Throughout 2012-2013,
my husband and I took a class for our business. No, it wasn’t a social media
“how to class” nor was it a “Write a Business Plan in 5 Steps” class. It was a
beer tasting and judging class. The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) is
a formal way to recognize beer styles, classify a beer, and grade the beer
based on the style description. There are five main elements to judging a beer:
aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, and overall impression. Everyone has
different talents for perceiving aromas and flavors, so the classes helped us
to understand what we were strong at and what we really needed to focus on to
pick out.
We tasted every style
while we were in those classes so that we could be prepared for the BJCP exams.
Yes - exams, plural. The first part of the examination is an online multiple
choice, timed test that is meant to see if you know styles and descriptors well
enough to continue through the program. Once we passed that test, we took the
tasting exam. We were given six beer samples and 15 minutes each to swirl,
taste, and furiously write everything we could perceive down onto the paper in
front of us. It was an intense 90 minutes!
Once we turned in our
exam pages, we had to wait five months for the results in the mail. They sent
us both a packet with our overall score and a thorough critique on our judging
skills. The bottom line for us though? We passed! We are now officially
recognized BJCP judges! We plan to use the skills we obtained to make great
recipes as we start up our microbrewery, Eternity Brewing, in Howell and to
host our own tasting classes to pass on the knowledge that we have obtained.
You can find the article on page 12 of the Inside Howell
magazine online here:
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