the admin will have a class that you can attend. If not, there are online exam classes and a lot of other study materials you can buy to help.
4) Pass the Online qualification pass/fail exam.
5) Practice! Taste and write up score sheets for a lot of beers.
6) Take (and pass) the tasting exam within 1 yr of passing the online qualifier.
Let me know if I can help.
Awesome Thanks for the bullet point list! I will begin my work
One other suggestion would be to look at the example scoresheets on the BJCP website and familiarize yourself with the correct descriptive language.
http://www.bjcp.org/examscores.phpI passed the tasting test last September, however I think I would have scored higher had I been more precise with my descriptors. Tasty, flavorful, malty, hoppy et. al. don't really do you any favors IMHO. More precise descriptors such as nutty, biscuity, bready, American varietal citrus hop flavor, floral hop, caramel sweetness... may serve you better when properly used.
Tasting classic examples and making the connections between the flavors and descriptors may help here.
The great thing is that practicing usually includes drinking beer!!
Get to know the base parameters for the styles too! I found this presentation (available on the BJCP site) to be valuable:
http://www.bjcp.org/docs/StylePresentation.pdfHell, this whole page is awesome!:
http://www.bjcp.org/examcenter.phpI'm sick of chasing my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
