Beer Judge Certification Program
  • News
  • FAQ
  • Store
  • Contact Us
BJCP print header
Beer Judge Certification Program
  • BJCP Style Guidelines
    • Style Guidelines Downloads
    • Introduction to the 2021 Guidelines
    • Introduction to Beer Styles
    • 2021 Beer Style Guidelines
      • 1. Standard American Beer
      • 2. International Lager
      • 3. Czech Lager
      • 4. Pale Malty European Lager
      • 5. Pale Bitter European Beer
      • 6. Amber Malty European Lager
      • 7. Amber Bitter European Beer
      • 8. Dark European Lager
      • 9. Strong European Beer
      • 10. German Wheat Beer
      • 11. British Bitter
      • 12. Pale Commonwealth Beer
      • 13. Brown British Beer
      • 14. Scottish Ale
      • 15. Irish Beer
      • 16. Dark British Beer
      • 17. Strong British Ale
      • 18. Pale American Ale
      • 19. Amber and Brown American Beer
      • 20. American Porter and Stout
      • 21. IPA
      • 22. Strong American Ale
      • 23. European Sour Ale
      • 24. Belgian Ale
      • 25. Strong Belgian Ale
      • 26. Monastic Ale
      • 27. Historical Beer
      • 28. American Wild Ale
      • 29. Fruit Beer
      • 30. Spiced Beer
      • 31. Alternative Fermentables Beer
      • 32. Smoked Beer
      • 33. Wood Beer
      • 34. Specialty Beer
    • Introduction to Mead Guidelines
    • 2015 Mead Style Guidelines
      • M1. Traditional Mead
      • M2. Fruit Mead
      • M3. Spiced Mead
      • M4. Specialty Mead
    • Introduction to Cider Guidelines
    • 2025 Cider Style Guidelines
      • C1. Traditional Cider
      • C2. Strong Cider
      • C3. Specialty Cider
      • C4. Perry
    • Style Guidelines Appendices and References
      • Appendix A: Alternate Categorizations
      • Appendix B: Local Styles
      • Provisional Styles
      • Style Entry Suggestions
      • Past Style Guidelines
      • Errata
      • Special Ingredients Descriptions
  • Exam & Certification
    • Exam Program Overview
      • BJCP Exam Structure
      • Exam Requirements
      • Information for Examinees
      • Online Exam
      • Exam Fees
      • Retired Exams
    • Exam Calendar
    • Beer Judge Program
      • Studying for the Beer Exam
      • BJCP Exam Program Description
      • Judge Procedures Manual
      • Online Beer Exam Study Guide
      • Beer Exam Study Guide
      • Sample Scoresheets
    • Mead Judge Program
      • Mead Judge Training & Study Program
      • Studying for the Mead Exam
      • Introduction to Mead Guidelines
      • Mead Guidelines
    • Cider Judge Program
      • Studying for the Cider Exam
      • Introduction to Cider Guidelines
      • Cider Guidelines
    • Exam Administration
      • Scheduling Procedures
      • Exam Administrator Guide
      • Approved Exam Proctor Lists
    • Exam Grading
      • Exam Scoring Guide
      • BJCP Scoresheet Guide
  • Competition Center
    • Competition Center
    • Competition Calendar
    • Competition Handbook
    • Rules & Regulations
    • Registration & Payment
    • Reporting
    • Supplies & Reference Materials
    • Software
  • Education & Training
    • Program Information
    • Point Award Outline
    • Judge Training and Study Programs
    • Education Resources
      • Library
      • Vocabulary
      • Beer Faults
      • Mead Faults
      • Cider Faults
      • Color Guide
    • Sensory Training
      • Malt Sensory Training
      • Sensory Kits
  • Member Services
    • General Information
    • Membership Guide
    • Judge Record Login
    • Address Change
    • BJCP Name Badges
    • BJCP Lapel Pins
    • Order Printed Style Guidelines
    • Newsletter Articles
    • Annual Reports
    • Merchandise
    • Election Information
      • Voting
  • International Resources
    • Translations
    • Countries
  • About
    • Introduction to the BJCP
    • Governance
      • BJCP Organization
      • Directorate Charters
      • Officers
      • Job Descriptions
      • Bylaws
      • BJCP Policies
      • Board Actions
      • Meeting Minutes
      • Articles of Incorporation
      • Tax Determination Letter
    • Reference
      • BJCP Regions
      • Exam Fees
      • Judge Ranks
      • Judge Status
      • Experience Point Award Schedule
      • Definitions
    • Statistics
      • Current Stats
      • Database Reports
      • Departed Judges
    • History
      • Origins
      • Independence
      • Past Board of Directors
      • Past Staff
  • Home
  • Newsletters
  • Alternative Judging Post-Covid-19
  • Alternative Judging Post-Covid-19

    June 22, 2020

    By John Moorhead

    The topics discussed in this article are only suggestions and areas to consider when competition organizers decide to hold a competition and are not guidelines to condone a competition. Organizers should continuously monitor local, state, and federal restrictions, as well as guidance from the Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization. There are a lot of variables and the situation is as fluid as beer running from a left open tap faucet.

    Many homebrew clubs host competitions. Since the novel coronavirus has handcuffed our normal way of life, competitions have been cancelled and postponed as we scramble to find a, if any, viable and worthwhile solution. At the time this article reaches your eyes, it may be extended well into summer. As of now, the fall will be quite active. So, what should organizers consider when deciding to host a competition moving forward?  

     

    Prioritizing Volunteers and Entrants

    The health and safety of all personnel, including the host location and employees is paramount. Organizers want to make the best decisions for everyone involved, and may end up postponing or cancelling the event. Organizers will need to re-imagine how these groups interact and work together with limited contact and social distancing protocols to decide if a competition is feasible. Organizers must thoroughly think how stewards interact with judges, how judges interact with one another, and if the host location is adequately set up to make everyone feel comfortable by providing safety measures like personal proactive equipment and sanitation when possible (face mask, gloves, hand sanitizer, etc.). 

     

    Operations, Logistics, & Planning

    Organizers should reconsider planning and operating a competition through a health and safety lens. The usual run-of-the-mill approach must be scrutinized, from earlier judge recruitment and options of how comfortable people are judging, shipping and drop-off locations, receiving packages and precautions during check-in and sorting (e.g. sanitizing each bottle when unpacked), to delivering beer to judges and feedback to entrants.

    Organizers will realize the operational and logistical changes have a consequence on oversight of quality and integrity, and those changes should be clearly communicated to everyone involved. 

     

    New Expectations

    With any changes to your competition, the expectations are going to shift. Organizers should first ask what is considered a success in the current circumstances and clearly communicate new expectations in the Rules & Regulations. The shifts could affect the budget, entry fee, number of bottles needed, expectations on feedback, adjusted competition timeline, overall entry count, who can touch entries, how bottles are delivered, and how the judging will be conducted. 

    Entrants will need to adjust their expectations of a competition, too. Judging from the same bottle in a controlled environment may be temporarily put on hold and potentially mean more bottles are needed for each judge to evaluate a separate bottle of the same entry. Will that deter entrants from entering? Probably some. On the flip side, the entrant will receive feedback for both bottles and possibly identify packaging issues the entrant may not have been otherwise aware of. Everything’s a trade-off.

    In the balance of all this must be the local, state, and federal guidelines and restrictions. As the guidelines and restrictions change, so will go your competition, and may well determine the fate of your competition despite the work of the organizing team’s efforts.

     

    New Horizons

    The term virtual judging has been thrown around quite a bit in the past few months. I prefer alternative judging. Groups are beginning to explore what a virtual competition could look like (and how it could be pulled off), and these experiments could be useful tools in the proverbial judge coordinator’s toolbox when executing a competition moving forward. There are a lot of ideas out there and a lot of follow up questions and concerns that need to be addressed before anything concrete is adopted. I remain hopeful, though. 

    A few highlights I am excited about are electronic scoresheets. The idea of electronic scoresheets has been discussed on and off for years, and the current situation has accelerated the development (and adoption) of them. Another idea I am excited about is more abstract – thorough feedback. If judges are judging virtually, collating notes with one another and discussing entries in depth over more than just one flight will require more diligent feedback overall. That will directly benefit the entrant and could provide more value than otherwise at a “normal” competition. 

     

    Just Suggestions, Not Answers

    We’ve compiled a list of creative and alternative suggestions to hold a competition. These are only suggestions, not guidelines. Organizers should be continuously monitoring the health and safety circumstances in the area when deciding about hosting a competition:

    1. Virtual Judging
    2. Mini-Best-of-Show only judging
    3. Offset seating
    4. Limited handling of entries and documentation
    5. Clear cleaning protocols
    6. Limited judge sessions to avoid mealtimes
    7. Small satellite judging (if permissible and advisable)
    8. Reduced entry count
    9. Increase in number of bottles needed

    Scenario 1: You hold a 300-400 entry club competition that is a marquee event for the club and crucial to the club’s budget. With social distancing and concerns of safety, the organizing team wants to make sure they hold the competition with safety as the top priority. 

    The team discusses what a successful competition looks like and weighs options. The team decides the judging will be done virtually. With lack of oversight and risk of judging an entry from two different bottles, the expectations are clearly communicated to entrants and judges before payment and registration. 

    With limited capacity of judges, the judge coordinator recruits early. Judge sign up is down 25%. The organizing team cuts entry count to 150 and asks entrants for three bottles to accommodate the lower judge turn out and virtual judging.

    All entries are consolidated at a drop-off location and safety and sanitation protocols are followed. Everyone is required to wear masks and gloves, and each bottle is sanitized before check-in and sorting.

    The judging timeline is extended two weeks and judges are assigned a category to complete with another judge. A case box is dropped off at each judge’s location with all the necessary documentation compiled. Organizers give the judge pair clear expectations on treatment of entries and a timeframe to complete the category and choose winners. There is no mini-Best-of-Show.

    Once a category is complete, judges scan in scoresheets to a shared folder along with the other documentation needed and results are returned to entrants by email. 

    After all categories are judged, organizers choose three judges for the Best of Show panel and drop the remaining bottles off at each judges’ location to be judged virtually. 

     

    Parting Words

    Life as we know it has come to a screeching halt. The novel coronoavirus has led to unprecedented social distancing protocol and shelter-in-place mandates that have effectively shut down any sort of gathering for the foreseeable future, freezing homebrewing meetings and events. Whether or not to host a competition will be solely on the organizing team, and there should be no regret in postponing or cancelling the competition if the circumstances aren’t safe.

     

    John Moorhead is Competition Manager/Gov’t Affairs Specialist for the American Homebrewers Association. 

    Judge Login

    BJCP Stats

    6,474
    Active BJCP Judges


    13,586
    Sanctioned Competitions


    2,335,933
    Beers Judged


    Data current as of May 18, 2025

    Competition Calendar

    May 21

    La Boutique del Cervecero Primer Concurso 2025

    Santa Fe, Santa Fe, AR


    May 23

    Hogtown Brew-Off 2025

    Gainesville , FL


    May 23

    Austrian Beer Challenge

    Ried im Innkreis, NULL, AT


    May 24

    XIII. HOMEBREWERS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION - HUNGARY

    Budapest, Pest megye, HU


    May 24

    Euroclash

    Wellington, , NZ


    Find a competition near you >

    American Homebrewers Association Ad

    Beer Styles

    • Beer Style Guidelines
    • Guidelines FAQ
    • Order a Copy

    Exam

    • Exam Calendar
    • Study Resources
    • Online Exam

    Resources

    • Judge Record
    • Membership Guide
    • Contact Us

    Competition

    • Calendar
    • Rules & Regulations
    • Reference Materials

    © 1999-2025, Beer Judge Certification Program | Terms & Policies

    x
    Top