Subject: Digest for the period 5/21/2006 - 5/22/2006 Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 01:01:48 -0400 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. RE: Accounting for points (Jamil Zainasheff) 2. "Spirit of Free Beer" Homebrew Competition Results (Mark E. Hogenmiller) 3. Re: Accounting for points (David Houseman) 4. re: accounting for points (George de Piro) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Jamil Zainasheff Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 12:48:34 -0700 Subject: RE: Accounting for points > Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but it seems > right. What is the collective opinion on requiring judges to > account for all 50 points on a score sheet? John, I'm with you 100%. I find nothing more frustrating than score sheets that don't at least try to suggest why the beer was short of perfect and what could be done to improve it. Another task I thought would be good for all judges is to write up a score sheet on an imaginary 50 point beer. You'd have to describe every nuance that made it perfect. Now compare that to the beers in competition. I think it might make people more flexible in their scoring range. JZ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mark E. Hogenmiller Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 17:13:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: "Spirit of Free Beer" Homebrew Competition Results Brewers United For Real Potables (BURP) completed the 14th Annual Nation's Capital "Spirit of Free Beer" Homebrew Competition at the Old Dominion Brewery at Ashburn, Virginia on May 13, 2006. Spirit of Free Beer, for the eighth year in a row, served as one of the Qualifying Events for the Masters Championship for Amateur Brewing (MCAB). The Best of show winners are: 1st - Mel Thompson - German Pilsner Category 2A - Ed's Urine Sample with Head 2nd - Mel Thompson - Extra Special/Strong Bitter Category 8C - Ed's Drool 3rd - Ed Bielus - Dusseldorf Altbier Category 6C - The Ghost of Bill Leonard The winner of the Bill Moe Memorial Extract Award for the highest placing extract beer is: Chuck Prouty Complete results are posted to BURP website at http://www.burp.org/events/sofb/2006/ SOFB XIV Team events at burp.org __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David Houseman Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 07:53:41 -0400 Subject: Re: Accounting for points John, You are correct that you deserved better on the judging form of your beer. With the time and space constraints there is a balance between describing what one senses and providing feedback. Some people do need the descriptions. And feedback can be specific about some actions you can take but must by nature be generic about others (judges won't know if you made an all-grain or extract or partial mash for example). Also some judges start with 50 and deduct points. Others work the other way. With experience you gain a feel for the right score with specific deductions or additions. I don't think accounting for the points is as important as what is written. Good luck with your 2nd round entry. David Houseman ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: George de Piro Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 09:45:47 -0400 Subject: re: accounting for points Hi all, John asks about the disparity that all too often exists between the points awarded to a beer and the comments on the sheet. I have conducted many BJCP prep classes, and if there is the one thing I really try to get through to prospective judges is that the score should match the comments. As John has pointed out, the sheet he received back contains no useful information about improving the beer, but gives it a mediocre score. If the beer is really good, give it a score over 40; yes, it's OK to give good beers high scores! If the beer is not really good, indicate what the problems are. If you don't perceive any defects, then you shouldn't be randomly deducting points. The best judges will have plenty of text to justify the numerical score. It is not hard to do; just talk about the flaw you found, be it a technical defect or more subjective balance issue, etc. In this way, you will achieve the goal of helping the brewer to improve. Have fun! George de Piro Brewmaster, C.H. Evans Brewing Company at the Albany Pump Station 19 Quackenbush Square Albany, NY, USA 12207 (518)447-9000 www.EvansAle.com Brewers of Kick-Ass Brown: Twice declared the Best American Brown Ale in the USA at the Great American Beer Festival (2000 & 2002), and a World Beer Cup Bronze (2004)! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Important Subscriber Information ***** To post a message to JudgeNet, send it to judge`at`synchro.com. Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments. Make sure you use a meaningful subject. Quote only as much material as is needed for context. To manage your subscription, go to http://synchro.com/judge/subscriptions.html or send an email to judge-request`at`synchro.com with the subject: help judge. JudgeNet is also available as an NNTP newsgroup, go to news://news.synchro.com/synchro.judge