Posted to JudgeNet Digest #1253, April 12, 1996, by Scott Bickham, BJCP Exam Director

THE BJCP PROGRAM GUIDE

The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) is an independent non-profit membership organization of beer judges. It was formed in 1985 through the efforts of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) and the Home Wine and Beer Trade Association (HWBTA). Over 1500 judges are currently active in the program. The purpose of the BJCP is to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills.

THE BJCP EXAM

The three-hour BJCP exam is given in two parts: essay and tasting. The essay portion, worth 70 percent of the final score, is designed to determine an individual's overall knowledge of beer and his or her ability to clearly express the information in writing. Essay questions cover the following areas:

Technical aspects of brewing, ingredients, brewing process and possible faults.
World beer styles
The BJCP. Judges represent the BJCP and should be able to explain the program to potential judges and homebrewers.

The tasting portion of the exam is worth 30 percent of the final score. Each candidate will judge four beers as if he or she were at a homebrew competition. The prospective judge must score the beer and describe all significant aspects of it, as well as comment on style characteristics.

PREPARING FOR THE EXAM

n preparing to become a beer judge you should acquire a broad understanding of beer styles, know different brewing methods and how brewing methods affect style and flavor. Brewing processes should be understood to the point where you can intelligently discuss various techniques and ingredients and how they may have affected the beer being sampled. Frequent tasting of commercial beers will help you gain further understanding of style differences.

ADDITIONAL READING

New World Guide to Beer (Running Press), Michael Jackson
Simon and Schuster Pocket Guide to Beer (Simon and Schuster), Michael Jackson
Classic Beer Style series (Brewers Publications), various authors
Brewing Quality Beers (Joby Books), Byron Burch
Beer Enthusiast's Guide (Storey Publications), Gregg Smith
Brewing Lager Beer (Brewers Publications), Greg Noonan

LEVELS OF JUDGES

Judges vary widely in their skill and experience. As a result, the BJCP recognizes various levels of accomplishment. An individual's level of certification is determined by two factors: exam score and experience points earned through BJCP registered and AHA sanctioned competitions. The different levels and the criteria for achieving them are outlined below.

RECOGNIZED JUDGE - minimum score of 60 percent on the exam. No experience points are necessary to attain this level.
CERTIFIED JUDGE - minimum score of 70 percent on the exam and at least five experience points, 2.5 of which must be judging points.
NATIONAL JUDGE - minimum score of 80 percent on the exam and at least 20 experience points, 10 of which must be judging points.
MASTER JUDGE - minimum score of 90 percent on the exam and at least 40 experience points, 20 of which must be judging points
GRAND MASTER JUDGE - FIRST DEGREE - minimum score of 90 percent on the exam and at least 100 experience points, 50 of which must be judging points. A service requirement for the BJCP, to be determined by the Exam Director on an individual basis, must also be fulfilled. Additional degrees, second, third, etc., can be earned in 100 experience point increments with additional service requirements to be determined by the Exam Director on an individual basis.
HONORARY MASTER JUDGE - a temporary designation given by the BJCP committee. Directors and individuals on the BJCP Committee bear this title during their term.

ADVANCING IN THE BJCP

Because both exam scores and experience points determine the level of recognition achieved in the BJCP, a judge should strive to meet both types of criteria on an ongoing basis. A judge may wish to retake the exam in order to achieve the higher score necessary to advance to the next level. There is a reduced price for participants wishing to retake the BJCP exam. A judge will be placed on an inactive list if no experience points are recorded for two years. After two years on the inactive list, a judge will be dropped from the BJCP roster. This policy encourages judges to maintain their skills and assures competition organizers that they are using experienced judges with up to date knowledge of beer styles and judging practices. Upon certification by the BJCP Committee, the judge receives a handsome certificate showing the date of award and level of recognition. He or she also receives a wallet-size card denoting the same achievement.

EXPERIENCE POINTS

Experience points are earned through judging at a competition registered by the BJCP or sanctioned by the AHA. Points are awarded according to the difficulty and responsibility of the task, as well as by the size of the competition. Competition organizers and assistant organizers earn points based on the number of entries.

Number of Entries Organizer Assistant Organizer BoS Judge Judge Steward

1-74 2 0 1 0.5 0

75-149 3 0 2 1 0.5

150-299 5 1 2 1 0.5

300-499 7 3 2 1 0.5

500-up 10 5 3 * 0.5

Number of Entries	Organizer	Assistant Organizer	BoS Judge	Judge	Steward
1-74	2	0	1	0.5	0
75-149	3	0	2	1	0.5
150-299	5	1	2	1	0.5
300-499	7	3	2	1	0.5
500-up	10	5	3	*	0.5

*In competitions having 500 or more entries, judges will receive one point for the first session attended and 0.5 points for each subsequent session, with a limit of 1.5 points per calendar day and a total not to exceed 3 points for the event.

For any one competition, points may be awarded to individuals from different categories (i.e. judging, stewarding, BoS or organizing) provided the total points awarded to an individual do not exceed the calendar or event limits for the competition. The organizer may only allocate the organizer and assistant organizer points among staff members in 0.5 point increments. A competition organizer may not submit experience points for more than one best of show judge per 25 entries, with a limit of four best of show judges per event. Experience points are recorded only after the competition organizer has sent a competition report to the sanctioning body, and that report is approved and recorded by the BJCP.

BJCP ADMINISTRATION

The Beer Judge Certification Program is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of seven elected representatives of seven regions of North America. This board manages BJCP policy and bylaws. The business of the BJCP is managed by Directors who have different fields of responsibility. They include:

Exam Director: BJCP exam program
Data Systems Director: BJCP Data Base
Competition Director: BJCP competition registration program

Communication with test-takers and BJCP members is handled by a Program Administrator, who also handles outside communications. This position is currently held by Russ Wigglesworth.

EXAM ADMINISTRATORS

Exam administrators are appointed by the Exam Director and earn non-judging experience points according to the schedule below. An additional 0.5 point may be awarded to one BJCP judge who assists in the scoring of the exam beers.

Number of Exam Takers Points Earned

4-6 0.5

7-11 1

more than 11 2

Number of Exam Takers	Points Earned
4-6	0.5
7-11	1
more than 11	2

The exam delegate may also allocate his points in 0.5 increments to those who helped give the exam.

BJCP CONTACTS

This booklet outlines bylaws as amended through March, 1996. The names and addresses of individuals in the program are available to organizers of BJCP registered competitions. Discrepancies in experience points, or in participant records can be reported in writing to:

BJCP Program Administrator
c/o Celebrator Beer News, P.O.Box 375, Hayward, CA 94543 (415)502-1070

Requests for scheduling BJCP exams should be made in writing to:

Scott Bickham, BJCP Exam Director
7507 Swan Point Way, Columbia, MD 21045 (410) 290-7721
e-mail: bickham@dave.nrl.navy.mil