Interim Study Guide - BJCP

Write comments about the degree to which the color, clarity, and head retention are appropriatefor the intended style and record a score. Score the beer for appearance, allocating a maximumof one point for each of these characteristics.6. Smell the beer again. Again, swirl the cup, bring it to your nose, and inhale the beer’s aromasseveral times. Note how the beer’s aroma changes as the beer warms and the volatiles begin todissipate. Write your impressions of the beers aromas, noting particularly the appropriateness ofthe malt, hops, yeast, and fermentation byproduct aromas. Also, note any lingering off aromas.Do not assign scores for aroma yet.7. Taste the beer. Take about 1 ounce of beer into your mouth, and coat the inside of your mouthwith it. Be sure to allow the beer to make contact with your lips, gums, teeth, palate, and thetop, bottom, and sides of your tongue. Swallow the beer, and exhale through your nose. Writedown your impressions of the initial flavors of the beer (malt, hops, alcohol, sweetness),intermediate flavors (additional hop/malt flavor, fruitiness, diacetyl, sourness), aftertaste (hopbitterness, oxidation, astringency), and conditioning (appropriateness of level for style). Do notassign scores for flavor yet.8. Score the beer for body (mouthfeel on the new). Take another mouthful of beer and note theappropriateness of the beer’s viscosity for the intended style. Write comments concerning yourimpression and assign between 2 and 5 points with higher numbers reflecting appropriatemouthfeel and lower numbers indicating increasing levels of lightness or heaviness for theintended style.9. Evaluate the beer for overall impression. Relax. Take a deep breath. Smell the beer again, andtaste it again. Pause to consider where the beer belongs in the overall range of scores (e.g.,excellent, very good, good, drinkable, problem) and where similar beers are ranked within thejudging flight. If you use a top-down decision making strategy, assign an overall score to thebeer, then mentally subtract points from the remaining subcategories (i.e., aroma and flavor),consistent with your impressions of how the beer is deficient. Use the overall impressioncategory to adjust your final score to the level you feel is appropriate for this beer. If you use abottom-up decision making strategy, assign scores to each of the remaining subcategories (i.e.,aroma and flavor), and assign a score for overall impression. Finally, write prescriptivesuggestions for improving the beer in light of any deficiencies you noted in your evaluation.Also, check any boxes on the left side of the scoresheet that are consistent with your comments.10. Check your scoresheet. Add your category scores. If you use a bottom up approach, doublecheck to make sure you added correctly. If you use a top down approach, make sure that yoursubcategory scores sum to equal your overall score. When the other judges have finished scoringthe beer, discuss the technical and stylistic merits of the beer and arrive at a consensus score. Beprepared to adjust your scores to make them fall within 5-7 points of the other judges at yourtable.Notes on Smelling the BeerWhen a beer judge smells a beer, the judge is literally inhaling small particles of the beer. The sense ofsmell works by detecting molecules that are diffused into the air. These molecules are inhaled into thesinus cavity where receptors (olfactory cells) detect and translate the chemical information contained inthe molecules into information that the brain can interpret. Several things influence a judge’s ability to13