Subject: Digest for the period 11/18/2003 - 11/19/2003 Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 01:04:18 -0500 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. competition organiser check list (Bob Paolino) 2. Re: Competition Supplies (Travis Dahl KE4VYZ) 3. Digest 11/16/2003 - 11/17/2003 - RE: And glass it is. (Bob Sheck) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Paolino Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 08:45:54 Subject: competition organiser check list Mike Dixon wrote: >Bottle openers unless the steward is performing that task, and >flashlights... Bottle openers? Hah! Have you ever been in a room of homebrewers where you couldn't find an opener? A standing joke in our club when there's a bottle to be sampled is to ask, "Anyone got an opener?" and a dozen sets of keys come out. Okay, sure, have a few openers just in case. And, yes, lights are a good idea, although a light and an opener should already be part of every beer judge's geek bag. I keep a quart(?) zip-lock bag packed with a mini-maglight (with opener on the key ring at the end of the light), Davison colour guide, a couple mechanical pencils, and judge labels. >>Are white table cloths >> just a waist of time? > >Yes..IMO...it is better to provide flashlights and a well lit, comfortable >venue. Lighting is important, but a white surface on the table (even if just paper) is not a waste of time. You want to be able to see the colour of the beer in the glass/cup as it sits on the table as well as holding it to the light. Even holding it up to the window may not give you a solid background. Dion Hollenbeck wrote: >Also, and more important than mechanical pencils, since you can set a >pencil down, unscented soap in the bathrooms. I don't know how many times >I have taken a bathroom break and come back only to smell nothing but >perfume from the hand soap. Yup! >Judge's memory sheets. A line for every beer where you transfer scores >and brief comments from score sheet so that later on , you can refer to >previous beers while still being able to pass score sheets on to the >organizational staff. Nope! The idea of some kind of summary sheet for the individual judge (as well as a flight sheet for the table is fine), but stewards/staff should NOT be taking scoresheets away from judges before they're done with them. Sure, if you have an obvious dog that's not going to win anything, you can collect those sheets and have them out of the way and in the hands of the organisers, but judges need to hold onto the sheets for any beer they might be discussing later for an award. A small administrative convenience should not take precedence over a fair and full evaluation of the beers. A brief sentence is no substitute for having the full sheet available if there are closely contested entries. Along the same theme, I don't like bottles being cleared away too soon. Again, if it's a dog, it can leave the table, but if we might want to come back to it I want to have it readily accessible. That brings me to having adequate space. The table needs to be big enough to allow for all the judges to keep glasses/cups of any samples they may wish to review later and a place (on the table if possible, or at least on the floor out of traffic) where a six pack carrier of re-capped bottles can be kept for possible review later. Now go have a beer, Bob Paolino >From the Department of Military Intelligence and Jumbo Shrimp: Sign seen on a recently poisoned lawn on Johnson: TruGreen/ChemLawn ( ) ASCII ribbon campaign X against HTML e-mail: / \ Friends don't send friends HTML-bloated messages! ********************************************************************** * 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: Travis Dahl KE4VYZ Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 09:47:23 -0500 Subject: Re: Competition Supplies >From: Mike Dixon Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 08:47:18 -0500 > >Are white table cloths > > just a waist of time? > >Yes..IMO...it is better to provide flashlights and a well lit, comfortable >venue. Actually, if the table cloths are white paper, they make a very useful scratch pad (especially during a mini-BOS when you have a lot of beers to keep track of). Although, to some extent you could use the following method instead >From: Jeff & Ellen Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 18:33:14 -0500 > >Lots of competitions lately have been providing grease pencils to mark the >plastic cups with the entry number. I've always used a sharpie for this, >but there is an odor from a sharpie that can be objectionable. I'm pretty >sure the grease pencils will work on glass and that the mark will not be too >hard to remove when cleaning. I also know from experience that dry-erase (white board) markers can write on glass and wash off pretty easily. Whatever you want use though, I'd definitely try it out on a single glass first and make sure it washes off easily. Finally, I was curious about something. At Yankee Candle's main store they have little jars of coffee beans that you can sniff in between the candles to revive your sense of smell. Has anyone every used something similar when judging? I suspect it may work in part because it's a very different smell (i.e. coffee beans might not work if you're judging stouts). -Travis A2, MI ********************************************************************** * 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: Bob Sheck Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 21:11:36 -0500 Subject: Digest 11/16/2003 - 11/17/2003 - RE: And glass it is. For Ed Tash > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >From: TashFam`at`aol.com Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 20:48:57 EST >Subject: And glass it is. In response to your thoughts on judging adjuncts: Any kind of tablecloth will require a clip-board or other hard writing surface. I carry my own notebook which could serve as a writing surface in the event there is a tablecloth or rough surface. Glass is great to use, but hard plastic works. I carry my own .5 mm Pentel because I'm used to it and prefer it to any other pencil, as well as my own calculator, Mini-Maglite ®, style guidelines and color chart. I also have labels with my name, BJCP rank and number and my email address printed so I can affix that to the judging sheet in case anyone wants to ask about my comments. And while it puts an extra burden on me during the comp, I also compile a table with individual scores I assign, pertinent notes, entry number and position in the flight, the other judge's total scores and finally, after the flight is over, figure the average score. I use these to later review my judging methods, and if any contestant ever contacts me afterwards, I can use them to jog my memory. The situation of never having enough time to fully evaluate a beer may not improve, but as I continue to build my experience, I find it helps me to review these sheets before a comp in the hope that I can better describe what my senses tell me and in a shorter amount of time. Bob Sheck // DEA - Down East Alers - Greenville, NC bobsheck`at`earthlink.net ********************************************************************** * 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 11/18/2003 - 11/19/2003 Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 01:04:18 -0500 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. competition organiser check list (Bob Paolino) 2. Re: Competition Supplies (Travis Dahl KE4VYZ) 3. Digest 11/16/2003 - 11/17/2003 - RE: And glass it is. (Bob Sheck) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Paolino Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 08:45:54 Subject: competition organiser check list Mike Dixon wrote: >Bottle openers unless the steward is performing that task, and >flashlights... Bottle openers? Hah! Have you ever been in a room of homebrewers where you couldn't find an opener? A standing joke in our club when there's a bottle to be sampled is to ask, "Anyone got an opener?" and a dozen sets of keys come out. Okay, sure, have a few openers just in case. And, yes, lights are a good idea, although a light and an opener should already be part of every beer judge's geek bag. I keep a quart(?) zip-lock bag packed with a mini-maglight (with opener on the key ring at the end of the light), Davison colour guide, a couple mechanical pencils, and judge labels. >>Are white table cloths >> just a waist of time? > >Yes..IMO...it is better to provide flashlights and a well lit, comfortable >venue. Lighting is important, but a white surface on the table (even if just paper) is not a waste of time. You want to be able to see the colour of the beer in the glass/cup as it sits on the table as well as holding it to the light. Even holding it up to the window may not give you a solid background. Dion Hollenbeck wrote: >Also, and more important than mechanical pencils, since you can set a >pencil down, unscented soap in the bathrooms. I don't know how many times >I have taken a bathroom break and come back only to smell nothing but >perfume from the hand soap. Yup! >Judge's memory sheets. A line for every beer where you transfer scores >and brief comments from score sheet so that later on , you can refer to >previous beers while still being able to pass score sheets on to the >organizational staff. Nope! The idea of some kind of summary sheet for the individual judge (as well as a flight sheet for the table is fine), but stewards/staff should NOT be taking scoresheets away from judges before they're done with them. Sure, if you have an obvious dog that's not going to win anything, you can collect those sheets and have them out of the way and in the hands of the organisers, but judges need to hold onto the sheets for any beer they might be discussing later for an award. A small administrative convenience should not take precedence over a fair and full evaluation of the beers. A brief sentence is no substitute for having the full sheet available if there are closely contested entries. Along the same theme, I don't like bottles being cleared away too soon. Again, if it's a dog, it can leave the table, but if we might want to come back to it I want to have it readily accessible. That brings me to having adequate space. The table needs to be big enough to allow for all the judges to keep glasses/cups of any samples they may wish to review later and a place (on the table if possible, or at least on the floor out of traffic) where a six pack carrier of re-capped bottles can be kept for possible review later. Now go have a beer, Bob Paolino >From the Department of Military Intelligence and Jumbo Shrimp: Sign seen on a recently poisoned lawn on Johnson: TruGreen/ChemLawn ( ) ASCII ribbon campaign X against HTML e-mail: / \ Friends don't send friends HTML-bloated messages! ********************************************************************** * 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: Travis Dahl KE4VYZ Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 09:47:23 -0500 Subject: Re: Competition Supplies >From: Mike Dixon Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 08:47:18 -0500 > >Are white table cloths > > just a waist of time? > >Yes..IMO...it is better to provide flashlights and a well lit, comfortable >venue. Actually, if the table cloths are white paper, they make a very useful scratch pad (especially during a mini-BOS when you have a lot of beers to keep track of). Although, to some extent you could use the following method instead >From: Jeff & Ellen Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 18:33:14 -0500 > >Lots of competitions lately have been providing grease pencils to mark the >plastic cups with the entry number. I've always used a sharpie for this, >but there is an odor from a sharpie that can be objectionable. I'm pretty >sure the grease pencils will work on glass and that the mark will not be too >hard to remove when cleaning. I also know from experience that dry-erase (white board) markers can write on glass and wash off pretty easily. Whatever you want use though, I'd definitely try it out on a single glass first and make sure it washes off easily. Finally, I was curious about something. At Yankee Candle's main store they have little jars of coffee beans that you can sniff in between the candles to revive your sense of smell. Has anyone every used something similar when judging? I suspect it may work in part because it's a very different smell (i.e. coffee beans might not work if you're judging stouts). -Travis A2, MI ********************************************************************** * 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: Bob Sheck Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 21:11:36 -0500 Subject: Digest 11/16/2003 - 11/17/2003 - RE: And glass it is. For Ed Tash > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >From: TashFam`at`aol.com Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 20:48:57 EST >Subject: And glass it is. In response to your thoughts on judging adjuncts: Any kind of tablecloth will require a clip-board or other hard writing surface. I carry my own notebook which could serve as a writing surface in the event there is a tablecloth or rough surface. Glass is great to use, but hard plastic works. I carry my own .5 mm Pentel because I'm used to it and prefer it to any other pencil, as well as my own calculator, Mini-Maglite ®, style guidelines and color chart. I also have labels with my name, BJCP rank and number and my email address printed so I can affix that to the judging sheet in case anyone wants to ask about my comments. And while it puts an extra burden on me during the comp, I also compile a table with individual scores I assign, pertinent notes, entry number and position in the flight, the other judge's total scores and finally, after the flight is over, figure the average score. I use these to later review my judging methods, and if any contestant ever contacts me afterwards, I can use them to jog my memory. The situation of never having enough time to fully evaluate a beer may not improve, but as I continue to build my experience, I find it helps me to review these sheets before a comp in the hope that I can better describe what my senses tell me and in a shorter amount of time. Bob Sheck // DEA - Down East Alers - Greenville, NC bobsheck`at`earthlink.net ********************************************************************** * 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 * **********************************************************************