Beer Judge Certification Program
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The Beer Judge Certification Program or BJCP is a non-profit organization formed in 1985 "to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills." The BJCP certifies and ranks beer judges through an examination and monitoring process. Membership is limited to beer judges who have taken the BJCP exam. The BJCP currently (2005) has over 2000 active members, primarily in the US.
The BJCP has three functions within the US beer community. First, it provides a standards-based organization supplying qualified judges to both amateur and commercial brewing competitions designed to promote the appreciation of beer styles and their accurate production by brewers. As an example of this activity, the BJCP tracks members' participation as judges, organizers, or stewards in BJCP-sanctioned brewing competitions and awards what amounts to continuing education units for participation.
The BCJP also publishes a well-known style guideline categorizing beers, ciders, meads, etc. into over twenty stylistic categories. These style guidelines may be viewed at the BJCP website. These guidelines are used in both the examination of beer judges by the BJCP and, voluntarily, by brewing competition organizers. (The BJCP also explicitly encourages test-takers to study the available literature on styles and brewing.)
Finally, the BJCP organizes a program of beer exams wherein test-takers complete a series of written questions regarding brewing, beer styles and judging and then actually perform four beer judging exercises.
In its early years, BJCP judges and the BJCP style guidlines were used almost exclusively by amateurs (homebrewers), but the demand for experienced and credentialed beer judges in competitions among commercial breweries has grown substantially in recent years. Judges are not normally compensated for their service at a competition, although incidental expenses may be reimbursed.
Through accumulation of participation credits (called experience points) and high performance on the exam, members may rise through the BJCP ranks:
- Recognized
- Certified
- National
- Master
- Grand Master (with additional awards of Level I, Level II, etc.)
History
The BJCP was started in 1985, when the first exam was given at the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) annual conference in Estes Park, Colorado. During its formative years, the program was jointly sponsored by the AHA and the Home Wine and Beer Trade Association (HWBTA). Both organizations "sanctioned" local homebrew competitions, and each had a "national" competition. Consequently, both were interested in fostering the improvement of judging skills and building up a pool of experienced beer judges. The program was administered at the AHA offices, and there were two Co-Directors, one from each association. Jim Homer was the AHA Co-Director, and Pat Baker served the same role for the HWBTA.
In August, 1995, after a successful ten year history, support was withdrawn by the AHA, which had intentions of starting its own beer judging program. The HWBTA was unable to continue operating the program by itself, so the BJCP was expected to simply fade away. The governing body of the BJCP at that time consisted of: Pat Baker: Program Director; Tom Ayres: Assoc. Director; Marty Velas: Assoc. Director; Russ Wigglesworth: Program Admisistrator; Chuck Cox: Database Administrator; Betty Ann Sather: Competition Administrator
However, as it happened, a considerable number of judges had been built up by this time, and many of them were quite active. A small number of these activists decided that the program could be operated solely by volunteers from among themselves, and decided to attempt the continuation of the BJCP as an independent entity.
The effort was coordinated in a relatively haphazard fashion, mainly through email, but a consensus gradually emerged and the program was able to continue its vigorous growth. A Board of Directors was established to guide the program, comprised of six (currently seven) Regional Representatives elected by members from each of seven geographical regions throughout North America.
The U.S. was divided into geographic regions, and an election for the Board of Directors was held by mailing ballots to members. The ballots returned created the first elected board, with the following membership: MidWest: Dennis Davison (elected President by the other members); Gulf Coast: Steve Daniel; Southeast: Roman Davis; Mid-Atlantic: Greg Walz; Northeast: Bob Gorman; West: Martin Lodahl; NW/Mountain: Darryl Richman
Assisting the Board was probably its most valuable asset, the Program Administrator who remained in his post and singlehandedly assumed the duties of maintaining the database of members, sending program materials to competition organizers, providing certificates and pins to new and newly promoted judges, and generally performing all the administrative tasks so essential to any organization. This stalwart individual, Russ Wigglesworth of California, performed all these duties and many more, until his position began to be transferred to others in 2004. By 2006, the transfer of duties had largely been completed.
In the early years, there were regional elections for the Board, conducted entirely by postal ballot, and a newsletter was published for several years to inform the membership. An annual letter was also sent by the Program Administrator to each member, listing the experience points earned from judging in various competitions. These activities are now done electronically, with the BJCP website (www.bjcp.org) serving as the repository of information including a password-protected section where members can check their personal record, and website voting, competition registration, and point reporting. All this improved technology is the result of the efforts of Gordon Strong of Ohio and Jamil Zainasheff of California.
See also
External links
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