Supplies & Reference Materials

Competition Documents

  • Beer Scoresheet – Used to record one judge’s evaluation of a beer. Probably the single most recognizable document in the program.
  • Mead Scoresheet – Used to record one judge’s evaluation of a mead.
  • Cider Scoresheet – Used to record one judge’s evaluation of a cider.
  • Judge Instructions -Used to remind judges about scoring techniques.
  • Competition Cover Sheet – Used to cover and summarize individual scoresheets when returned to the entrant. 
  • Flight Summary Sheet – Used to summarize scores for entries in a flight.
  • Bottle Identification Form – Used to identify each bottle of each entry. Many competitions use an online competitions management software that enables entrants to print Bottle ID forms straight from the online system, often with barcodes for easy entry check-in.
  • Judge Registration Waiver Form – While many competitions use an online competitions management software to track their judges, this form includes a waiver for judges to sign prior to judging. 
  • Judge Competition Evaluation – used by judges to give feedback to organizers. 
  • Copyright Release – May be required by some commercial copy businesses.

Queued Judging

The documents below contain instructions and best practices on the queued judging technique used in the AHA NHC. This is very useful for any competition that has multi-flight categories.

Alternate Forms for Specific Uses

These forms are not the primary competition materials, but may be useful in certain circumstances. No special approval is needed to use these forms (competitions can use any scoresheets they want), but please use common sense in using them only in the situations for which they were designed. These forms are not the “new” versions of scoresheets, or intended as a replacement. Exams will be given based on the traditional BJCP scoresheet.
  • Beer Checklist – A quick checklist-based beer scoresheet covering perhaps 80% of the sensory information necessary for any beer. 
    Restrictions: Very useful for judge sensory training and recording tasting notes. Used previously in the AHA NHC Second Round. May be useful in situations where a beer has already been evaluated in an earlier judging round, where full judge feedback is not required or desired, or where it is necessary to judge a large number of entries in a limited time. If used as a substitute scoresheet, judges must provide additional written feedback in the comments section to justify the scores awarded and to amplify checkmarked notations. Judges should be notified in advance that this scoresheet will be used, and encouraged to judge one to four beers in advance to gain familiarity with their use. Must be used in conjunction with the Checklist Instructions and Beer Faults Troubleshooter sheets when used in a competition setting.
  • Checklist Instructions –  Instructions on how to use and interpret the checklist scoresheet. Intended for judges and entrants. 
    Restrictions: Must be used whenever the checklist scoresheet is used. It doesn’t make sense to use it in any other context.
  • Beer Faults – One-page list of common faults and potential remedies. 
    Restrictions: None. This form may be used in conjunction with any scoresheet, or be used as a training tool. It must be used whenever the checklist scoresheet is used.
  •  Beer Score Sheet: Electronic Version – This is a PDF scoresheet that you can use to enter, save and print your data. It may be of use for recording scoresheet information in a non-competition setting and sharing it with others. You can set it up with your personal information and save it as a template. All the checkboxes are active, you can tab between fields, and your text is automatically resized if you enter more than expected. It even adds your subtotals for you. Thanks to Phil Wilcox for creating this. Restrictions: Do not print this for competition use.
  • AHA National Homebrew Competition Structured Scoresheets