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One key piece of feedback The BJCP Bulletin receives is a request for transparency into the committees the BJCP operates. As stated in the BJCP By-Laws, the “Board may appoint standing and ad hoc committees as required. The President shall nominate committee chairs, subject to Board approval. The President may designate other committee members. Committee chairs may add additional committee members at their discretion; however, committee chairs and individual committee members may be removed at any time, with or without cause, through a majority vote of the Board.”
One of the updates to the 2014 Style Guidelines includes a revision of the styles and sub-styles surrounding Cider. The BJCP has formally announced its intention to release a Cider Judge certification in the near future. The Cider Judge certification will follow the model of the Mead Judge program, with an existing Beer Judge gaining an endorsement or a non-Beer Judge receiving the title of Cider Judge on his or her record.
BJCP National-level judge Bruce Buerger is a member of the Cider Judge Committee, an effort that began after the Mead Judge effort. Bruce provides an overview of the committee, its charter, members, progress to date, and roadmap.
Overview
The Cider Committee was formed in 2013. The charter of the committee is to develop an online entrance exam, a tasting exam, study guide, and the necessary educational materials for certifying Cider judges.
The Members of the committee include Grand Master IV judge David Houseman, Grand Master judge Sandy Cockerham, 2008 Guidlines Contributor and Former Education Director Kristen England, Grandmaster IX Judge Gordon Strong, and I. We volunteered because of a realization of the need to develop quality cider judging and because we really enjoy cider.
The BJCP is also working with external groups to ensure continual real world feedback. These external group members include:
- Cidermaster at Talisman Farm Cidery, President of the Rocky Mountain Cider Association, and Cider Digest Editor Dick Dunn
- Gary Awdey, president of the US Great Lakes Cider & Perry Association. Gary has been judging cider in international competitions since 2004. His ciders have taken several notable awards in international competitions in the US, England and Australia . Gary has presented sensory evaluation workshops across much of the US. A cidermaker with a keen interest in both traditional and modern techniques, Gary worked with cidermakers across the US, Canada, England, Wales, Australia, and New Zealand from 2004 to 2006 in collaborative trials of enzyme-assisted keeving.
- Charles McGonegal, artisinal cidermaker and fruit wine maker, and owner of AEppelTreow Artisan Hard Cider and Perry.
Progress to Date
Even though the Style Guidelines Committee is a separate committee, the two committees have collaborated on the 2014 Style Guideline updates for Cider through the contributions of Dick Dunn, Gary Awdey, and Charles McGonegal.
The Cider Guidelines Committee released an internal version of the guidelines early in 2014. Overall the reception of this draft was well received and was used as part of the Cider Trial Tasting Exam that was held in Grand Rapids at NHC earlier this year.
The reception to the cider style and substyle updates included in the 2014 draft guidelines released on the BJCP web site has been well received.
The Cider Trial Tasting Exam given at NHC consisted of eight examinees and three proctors judging six ciders based upon these new guidelines. The Exam Directorate is in the process of grading these exams, and we expect the results to be provided shortly. After the Cider committee reviews the results we will also go over any gaps that were identified and make adjustments. Since this is a very new area for the BJCP, we are not rushing this process.
The current format for the Cider Exam will follow a similar online and tasting format that is used for beer. Those seeking to become a Cider Judge or receive a Cider Judge Endorsement will have to first pass an online entrance exam. Once a person has passed the online exam they will then need to pass a Cider tasting exam. The scoring of the two exams is still under review. After a person has passed both exams they will be able to check off the Cider Judge checkbox on the BJCP Cider Scoresheet, and receive both the Cider Judging Pin and Cider Judge Certificate.
Near-Term Steps
The Cider Committee has identified the following efforts necessarily to consider our implementation of a Cider Exam a success.
The Cider Guidelines must first be finalized. We are working with the Style Guidelines committee.
Study materials must be created so that examinees know the content from which we are deriving questions and expect them to study. We are working with the Education and Training Directorate to establish these materials, and we are targeting delivery in time for NHC 2015 in San Diego.
The Exam Directorate must also have a thorough understanding of how to grade Cider exams. Much as Grader Training has been developed for grading beer and mead exams, we will be working with the Exam Directorate to ensure there are enough materials for graders to use for fair and accurate grading. We also need to establish a sustainable number of Cider Judges who may also grade and define what the standards are to grade. We are targeting this to be put into place by Summer of 2015.
Future Roadmap
While an online exam for cider will help to reduce grading of cider materials, we will also need a qualified pool of educators to assist in studying for the cider exam, a qualified pool of graders to grade cider tasting exams, and IT and Communication systems in place to facilitate. We will be working with members across all these directorates in the near and long-term to meet these goals in an achievable and sustainable manner, while also maintaining the high but fair standards the BJCP has maintained to date. Stay tuned for additional details!
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