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We will have our annual Beer Judging 101 event for San Francisco Beer Week on Sunday February 13^th at The Englander. This is the same location as the previous years. Details are here, and we are getting close to sold out. Using www.beerbybart.com is a safe way to go should you attend.

This year also marks the first time for the judging seminar for Sacramento Beer Week. This is their second year for their beer week, and Lockdown Brewery’s tasting room in Rancho Cordova is reserved for Saturday March 5^th. Sign up here. The light rail in Sacramento is just around the corner from the location.

Hope to see you there.

David

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

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

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.

With the start of my last preparatory course for a while, I will be making a switch to online teaching, maybe for a couple of years. This is meant to help those who are beyond the range of classes that might be offered by a homebrew club. Some people will travel a hundred miles or so for an exam, but that is usually not reasonable for proper exam preparation. Once the syllabus on this site is updated, the details for my online course will be more clear. This will be in Need Help. 

 

There is no enrollment time. It will be a matter of potential examinees finding an exam and giving the contact person (go to Need Help to see the list of scheduled exams), and themselves, proper notice. All one would need to do is to allow themselves about three months for studying with me, and to have the commitment to do this.

 

I will be teaching my current group of students through mid-November. After that, I will be ready to take on more students. I am careful not to overwhelm myself, and I have a track record for exam success. Some students I did not meet until exam day, but they all passed. You can contact me for more information if you are interested.

With the AHA Conference in Oakland over, that also means our most recent Beer Judging 101/201 Seminar is history. This also sold out and was very warmly received. Brian Cooper told me that attendees raved to him when they saw him during the conference. The AHA Conference brought in people from the East Coast and many signed up for both portions.

We are considering our next 101/201 Seminar for Stockton CA for the first Saturday in December. Nothing in stone yet; just planning ahead. We are also working on a concept for a 301 class that will go into more depth and will be geared towards the BJCP judge. This will be a requirement for the class.

I’ll have a list of beers we sampled for the June 16th seminar very soon.

David