[HoosierBrew]

Got scores in the mail today for Indy. The best was a 41 for my 30A cider.  I didn't move on, so there were clearly some great ciders here. Kudos to Michael and those who did !

Nice cider score; if you've got a spare $20 you might send the 3 bottles you would have sent to Finals to GLINTCAP instead. 

I do and might well do that. Thanks for the tip!

[theDarkSide]

Got scores in the mail today for Indy. The best was a 41 for my 30A cider.  I didn't move on, so there were clearly some great ciders here. Kudos to Michael and those who did !

Nice cider score; if you've got a spare $20 you might send the 3 bottles you would have sent to Finals to GLINTCAP instead. 

I'll keep this in mind for next year.

[Pinski]

Got mine today. Excellent score sheets. Both beers got judged by grand masters who both gave the higher score. I'm pleased and planning improvements already!

Good to hear, excited to check the mailbox this evening. 

[udubdawg]

Got ours back, 3 good scores, 2 mediocre, 1 poor with comments like it was a different beer. And of course, the 2 mediocre scores advanced while 2/3 good scores didn't. It happens; looks like I've got some mead/cider blending and balancing to do.

[brewinhard]

Got ours back, 3 good scores, 2 mediocre, 1 poor with comments like it was a different beer. And of course, the 2 mediocre scores advanced while 2/3 good scores didn't.

I also find that so very strange. Almost like the judging table was tough on the entries or the entries weren't that good?  Who knows?  My Old Ale which took a gold medal only earned a 36.5 with no indication that it even advanced (or had) a mini-bos. That is not that great...

[theDarkSide]

Got ours back, 3 good scores, 2 mediocre, 1 poor with comments like it was a different beer. And of course, the 2 mediocre scores advanced while 2/3 good scores didn't.

I also find that so very strange. Almost like the judging table was tough on the entries or the entries weren't that good?  Who knows?  My Old Ale which took a gold medal only earned a 36.5 with no indication that it even advanced (or had) a mini-bos. That is not that great...

I'll take a gold with a 36.5 over a 42 with no placing anyday...

[ethinson]

Got ours back, 3 good scores, 2 mediocre, 1 poor with comments like it was a different beer. And of course, the 2 mediocre scores advanced while 2/3 good scores didn't.

I also find that so very strange. Almost like the judging table was tough on the entries or the entries weren't that good?  Who knows?  My Old Ale which took a gold medal only earned a 36.5 with no indication that it even advanced (or had) a mini-bos. That is not that great...

I'll take a gold with a 36.5 over a 42 with no placing anyday...

I totally agree with that... although I have to say I also have caught myself with a low scoring beer that medaled and feeling like I didn't "earn it".

I was pleasantly surprised to get scoresheets from Seattle yesterday.  My stout scored a 36.5 and DIDN'T advance, but in a 35 entry category that's not too surprising.  I'll need to look if it even went to mini-BOS but I don't think it did.  Solid scores for my IPA and CDA but not spectacular (28 for both) and my Cal Common didn't do well at all... too much age on it by the time it got there.  Oh well. 

[theDarkSide]

Got ours back, 3 good scores, 2 mediocre, 1 poor with comments like it was a different beer. And of course, the 2 mediocre scores advanced while 2/3 good scores didn't.

I also find that so very strange. Almost like the judging table was tough on the entries or the entries weren't that good?  Who knows?  My Old Ale which took a gold medal only earned a 36.5 with no indication that it even advanced (or had) a mini-bos. That is not that great...

I'll take a gold with a 36.5 over a 42 with no placing anyday...

I totally agree with that... although I have to say I also have caught myself with a low scoring beer that medaled and feeling like I didn't "earn it".

I was pleasantly surprised to get scoresheets from Seattle yesterday.  My stout scored a 36.5 and DIDN'T advance, but in a 35 entry category that's not too surprising.  I'll need to look if it even went to mini-BOS but I don't think it did.  Solid scores for my IPA and CDA but not spectacular (28 for both) and my Cal Common didn't do well at all... too much age on it by the time it got there.  Oh well. 

I don't put too much stock in scores, unless it's something obvious.  Last year, I sent cider entries (same batch, bottled at the same time) to 2 separate comps, judging on the same day.  It won a gold in one comp (high 30's iirc) and a 23 in the other.  And the 42 I reference above was for a recent comp that didn't medal.  I guess there could have been 3 other entries higher than a 42, but it did go to a mini-BOS.

Oh well.

[udubdawg]

Advanced 2 at 32. So as I said, mediocre, but then I've advanced with 33 before and gotten the Silver in Finals. And I do tend to make styles where a sizeable number of judges struggle.

[klickitat jim]

After writing my email on about 30 score sheets that weekend, I decided that from now on I'm sending a short thank you note to the emails on my entries. I'll bet they dont hear that enough. I got very nice responses from all four. A little niceness goes a long way.

Scoring wise, I've had 42s on a Scottish in the past that didn't go to minibos. Highest rank on those was certified. This year my high score on the saison bret was a GM2 and 35, didn't advance. The Am Stout high score was a GM and it got a 38 and 3rd. So obviously it depends on overall quality of the flight. And to some extent the style. It could be assumed that brewers entering stouts and porters might tend to be fairly new. Where brewers entering bret beers might have a little experience.

[jeffy]

I don't think I've ever got an email about a beer I judged in 21 years.  That's nice, Jim, that you decided to write thank you notes.
Many years ago I got a gold in the finals at NHC with a beer that scored 34.  I felt like that can't be right, so I called the judge and asked him about it.  He said it deserved it.  That made me feel better.

[toby]

I've never received an email, but I have had a few people find me in person (a couple in my club for bad scores and a couple from other clubs in the state for good scores).  I don't have a problem with it in general, but in most cases, I either need to see the scoresheets or at least know the comments to have a chance of remembering the beer.  One of the bad ones, the guy quoted my OI comment, and I instantly remembered the beer in question.  Turned out that the beer had been made with a standard garden hose that chemically deteriorated in the middle of his brew day and leached plasticizers into 2 of his 3 bitters that he brewed today.  The good one was in a different flight, and I got the other 2, one of which only had a mild issue, but was still off.  The 3rd one of the day was straight up rubber-tasting.  He gave me a little of a hard time and then admitted he dumped the two batches as soon as he tasted them (but had already bottled and sent off the entries).

[brewinhard]

Got ours back, 3 good scores, 2 mediocre, 1 poor with comments like it was a different beer. And of course, the 2 mediocre scores advanced while 2/3 good scores didn't.

I also find that so very strange. Almost like the judging table was tough on the entries or the entries weren't that good?  Who knows?  My Old Ale which took a gold medal only earned a 36.5 with no indication that it even advanced (or had) a mini-bos. That is not that great...

I'll take a gold with a 36.5 over a 42 with no placing anyday...

Totally agree.

[Pinski]

I've never received an email, but I have had a few people find me in person (a couple in my club for bad scores and a couple from other clubs in the state for good scores).  I don't have a problem with it in general, but in most cases, I either need to see the scoresheets or at least know the comments to have a chance of remembering the beer.  One of the bad ones, the guy quoted my OI comment, and I instantly remembered the beer in question.  Turned out that the beer had been made with a standard garden hose that chemically deteriorated in the middle of his brew day and leached plasticizers into 2 of his 3 bitters that he brewed today.  The good one was in a different flight, and I got the other 2, one of which only had a mild issue, but was still off.  The 3rd one of the day was straight up rubber-tasting.  He gave me a little of a hard time and then admitted he dumped the two batches as soon as he tasted them (but had already bottled and sent off the entries).

Wow, if the guy entered a beer that tasted like a rubber hose because he didn't bother to taste it before he entered them in a competition, he certainly deserved some feedback.

[toby]

Wow, if the guy entered a beer that tasted like a rubber hose because he didn't bother to taste it before he entered them in a competition, he certainly deserved some feedback.

His bitters are normally excellent and had won medals in that competition before.  But yeah, I returned fire after finding that out.  lol