Make Competition Medal-Worthy Homebrews
“Award-winning Homebrewer” — not a bad title. But how does one get there? What does it even mean? This article is about homebrew competitions: How they run, why to enter, and how to win. We’re also going to look at some myths and misconceptions about competitions so you’re a better competition consumer.
Homebrew competitions are for everyone and aren’t only about competing and finding the “best” beer or brewer. Winning is fun, but that’s not the only reason to enter a competition. Every brewer should work to improve their palate so they can make their own judgments about their beer, but we all have blind spots (flavors we literally can’t taste), biases (no such thing as “too bitter” for me . . .), and knowledge gaps (is DMS a Euro-pop band? No? OK, how do I fix it?). One of the greatest contributions competitions make to homebrewers is that they provide a venue to get structured feedback from trained judges who are evaluating beer under controlled conditions, using published guidelines. Competitions can help bridge the gap by giving you the as-objective-as-possible observations of others, can make you a better brewer, and will connect you to your local homebrewing community. We’ll start with what might be the best advice if you want your beer to improve: Enter every beer you want to improve or perfect into multiple competitions. You will soon be well on your way to brewing proficiency, and you’ll be able to confidently assert that you’re producing “good” beer — free of process flaws, using recipes that create balanced and pleasing flavors, which are consistent with regional or historic beer styles (if that’s your thing — but it doesn’t have to be).
The Competition Environment and the Process
To begin, let me say that every competition is unique and you should always consult the competition information available before entering so you know what to expect. Having said that, there are some general statements I can make about them. Homebrew competitions may range in size from as few as 25 to 30 entries up to an event with more than 1,000 entries. Most, however, fall somewhere in the 150 to 400 entry range, and accept entries for all Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) beer, mead, and cider styles. Competition organizers establish the event’s rules and guidelines, handle the bottles entered, and coordinate judging. When choosing a competition to enter, consult the Competition Calendar at the BJCP website (www.bjcp.org/compcenter.php). BJCP-sanctioned competitions are a safe bet because they must meet certain standards.
Entries are anonymous and judged fairly (under the same conditions for all beers, in accordance with published rules), by at least two judges (one of whom must be BJCP-certified). Entries are judged to published
guidelines (usually the BJCP Style Guidelines).
In all BJCP-sanctioned competitions, feedback must be provided. This guarantees a basic level of predictability in the process. In the absence of these standards, judging runs a greater risk of being biased or arbitrary (judging based solely on the judges’ preferences), and/or may provide no real benefit (no feedback provided).
Entrants choose a category and deliver (usually) two bottles to organizers. On judgment day, your entries will be pulled as part of a flight. Judging is done by pairs or teams of judges, in which at least one (and usually all) are BJCP-certified judges. BJCP-certified judges have spent a significant amount of time preparing to successfully pass both a written and tasting exam. They are trained to perceive the elements of beer in key areas (aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel), describe them in writing, and compare the beer to the range of elements that comprise each sub-style. Beers are usually scored on the BJCP scale of 0–50, ranging from the “courtesy-13” (a seriously problematic beer) to the elusive and perfect “50-pointer;” practically speaking, most higher-quality beers land in the high 30s or low 40s. Judges are assessing whether the beer is technically flawed (exhibiting off-flavors), fits the chosen style, and is appealing to drink. They complete a written score sheet which describes their experience and offers feedback that addresses perceived faults. A beer can be technically sound and fit the style guidelines but still not be a “good” beer to drink, in the same way that a building can meet building codes and stand upright but still be ugly to look at.
After scoring, the beers in each category or flight are awarded a place, or not. Where more than one judging team is needed, each team’s best beers are then often reevaluated by a group panel with at least one representative from each pair — this is referred to as a “Mini-Best-of-Show” (I’ll refer to this going forward as “Mini-BOS”) round, and is for placing only; no new scoresheets are generated. So what’s the second bottle for? This is to determine the overall Best of Show Beer: A panel of senior judges taste a sample from the second bottle of the winner of each category/flight, to determine which is the “best” beer of the day.
At the end of the day, the winners are announced, the prizes are awarded, and there is much rejoicing.
Getting the Most Out of Competitions
If you’re going to enter a homebrew competition, you should try to get the most out of your experience. This is mostly about two things: Entering the right category, and understanding your scoresheet.
The first step in finding the right category for your beer is to review the guidelines used by the competition (BJCP or otherwise). Being familiar with the styles and their nuances will mean your beer is compared to similar entries, resulting in a more effective perception and description of your beer. In choosing which category to enter, I urge you to obey this commandment: Enter based on what you made, not what you were trying to make. The judges don’t know what you were originally trying to produce. All they’re evaluating is whether what you made is nice to drink and how well it fits the style you’ve chosen. If you added honey to your recipe but it doesn’t present in the beer, steer clear of the braggot or specialty categories and just play it straight.
It’s also important to know how to effectively read the scoresheets you receive. Each of the sheets you get back should fully describe the beer, as served. The “Overall Impression” section is where you’ll find the most important commentary and feedback from the judges, but don’t neglect the “sensory” sections; you should be taking note of any areas where your recipe didn’t come through for (or overpowered) the judges, as well as any common areas of concern across multiple beers. It’s on these score sheets that you might diagnose a recipe issue (if beers come across too harsh in their bitterness — water chemistry?), a process issue (frequent mentions of diacetyl from hot or incomplete fermentations), or other features that are affecting every beer you make (a tendency to overdo roasted malts).
Good judges will do their best to identify both recipe and process fixes for you, but you can use their feedback to conduct your own research as well. For example, reducing diacetyl can be done via process (start cool and finish warm to encourage yeast to “clean up”) or recipe (selecting a yeast strain that is less likely to produce diacetyl). The goal is to produce a product that is as close to flawless as possible, to the specifications that you like to drink, and (potentially) as close to the defined style as possible. There are many paths to the top of the mountain, and whenever possible you should investigate them all.
I personally believe the only way to get an accurate review of your homebrewing is to enter every beer you are serious about, and enter each one more than once. This holds even for non-style-specific beers — nearly all guidelines include “specialty” categories for beers that don’t match an existing style, so all beers usually have a home at each competition. At packaging, I always set aside eight bottles specifically for competition, in a cold fridge to preserve them. This helps me calibrate my own evaluations: Do the judges concur with my assessment of a good/bad beer? We’re often our own best and worst critics, and competitions let others do the judging. This method serves two purposes: Determining the stability of your beer over time, and accounting for the somewhat erratic results of judging. I don’t say this to disparage judges, but rather to acknowledge a simple fact — any judging attempt could be marred by a number of factors, including lack of experience, lack of (or over-) sensitivity to a particular perception, a tendency to judge based on preference rather than by style, or even something as simple as having a cold or chugging coffee right before judging my Munich Helles. Judging is as structured, systematized, and objective as we can make it, but there’s still some subjectivity involved. Judges are only human, after all. A 22-point beer with one team of judges may score a 40 with another. If you enter a beer four times, you’ll see that it finds an equilibrium somewhere along the spectrum of scores. One judging may be flawed or irrational, but there’s an overall rationality to the process — multiple data points are more likely to yield an accurate picture of your beer’s quality. So set those bottles aside, pony up the entry fees, and get your report card. It’ll make you a more self-aware and better brewer.
How to Win
Some of you are thinking, “That’s all well and good, Josh, but I want to walk out of my local competition looking like Michael Phelps at the Olympics.” Nothing wrong with that — and placing beer in a large and highly competitive field like War of the Worts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (over 1,000 entries) is a great way to validate your efforts. Increasing your odds takes a combination of good recipe formulation, solid brewing, and some savvy entry tactics. Let me say from the start that there are no guarantees: The best beer ever made won’t win in competition every time. But there are ways that you can improve your chances.
Recipe formulation matters. In order to win in the “style” (non-specialty) categories, you need to give the judges what they’re looking for: German hefe needs banana and clove, stouts must exhibit some roasted barley, and old ales have to at least seem old. Don’t be shy with those defining characteristics, and adjust your recipe to feature them. Many brewers adopt a strategy of amping-up their recipes overall in order to make their beer “stand out” on the table — if you brew to the higher end of the range in terms of ABV, IBU, and hop/malt flavors and aromas, you may succeed in making your beer memorable, but you may also run into a judge who appreciates a more-subtle interpretation (it’s a risk). I usually recommend keeping recipes on the middle-high end for those characteristics and making sure the key attribute of the style stands out. For example, brew a standard California common, but hammer away with the Northern Brewer hops. In specialty categories the goal is similar, but you’re defining what the judges should find — just define it well! In either case, you’ll want to ensure that your beer stands out especially in the aroma elements and/or at lower carbonation. Many beers may wait around for a while, in anticipation of a mini-BOS, so for your competition beers you might consider going a touch higher in carbonation to preserve their character.
It isn’t just what you enter — it’s where. Beers are usually judged in sequence, by subcategory. Over the years I’ve noticed that beers judged later in the flight tend to place more frequently than earlier beers. The categories generally list the less-assertive styles first, so as you get deeper you get the more complex, aggressive, “full” styles, and they may shine in comparison to lighter beers. I’ve also judged a number of “average” flights looking for that “winning” beer, and if I haven’t found it with just a few left to judge, I’ll actively look for a winner, which may lead me to find it. Beers opened last are also simply fresher at mini-BOS, potentially resulting in more ribbons. In any case, if you’re entering with an eye towards winning, you might focus on brewing the higher-lettered subcategories.
You might also enter beers in multiple and/or less-populous categories. IPAs, with 55 entries, are getting the same three medals as Pilsners with nine, so if you’re thinking “medal,” your brewing choices factor in. If you have a beer that fits in more than one category (or if you’re not sure whether that altbier is more Dusseldorf or North), enter it in all of them. I’ve had a black IPA that scored in specialty, porter, and stout (at the same competition). And remember, enter the beer you made, not the beer you were trying to make. This is particularly true in Specialty categories, since you describe the beer for the judges. Mention only those features that came through clearly and leave the rest unmentioned. If the judges notice them, they’ll be “complexity;” if you say they’re there but a judge barely notices them, they’re “weak and hardly present.”
The last and best piece of advice to producing winning beer is this: Don’t beat yourself. Produce clean beer. Judge training tends to produce judges that are fault-hunters — if found, they’ll often use that excuse to deny a ribbon to an entry, even if the faults are minor. If they don’t, they’ll be more likely to let a beer pass through to a mini-BOS. Even one fault can kick a beer out — don’t make the judges’ choice easier! If you’re consistently entering error-free beer that fits the style, you’ll end up with scores consistently in the 30+ range, and you can’t help but win medals. A “very good” beer will always be in contention.
Myths and Misconceptions
No discussion of competition brewing would be complete without addressing the many misconceptions out there. Much of the dissatisfaction with competitions comes from inaccurate expectations rather than poorly organized or poorly judged competitions. To name a few:
1. “How did my 42-point beer lose to that 35-point beer? Why doesn’t the highest score win?” Scores do matter in terms of situating your beer in the spectrum of problematic-to-perfect beers. And a straight point comparison usually does pick the winners when all beers are judged by one team. However, when multiple judging teams are involved, each team advances its best beers to mini-BOS, and the highest scores can’t automatically win. If they did, a very generous team’s beers would always beat out a more-critical team’s, so at mini-BOS scores don’t matter as much as how the beers from each team stack up relative to each other.
2. “The judges gave me a 22 — six weeks ago this beer scored 40!” First, beers often do vary dramatically from bottle to bottle. Second, beers can fall off dramatically, especially if they aren’t stored in a cold environment. Last — why are you so sure the 22 is the “off” score?
3. “My beer isn’t good enough to win at competition.” Says who? I’ve seen lots of novice brewers do well in competition, whether because their beer is better than they thought or they entered an “OK” beer in a weak flight. Enter and find out.
4. “Judging is totally subjective.” Yes and no. Yes, there’s some subjectivity, but no, judges aren’t flying blind. Most judges aren’t evaluating based on their preferences, and most consult the guidelines regularly during each tasting flight. Bad judging happens, but that’s why multiple entries is a good idea.
5. “Judging is totally random.” Anyone who attends the results announcement of a number of competitions in the same geographical area knows this one is false. There are often a group of award-winning names that one hears over and over again, which would be impossible if judging were that subjective/random.
6. “That person entered 20 beers — of course they won nine medals.” OK, yes, but most of those beers were the only one by that brewer in each flight. Entering lots of mediocre beers won’t result in lots of medals, since each judging is an independent event.
7. “I can’t believe the judges at _______ wrote such bad scoresheets — it’s a huge/small competition.” At any competition you could end up with sub-par judges who are producing sub-standard scoresheets. I’ve never found any pattern in when it happens. If you get scoresheets that don’t give you your money’s worth, email the competition organizers and ask them to pass on your comments to the judges, or email the judges directly (scoresheets should have email addresses or other identifying information).
8. “The judges know exactly what I mean by _______ in my description of my specialty beer.” Although less of a problem in an age of smart phones, it’s still better to assume that we don’t know anything. If you enter “sarsaparilla mead,” describe it in terms a small child would understand. Also don’t forget that all we get is the style number and any “specialty” information (in specialty categories) you provide — if the name of your beer is “Bob’s Raspberry Schwarzbier,” don’t assume we know it’s a schwarzbier with raspberries! Be explicit, and be simplistic — you won’t offend us, and your entry will be properly judged more often.
Don’t Forget to Have Fun
Competing — and homebrewing, for that matter — is supposed to be fun. Competitions will bring you into contact with your wider homebrewing community, and your successes and failures will make you a better homebrewer. Don’t get so hung up on trying to win that you forget that this is a fun hobby! Enter often and you’ll improve rapidly while enjoying the friendly rivalries that develop between brewers and clubs in your region. Also, consider studying the BJCP guidelines and becoming a BJCP-certified judge for yourself. And when your name is called and you head up to get your medal or ribbon, take a moment to soak in the applause and encouragement of the crowd — nothing is better to get you through a long brew day or soften the blow of dumping an infected batch, and it will also motivate you. Get brewing, and get competing!
