Interim Study Guide - BJCP

information to a brewer. Meilgaard’s (1993) categorization system for beer flavors includes 6 generalcategories (fullness, mouthfeel, bitter, salt, sweet, and sour) consisting of 14 flavors that may be presentin beer. Judges should continually improve their abilities to detect flavors that are in beer, their abilitiesto use appropriate words to describe those perceptions, and their knowledge of the sources of thoseflavors so that brewers can be provided with accurate and informative feedback concerning how toimprove recipes and brewing procedures.Notes on Making Comments about BeerThere are five things to keep in mind as you write comments about the beers you judge. First, yourcomments should be as positive as possible. Acknowledge the good aspects of the beer rather thanfocusing only on the negative characteristics. Not only does this help make any negative commentseasier to take as a brewer, but it gives your evaluation more credibility. Second, and related, be polite ineverything that you write about a beer. Sarcastic and deprecating remarks should never be made on ascoresheet. Third, be descriptive and avoid using ambiguous terms like “nice.” Instead, use words todescribe the aroma, appearance, and flavors of the beer. Fourth, be diagnostic. Provide the brewer withpossible causes for undesirable characteristics, and describe how the recipe or brewing procedure couldbe adjusted to eliminate those characteristics. Finally, be humble. Do not speculate about things that youdo not know (e.g. whether the beer is extract or all-grain), and apologize if you cannot adequatelydescribe (or diagnose) characteristics of the beer that are undesirable.Other ConsiderationsBefore the EventBefore a judging event, you should take steps to mentally and physically prepare yourself. Thoroughlyfamiliarize yourself with the style(s) that you will judge if you know what those styles are ahead of time.Sample a few commercial examples and review the style guidelines and brewing procedures for thosestyles. Also, come to the event prepared to judge. Bring a mechanical pencil, a bottle opener, aflashlight, and any references that you might need to evaluate the beers. Also, make sure to come to theevent in the right frame of mind. Get adequate rest the night before; shower; avoid heavily scentedsoaps, shampoos, and perfumes; avoid eating spicy foods and drinking excessively; and avoid takingmedication that might influence your ability to judge (e.g., decongestants). You can also prepare yourstomach for a day of beer drinking by drinking plenty of water and eating a dinner that contains foodsthat contain fats the night before the event and by eating extra sugar the morning of the event (e.g.,donuts) (Harper, 1997).Fatigue & ErrorsDuring a judging flight, it is important to keep in mind that errors can creep into your judging decisionsas a result of fatigue (palate or physical), distractions, or the order in which beers are presented. Morespecifically, judges may tend to assign scores (central scoring) in a much narrower range as timeprogresses simply because palate fatigue causes the beers to taste more and more similar over time.Conversely, judges may assign one or two beers much higher scores than other beers simply becausethey stand out as being much more flavorful (extreme scoring). In addition, as judges become tired (andpossibly intoxicated) during long flights, they may allow impressions of some very noticeablecharacteristics of particular beers to overly influence their perceptions (and scores) of othercharacteristics of the beers (halo effect). For example, a weizen that is too dark may (falsely) also seemtoo heavy and caramel-flavored. Also during long flights, judges need to be mindful of the fact that15