Thanks to everyone in the region who voted in the last election. Big thanks to outgoing MidWest Representative, Joe Formanek for his years of service to the BJCP!

As the new MidWest Representative, I thought I’d take this opportunity to introduce myself to those who don’t know me. I’m a native of Indiana and am a scientist by training. I’ve brewed since the late 80’s. When I was in graduate studies I drifted away from brewing but someone suggested I try a BJCP course and study for the exam and the rest is history. I judged at my first BJCP competition in February of 2007 while I was still preparing for the legacy BJCP exam. I had fun carpooling with some judge buddies, traveling to Kansas City to participate at the KC Biermeisters awesome competition. I travel frequently to judge in nearby states and have hit nearly all the states in my region (and I plan to work on getting to the ones I am missing as time permits.) I’ve been a grader and an Associate Exam Director and I currently serve as one of the two Assistant Exam Directors and also as a member of the AHA Research and Education Fund Committee. If you have questions about the BJCP, please send me an email. If I don’t know the answer, I will try to find out for you. I’ve had several queries each month from BJCP judges and from those interested in becoming a judge or those who want to know more about the style guidelines (current and future.)

One of the issues I see in the MidWest (and it’s a problem everywhere) is the explosion of new competitions and the strain that they are putting on our judge pool. More and more I and other experienced folks are judging with people with little or no experience. Most of them do a fine job and are open to learning about the BJCP (so that ends up being a positive thing in the end.) In the short term though, it is rough for entrants, competition organizers and for the judges who do sign up. Some judges only judge once or twice a year. For those with busy schedules, that makes sense. If you are a judge who isn’t judging often but who wants to grow your skills, please sign up to judge more competitions! We learn best by doing. Judging alongside the experienced judges can help you sharpen your skills for perception, description and scoring accuracy. You can find the calendar of upcoming competitions on the BJCP's Competition Center. I hope to see more of you out and about in the region!

Many areas have study groups and other education activities. Check with your local homebrew club, local judges or homebrew shop to see what is available. Nothing in your area? Consider starting something!

Be sure to watch the BJCP's Exam Center to be in the know about upcoming exams in the region. I gave a quarterly written exam in Indianapolis on Saturday, September 20, 2014. For those not aware of this recent exam development, you aren’t alone. This is a recent development that allows a BJCP exam grader to give a written proficiency exam on dates specified by the BJCP. This is powerful because the Exam Director coordinates the sites to give the same exam at the same time (synchronized across time zones) to as little as one examinee per site. Then the exams are bundled together and sent to one or more grader sets. This was done to deal with the problems of Exam Administrators having trouble getting 6 people to sit for the Written Proficiency exam. Those exams were problematic and the examinees had extra delay while we waited to get enough small exams together to send to a grader set. But there are more exams in the region coming up. Check the website for updates.

Watch the web page!

Sandy Cockerham, Indianapolis, IN - Grand Master I (August 2014)

Matt Humphrey, Urbandale, IA – National (September 2014)

Leah Dienes, Louisville, KY – National (September 2014)

(Editors Note: This list was compiled in October 2014. The BJCP Bulletin wishes to also congratulate those who have reached National, Master, and Grand Master ranks since that time.)