Subject: Digest for the period 5/18/2004 - 5/19/2004 Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 01:03:33 -0400 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Competition logistics (Mike Dixon) 2. RE: competition logistics (Houseman, David L) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mike Dixon Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 07:08:28 -0400 Subject: Competition logistics > Are there general guidelines on how to combine styles into categories for > the purposes of a competition? I have not really found any. http://www.bjcp.org/CmpGuide.pdf is in dire need of an update. All it says is on p8. Basically to shoot for 12-15 beers and categories with less than 6 should be consolidated. [Note to BJCP Officers: I will be glad to help update that document] > > If he/she is expecting about 50 entries, how many groups should they plan > on (assuming awards to the top three in each group)? I'd say 5 or so... >100 entries? 10 or so... > > Should the organizer announce the groupings ahead to time to the entrants, > or wait to see how the entries come in? Wait... > > Finally, what is the best way to group styles? color? malt/hop balance? > alcoholic strength? countries of origin? I always try to keep individual categories where possible, and when not possible I look for categories I can collapse into similar strengths and flavors. I prefer a flight of at least 10 beers, and our local Brewer of the Year rules do not allow flights of less than 5 beers in a flight to count toward the award. At our recent competition everything worked out fairly smoothly. Many categories had to be broken up into subcategories due to the number of entries. The only categories that were joined were: American Lager and Wheat Beer (no Weizenbocks entered) Scottish Ale and European Dark Lager (no Schwarzbiers were entered) Kolsch, Alt, O'fest, Vienna Lambics and Fruit Beers Spice/Herb/Veg and Special/Experimental Cheers, Mike Dixon Wake Forest, NC ********************************************************************** * 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: Houseman, David L Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 09:47:22 -0400 Subject: RE: competition logistics Bryan, The general method I've used in organizing competitions is to wait until one has all the entries (not necessarily all the beer, just all the entry forms) in hand and do a tally of the number of entries in each substyle of each style category. It then becomes somewhat evident which can stand on their own as ribbon categories (say 12 smoked beers) and which need to be split into multiple flights (say 24 American Pale Ales). What becomes more difficult is then what to do with 3 American Standard Lagers....combine with like light beers to create a Light Lager ribbon category or other light beers including ales for a Light Beer category. All of this keeping in mind that one would like to have about the same number of entries in each flight so that judges are finishing roughly at the same time for lunch or the next flight. It has to consider the number of judges and what they themselves have entered. Ten to twelve beers to judge in a flight is ideal, but a few less or more might work out OK. Since you don't know what's going to be entered in which styles, you can't really pre-announce the ribbon categories unless you are one of the largest competitions where almost by definition you'll have sufficient entries in each style category to have it stand on its own. So how do you group styles in a competition. IMHO it's by similarly of the overall style. This includes flavor, aroma, appearance and alcohol. No anyone factor but overall are they similar enough. Good judges will judge each individual substyle on its own merits independent of the others in the flight or which have higher alcohol or not; think of a BOS as a prime example where this works -- it should play at the initial judging as well. So in theory you could mix any styles together. But for awarding ribbons, some sense of similarity is needed. Not so much for the judges as for the customer, the entrant. No hard and fast rules....experience helps. Dave Houseman ********************************************************************** * 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 5/18/2004 - 5/19/2004 Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 01:03:33 -0400 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Competition logistics (Mike Dixon) 2. RE: competition logistics (Houseman, David L) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mike Dixon Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 07:08:28 -0400 Subject: Competition logistics > Are there general guidelines on how to combine styles into categories for > the purposes of a competition? I have not really found any. http://www.bjcp.org/CmpGuide.pdf is in dire need of an update. All it says is on p8. Basically to shoot for 12-15 beers and categories with less than 6 should be consolidated. [Note to BJCP Officers: I will be glad to help update that document] > > If he/she is expecting about 50 entries, how many groups should they plan > on (assuming awards to the top three in each group)? I'd say 5 or so... >100 entries? 10 or so... > > Should the organizer announce the groupings ahead to time to the entrants, > or wait to see how the entries come in? Wait... > > Finally, what is the best way to group styles? color? malt/hop balance? > alcoholic strength? countries of origin? I always try to keep individual categories where possible, and when not possible I look for categories I can collapse into similar strengths and flavors. I prefer a flight of at least 10 beers, and our local Brewer of the Year rules do not allow flights of less than 5 beers in a flight to count toward the award. At our recent competition everything worked out fairly smoothly. Many categories had to be broken up into subcategories due to the number of entries. The only categories that were joined were: American Lager and Wheat Beer (no Weizenbocks entered) Scottish Ale and European Dark Lager (no Schwarzbiers were entered) Kolsch, Alt, O'fest, Vienna Lambics and Fruit Beers Spice/Herb/Veg and Special/Experimental Cheers, Mike Dixon Wake Forest, NC ********************************************************************** * 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: Houseman, David L Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 09:47:22 -0400 Subject: RE: competition logistics Bryan, The general method I've used in organizing competitions is to wait until one has all the entries (not necessarily all the beer, just all the entry forms) in hand and do a tally of the number of entries in each substyle of each style category. It then becomes somewhat evident which can stand on their own as ribbon categories (say 12 smoked beers) and which need to be split into multiple flights (say 24 American Pale Ales). What becomes more difficult is then what to do with 3 American Standard Lagers....combine with like light beers to create a Light Lager ribbon category or other light beers including ales for a Light Beer category. All of this keeping in mind that one would like to have about the same number of entries in each flight so that judges are finishing roughly at the same time for lunch or the next flight. It has to consider the number of judges and what they themselves have entered. Ten to twelve beers to judge in a flight is ideal, but a few less or more might work out OK. Since you don't know what's going to be entered in which styles, you can't really pre-announce the ribbon categories unless you are one of the largest competitions where almost by definition you'll have sufficient entries in each style category to have it stand on its own. So how do you group styles in a competition. IMHO it's by similarly of the overall style. This includes flavor, aroma, appearance and alcohol. No anyone factor but overall are they similar enough. Good judges will judge each individual substyle on its own merits independent of the others in the flight or which have higher alcohol or not; think of a BOS as a prime example where this works -- it should play at the initial judging as well. So in theory you could mix any styles together. But for awarding ribbons, some sense of similarity is needed. Not so much for the judges as for the customer, the entrant. No hard and fast rules....experience helps. Dave Houseman ********************************************************************** * 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 * **********************************************************************