Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 01:10:01 -0500
Message-Id: <199602260610.BAA01027 at synchro.com>
To: judge-recipients at synchro.com (JudgeNet Recipients)
From: judge-owner at synchro.com (JudgeNet Administrator)
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Subject: JudgeNet Digest #1221 (Feb 25, 1996)

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JudgeNet Digest #1221                              Sun 25 Feb 1996

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Contents:

  3/24/96 NYC Homebrew Competiton          (Ken )
  Re: JudgeNet Digest #1220 (Feb 24, 1996) (Mark Johnston)

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Date: Sun, 25 Feb 1996 11:23:24 -0500
From: kbjohns at escape.com (Ken )
Subject: 3/24/96 NYC Homebrew Competiton

The 5th. ann NYCSR Competition is less than a month away.

$1,000.00 in prizes will be given away.

Entries will be accepted between 3/1 and 3/21

All AHA beer categories will be judged by AHA/BJCP judges only.

Complete details: categories, cost, drop-off locations, entry form 
information and call for judges can be found at the Homebrewers of Staten 
Island home page. URL http://www.wp.com/HOSI/ Look for the competition 
announcement

Ken

URL http://www.wp.com/hosi/


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Date: Sun, 25 Feb 1996 13:41:45 -0500
From: Mark Johnston <msjohnst at srvr.third-wave.com>
Subject: Re: JudgeNet Digest #1220 (Feb 24, 1996)

Tom Leith wrote:

>What if we could
>contract with one of those mail-order beer companies to ship three beers
>of *our* choosing each month. 
 We could have a panel of master-rank judges judge the beers, and
>send around some kind of composite scoresheet the next month. We could
>also gather statistics from the membership at large to be used for
>comparison purposes. To do this, we'd probably have to contract also with
>some kind of testing company to deal with the scoresheets, data-entry,
>reduction, and so forth. I can see this costing maybe $50 a month or so.
>Ths cost could be spread among four or five participants though -- by
>getting a few of your brew-buddies to join you in the program. 
>------------------------------

        Although I am new to this forum and have not followed the entire
thread, I believe the discussion is centered on the tasting abilities and
actual judge quality. While ongoing training would be beneficial, I believe
that Mr. Leith's proposal is a bit extreme.
        First off is the logistic and capital cost to the fledgling BJCP
program itself. A second, and possibly more detrimental, effect would be
among the ranks of the judges themselves.
        The following issues may have already been raised when (or if)
discussing BJCP dues, but just how much will one have to pay to continue
judging? How often would this "pop quiz" be required for judges? Once a
year? Before each upgrade? After each competition? While getting "3 or 4
friends" involved might seem like a way to beat the "beer fee", I'm sure
that the BJCP will require some type of "recording fee" of each participant
just to offset their costs.
        While I myself enjoy judging as a social and educational experience,
I know that there are quite a few judges who would hang it up if the hassles
outweighed the gains. If someone judges casually, merely judging for 1 or 2
competitions a year, with no aspirations to Master ranking, are they any
less necessary at a competition than someone with National standing who
obtained half their points by organizing competitions? 
        I believe that the secret to judge quality control, at least in
terms of ranking, is in the initial qualification process. The major part of
a judges quality lies in his/her palate and the ability to articulate what
is being tasted. And yet, this portion of the exam is worth less than 1/3 of
the total test score!
        Until the ability to describe and differentiate TASTE is given at
least equal credit as book knowledge, we will continue to have Master judges
awarding gold medals to Red Wolf as a brown ale.
        Sorry. I got a bit off the topic. Soapbox removed.

        MSJ


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