Beer Judge School

Training to Pass the BJCP Exam

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Welcome
Welcome to the Beer Judge School website. We have put together all the information you need to pass the BJCP exam and become a better beer judge. On this site you will find video lessons, preparatory materials, and contact information for getting in touch with an experienced judge to mentor you through the process. Check out the links to the left to each of the lessons.

About Beer Judge School
The Beer Judge School series teaches you what you need to know to pass the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) exam and become a better beer judge. Ultimately, all the material serves to support the goals of the Beer Judge Certification Program: “to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills.”

Grand Master Judge David Teckam has been delivering local courses for years training cerevisaphiles to become better judges and to pass the BJCP exam. Realizing that there was a huge demand for structured course material beyond his local area and that many candidates wanted to work at their own pace and schedule, David got together with other dedicated beer judges to put together this video series. Do not be mistaken, this is not a high dollar production in a fancy studio in Hollywood. Rather, this is the best approximation of attending weeks of hand crafted lessons from someone passionate about beer judging and teaching others.

Beer Judge School Blog
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:08:14 GMT

http://blog.beerjudgeschool.com

Jun 30, 2010 09:28PM

Private beer judging events

Recently I was asked to do a beer judging for the brewing employees of a Bay Area company. As this only involved about 10 beers and not open to the public, this was a low-key project. The brewers were able to get a one-on-one discussion of their beers, and ask me questions on improving their beers. Some learned about finings for beer clarity, but getting immediate feedback on their beers will help them to improve their brewing. This might be the main goal of an effective beer judge. An informal competition took place for about half a dozen of the beers, with BJCP scoresheets used. As this was a company involved in the science field, sanitation was not an issue with any of the beers. This was greatly appreciated. Despite the experience levels of brewing throughout their company, some of these beers were impressive. One was probably the best oak-aged beer I have had the pleasure of sampling. An invitation to return has already been extended. I am available for more events like this. Just contact me at dteckam@beerjudgeschool.com

David Teckam

Mar 08, 2010 09:31AM

Corporate Beer Seminars

Last year I had the opportunity to lead a beer appreciation seminar for a major corporation. This was not directly related to the corporation?s business, but rather an informative, yet entertaining, session for employees that participated in a training program in San Francisco. The presentation was similar to our Beer Judging 101 class as an introduction to good beer. We sampled 10 beers, in pairs, and matched them with food from the hotel restaurant menu. One pairing was Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout with a chocolate decadence cake. The Cilantro Lime Chicken went very well with Witbier offered. This hour-and-a-half talk was enthusiastically received, as many were taking notes, and telling their co-workers who did not attend, that they missed out.

If you are interested in such a presentation for your organization please contact me at dteckam@beerjudgeschool.com

David Teckam

Mar 08, 2010 09:26AM

SF Beer Week Classes

With the end of San Francisco Beer Week, our seminar at The Englander is our second one done for this event. Despite doing this on Super Bowl Sunday (there was not much of an option), we sold out for the 101 portion, and were within a few tickets of selling out the 201 part. Once I get the accurate list of what beers we tried, you can click the blogs link above, to see in the View Comments section. Like with the other seminars. We are looking forward to a 301 seminar in the summer for BJCP judges. This will be something more in depth than what we have done already.

301 will have to be special to attract the experienced judges who think they have tried it all. I have some rare beers lined up, and I will find some very creative homebrews.

Next big project for me will be helping with the regional judging for the National Homebrew Competition in Lodi CA. Brian Cooper is the organizer, and we hope to get as many qualified judges and stewards as possible. You can e-mail me for more information on this one. April 17th and 18th.

Hope to see you there,
David

Jan 09, 2010 12:53PM

San Francisco Beer Week 2010

Following the same structure as our previous beer seminars (our last one being at the AHA Conference June 16th 2009), our next one is the opening day of San Francisco Beer Week on February 7th at noon http://www.sfbeerweek.org/schedule. You can register at http://beerjudging101sfbw.eventbrite.com/ The previous blogs have the details, including what beers we tried. San Francisco Beer Week also includes the Toronado Barleywine Festival judging. This will be February 13th at The Peacock Lounge, across the street from the Toronado. This is sort of the opening of the beer judging season for those in Northern California. The Toronado will feature only Barleywines on their draft system. And 50 Barleywines on tap is a sight to behold.

The next beer judging event will be the National Homebrewers Conference. One of the first rounds will take place in Lodi, California. April 17th and 18th we will be looking for qualified judges to handle one of the premier homebrew competitions in the world. Organizer Brian Cooper has shown great skill with organizing our beer judging seminars, and I expect this event to be run just as smooth.

Hope to see you at these events.

David Teckam

Jan 09, 2010 10:32AM

Beer Characteristic Flash Cards

We've revised the beer characteristic flash cards so you can use them to help study for the beer characteristic question on the exam. You can find it on the "Additional Resources" page of the site or download it here. We hope it helps you prepare for an area of the exam that many students find challenging.