Date: Mon, 8 Apr 1996 01:10:02 -0400
Message-Id: <199604080510.BAA01448 at synchro.com>
To: judge-recipients at synchro.com (JudgeNet Recipients)
From: judge-owner at synchro.com (JudgeNet Administrator)
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Precedence: bulk
Subject: JudgeNet Digest #1249 (Apr 07, 1996)

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JudgeNet Digest #1249                              Sun 07 Apr 1996

                               JudgeNet
                        The Beer Judge Digest

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     For BJCP General Information contact: geninfo at bjcp.synchro.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:

  Re: Possible competition in Chicagoland area (Joe Formanek)
  Homebrewer of the Year Awards            (Brian J Walter (Brewing Chemist))
  BJCP By-Laws                             (Brian J Walter (Brewing Chemist))
  Judge points at whc                      (Bill Slack)
  BJCP Study Guide; Temp Control Plans     (WALZENBREW)
  Re: Specialty Beers in JudgeNet Digest #1248 (Apr 03, 1996) (WALZENBREW)

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Date: Wed, 3 Apr 1996 13:19:55 +0800
From: jformane at students.uiuc.edu (Joe Formanek)
Subject: Re: Possible competition in Chicagoland area


Kevin.R.Johnson wrote:

>Subject: Possible competition in Chicagoland area
>
>I am trying to find out if there are any competitions in the Chicagoland
>area on July 26. The Sugar Grove Corn Boil is thinking about hosting
>a competition and I want to see if there are any conflicts.
>Does anyone know of a good site that contains a calendar of competitions?

We will be having a our 2nd Annual BUZZ Boneyard Brewoff down here in
Champaign on either July 13 or 20th--probably the latter so that there's no
conflict with the competition at the Wis. state fairfrounds on the 13th.
More details on this later.

Cheers!
Joe


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Joseph A. Formanek                      President, Boneyard Union of
580 Bevier Hall                         Zymurgical Zealots (BUZZ)
U of Ill--Urbana/Champaign              2nd annual Boneyard Brewoff!
(217) 244-2879                          July 13, 1996 at Joe's Brewery!
Grad student, Professional and Home Brewer, BUZZ president....
What else can I get myself into?????
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\


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Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1996 10:10:33 -0700 (MST)
From: walter at lamar.ColoState.EDU (Brian J Walter (Brewing Chemist))
Subject: Homebrewer of the Year Awards

Howdy,
  We in the Colorado and Wyoming areas are setting up a homebrewer of the 
year award.  We'd like to avoid reinventing the wheel and such, so would 
like to contact those who are in charge of the other regional boty 
awards.  I already have info on the Midwest version, but I'd like some 
info on the other ones.  There is a NE and Gulf Coast competition, I 
believe.  Any others?

Email is probably the best, but if you think it of general interest you 
can post to the digest too I suppose.

Brian J Walter        | Homebrewer, Certified | walter at lamar.colostate.edu
Chem grad - CO St Univ| Beer Judge & President|           RUSH Rocks Best!
Fort Collins, CO      | Mash Tongues Brew Club| GB Packers-11 X NFL Champs


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Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1996 12:40:11 -0700 (MST)
From: walter at lamar.ColoState.EDU (Brian J Walter (Brewing Chemist))
Subject: BJCP By-Laws

Howdy,

I think it would be benificial for one of the BOD guys to post the 
proposed by-laws for discussion here.  I know I have some questions and 
comments, and would take a guess that others might also ;)

1.2 Purpose
The purpose of the BJCP is stated, as required by law, in the articles of 
incorporation filed with the state of New York.

Could the purpose of the BJCP be stated for we, the membership of the BJCP?
It may just have been an oversight, but it seems this important 
information should have been included with the ballot and by-laws.

This, and the lack of specific information in the by-laws kind of trouble 
me.  I mean, you could do a search and replace on BJCP with "Insert your 
favorite non-profit org here" and have everything still make sense.  
Basically the by-laws do nothing but define how the BOD is elected and 
then give them the power to change anything they want without checks and 
balances.  No change in exam format, honoring AHA SCP points, judging 
point awards, etc. has to pass a vote of the membership.

What does everyone else think about this?

Good Day,
- --bjw
Brian J Walter        | Homebrewer, Certified | walter at lamar.colostate.edu
Chem grad - CO St Univ| Beer Judge & President|           RUSH Rocks Best!
Fort Collins, CO      | Mash Tongues Brew Club| GB Packers-11 X NFL Champs


------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 Apr 96 18:02:53 EST
From: wrs at slack.org (Bill Slack)
Subject: Judge points at whc


What did everyone receive for judging at the Boston Beer Company World
Homebrew Competition? I was told repeatedly before the competition by
BBC people and at the competition by the AHA organizers that people
who judged both days would get three points, as is done at the AHA
first round. Perfectly reasonable since the WHC was even more work
than the AHA first rounds I've done. When the personal competition
records came out recently, I was recorded as 2.5 points for that
event. Dan Hall was given three points. I did five flights plus two
second rounds and nearly 80 beers in two days. Dan says he didn't do
signicantly more than that, if at all.

What did everyone else get? How much did you judge? I think the
organizers should give identical points to all (whether 2.5 or 3) for
two days work.  There's no way anyone was keeping track of who did
what, so the only fair scheme is consistent points for all who judged
two full days. And considering the ratio of beers to judges, three
points is definitely warranted.

BTW, Dan's points were for judging, not BOS.


Can anyone shed light on this?

Bill
__
wrs at slack.org (Bill Slack)

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Date: Sun, 7 Apr 1996 14:33:46 -0400
From: WALZENBREW at aol.com
Subject: BJCP Study Guide; Temp Control Plans

Just another update for those interested:  I have my 100+ page BJCP exam
study guide (with sample questions) as both a text file and a WordPerfect 5.1
document on the TRASH home page:

http://members.gnn.com/rcolaizzi/trash.htm

Additionally, the Study Guide now has its own home page at

http://oeonline.com/~pbabcock/bjcp.html

where you can browse through it online.

My plans for a complete refrigerator/freezer temperature control using a
Radio Shack module, including a GIF of the schematic, parts list, and
assembly and use instructions, is also located on the TRASH home page.

Cheers,
Greg Walz
MA Rep, BJCP Board of Directors


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Date: Sun, 7 Apr 1996 14:33:46 -0400
From: WALZENBREW at aol.com
Subject: Re: Specialty Beers in JudgeNet Digest #1248 (Apr 03, 1996)

In JND #1248 (4/3), Mark Johnston writes about specialty beers:

>This has been a very interesting discussion. I am pleased to see at
>least a few people admit that this is not their favorite category to judge.
>Someone summed up my feelings on it by stating that many inexperienced
>brewers enter these categories with problem/inferior beers. I haven't been
>blessed with the fortune of some who describe "heavenly", "wonderful" spiced
>beers. Most that I have experienced have been overpoweringly bad. 

I'm afraid I agree wholeheartedly with Mark's experience with this style.
 Specialty beer is the category most judges shy away from, not only because 9
times out of 10 most of the entries are undrinkable (usually too much
phenolic or ginger from overuse of the spices), but because it's a very
subjective category.  Lack of any real commercial styles to compare them to
means the judge's evaluation is more in terms of subjective criteria like
"drinkability" and that old standby "do I want another."

My experience with this style over the years has had the unfortunate effect
of causing me to avoid it like the plague, even to the point of entering in
the style to keep from being assigned to the table.

Unfortunately, this (and herb and fruit) are the styles that really most need
the expertise of experienced judges; judges who can handle the subjective
nature required to evaluate this category properly.  Granted, I should be
more open - but when I'm sitting at a table with 15+ spiced beers in front of
me it's hard not to be more than a little jealous of the judges doing
Municher Dunkels, Bocks, or Stouts!

>I'm suggesting that, perhaps, the special ingredients should be left
>for the judges to pick up. While this might intimidate judges who aren't
>familiar with certain flavors, it might give a better evaluation of the
>whole beer. Balance would then be sought instead of a single flavor or set
>of flavors. I suppose this endorses G. Wotring's "does it work" approach.
>Perhaps call it the "whole beer method"?
>

The "whole beer method" and "does it work" are probably the only good ways to
evaluate this style.   The idea of not knowing the spices is intrigueing and
probably worth further investigation.  I often get the feeling that brewers
go overboard with the spices because they feel it's necessary for the judges
to pick them up.  Usually this makes the beer overspiced - you certainly can
taste the spices, but the beer is one-sided or undrinkably phenolic.  Doing
the evaluation "blind" to the spices would in my opinion add to the "whole
beer" approach.

Incidentally, at Spirt of Belgium '95 one of the guest speakers, Eric Toft,
an American Weienstephan graduate working in Germany as a brewmaster,
suggested that fresh ground spices should never be added in amounts exceeding
0.1 to 0.5 gram per liter of wort in the secondary, which totals to a maximum
of a shade under 1/2 ounce for a five gallon batch!   Most brewers would
think this is too little spice for the flavor to come out, but I've tried it
and the results were consistently well-balanced regardless of the spice used.
 Most published recipes call for a lot more spice; for example, Papazian's
recipe for Vagabond Gingered Ale calls for 2-4 ounces of fresh ginger.  True,
you aren't "hammered" with the spice when you keep it under 1/2 ounce, but
you don't get the characteristic phenolic finish, either.

Cheers,
Greg Walz
National Judge
MA Rep, BJCP Board

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End of JudgeNet Digest
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