Subject: Digest for the period 4/29/2003 - 4/30/2003 Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 01:02:09 -0400 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Re: Mead Exam? (Mark Wilson) 2. Hefeweizen (Ed Westemeier) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark Wilson Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 22:36:04 -0700 Subject: Re: Mead Exam? In practice I don't see how meads are any different than, say, Lambics. There are very few, if any, lambic questions on a typical BJCP exam, and as an organizer, you try and hand-pick judges for these categories from those that drink and/or make them. And meads are especially difficult for judges as the category ranges are wide open. What I would like to see instead, are, better/more standard guidelines for judging meads. For example, is a mead entered as "still" with some carbonation "out of style"? Is it impossible to score it above 30, even if the mead is otherwise excellent? Same for the amount of honey character, or other listed ingredients. How much is enough or too much? Different mead judges have widely different opinions. -Mark ********************************************************************** * JudgeNet - the beer judge digest * * Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments * * Send subscription requests & changes to judge-request`at`synchro.com * ********************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ed Westemeier Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 18:26:45 -0400 Subject: Hefeweizen I just judged a flight of Bavarian Weizen (BJCP Category 17-A) beers for the first round of the AHA national competition, and it occurred to me that we could do a little better here with one small addition to the guidelines. While the majority of beers in my flight had little or no sediment, a couple of them did have some sediment that was firmly settled in the bottom of the bottle. Since there was no way of knowing whether the brewer wanted us to rouse the sediment to create a true hefeweizen, we simply judged them as poured, and I made a note on the scoresheet: "judged without sediment." Since the flavor is, IMHO, rather different if the sediment is roused in a hefeweizen, I think we ought to include the brewer's intention on the entry form. Just as we ask for additional information about ingredients in certain other categories, we could ask the entrant to specify whether the yeast sediment should be roused prior to opening the bottle. It's a simple thing that the steward can easily take care of. As a side note, this is now standard practice at the Great American Beer Festival. Beers judged there are poured in another room by the stewards, then brought in cups to the judges. Stewards are given this information, and take care of this detail before pouring. Am I needlessly concerned, or is this something we should incorporate in the BJCP style guidelines, which are currently being reviewed for changes? Ed Westemeier hopfen`at`malz.com ********************************************************************** * JudgeNet - the beer judge digest * * Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments * * Send subscription requests & changes to judge-request`at`synchro.com * ********************************************************************** Subject: Digest for the period 4/29/2003 - 4/30/2003 Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 01:02:09 -0400 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Re: Mead Exam? (Mark Wilson) 2. Hefeweizen (Ed Westemeier) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark Wilson Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 22:36:04 -0700 Subject: Re: Mead Exam? In practice I don't see how meads are any different than, say, Lambics. There are very few, if any, lambic questions on a typical BJCP exam, and as an organizer, you try and hand-pick judges for these categories from those that drink and/or make them. And meads are especially difficult for judges as the category ranges are wide open. What I would like to see instead, are, better/more standard guidelines for judging meads. For example, is a mead entered as "still" with some carbonation "out of style"? Is it impossible to score it above 30, even if the mead is otherwise excellent? Same for the amount of honey character, or other listed ingredients. How much is enough or too much? Different mead judges have widely different opinions. -Mark ********************************************************************** * JudgeNet - the beer judge digest * * Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments * * Send subscription requests & changes to judge-request`at`synchro.com * ********************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ed Westemeier Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 18:26:45 -0400 Subject: Hefeweizen I just judged a flight of Bavarian Weizen (BJCP Category 17-A) beers for the first round of the AHA national competition, and it occurred to me that we could do a little better here with one small addition to the guidelines. While the majority of beers in my flight had little or no sediment, a couple of them did have some sediment that was firmly settled in the bottom of the bottle. Since there was no way of knowing whether the brewer wanted us to rouse the sediment to create a true hefeweizen, we simply judged them as poured, and I made a note on the scoresheet: "judged without sediment." Since the flavor is, IMHO, rather different if the sediment is roused in a hefeweizen, I think we ought to include the brewer's intention on the entry form. Just as we ask for additional information about ingredients in certain other categories, we could ask the entrant to specify whether the yeast sediment should be roused prior to opening the bottle. It's a simple thing that the steward can easily take care of. As a side note, this is now standard practice at the Great American Beer Festival. Beers judged there are poured in another room by the stewards, then brought in cups to the judges. Stewards are given this information, and take care of this detail before pouring. Am I needlessly concerned, or is this something we should incorporate in the BJCP style guidelines, which are currently being reviewed for changes? Ed Westemeier hopfen`at`malz.com ********************************************************************** * JudgeNet - the beer judge digest * * Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments * * Send subscription requests & changes to judge-request`at`synchro.com * **********************************************************************