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In reading the "Commercial Calibration" section of the latest edition of Zymurgy (March/April 2018, page 77) I read significant differences between the 4 "Grand Masters of the BJCP". Specifically in their descriptions of "Aroma" and "Flavor" characterizations. Enough so, that I disappeared down a rabbit hole and put together a crude spreadsheet to see how far off from each other the Grand Masters were. Trying to keep myself from going too far down the rabbit hole, I only focused on the Aroma and Flavor descriptions of each of the judges and found that of the roughly 20 +/- unique characteristic descriptors identified by all the judges combined, they concurred on only about 25% of them. The remaining 75% were a unique characteristic's to the individual judges.
Again, these judges "...have attained the rank of Grand Master in the Beer Judge Certification Program", and they only concur on ~25% of all the characteristics they cumulatively identified.
My wife and I have discussed several times whether we want to submit any of our beers to a competition, be it a local event (County Fair), or a National competition and have (for now), maintained that we just aren't interested in doing so. Not for fear of not getting a medal or being negatively judged, rather it's a hobby that allows us to drink what we want, rather than focus on brewing to get a medal. Don't get me wrong, I applaud those who do like to have their beers judged as that's what a hobby is all about.... you can do what you want with your hobby.
Nevertheless, the results from my crude spreadsheet rabbit hole adventure makes me wonder how non "Grand Master" judges can evaluate a beer, when the Grand Masters concur only 25% of the time.
Again, these judges "...have attained the rank of Grand Master in the Beer Judge Certification Program", and they only concur on ~25% of all the characteristics they cumulatively identified.
My wife and I have discussed several times whether we want to submit any of our beers to a competition, be it a local event (County Fair), or a National competition and have (for now), maintained that we just aren't interested in doing so. Not for fear of not getting a medal or being negatively judged, rather it's a hobby that allows us to drink what we want, rather than focus on brewing to get a medal. Don't get me wrong, I applaud those who do like to have their beers judged as that's what a hobby is all about.... you can do what you want with your hobby.
Nevertheless, the results from my crude spreadsheet rabbit hole adventure makes me wonder how non "Grand Master" judges can evaluate a beer, when the Grand Masters concur only 25% of the time.