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Author Topic: help interpreting BJCP scoresheet  (Read 11172 times)

Offline melferburque

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Re: help interpreting BJCP scoresheet
« Reply #30 on: February 19, 2012, 10:49:58 am »
aroma 8/12. slightly off funk in the front, backed by citrus and a light sweetness. no DMS, slight acetaldehyde

Unless you're editing the comments, IMO you didn't get your money's worth from the judge. I'd expect a lot more description than you got from a National level judge, and I really hate vague, unhelpful terms like "funk." If this guy was proctoring an exam beer, I'd be swearing at him through the entire exam set as I graded it. He might be Nationally ranked, but he wasn't up to scratch when he scored your beer.

Given that your beer's a strong Rye IPA, possibly made with old hops, and possibly fermented too warm, there's at least six things that could account for the "funk" and he didn't mention any of them in aroma, flavor or overall impression.

2) Old Hops - If you got a good deal on Willamette, they might have been old or improperly stored. If you got notes like Roquefort cheese in the aroma or flavor, that's a telltale sign of old hops. It's subtle, but definitely "funky." If you have any of the suspect hops still around, smell them - really huff them to get the aroma deep into your nasal passages. If you pick up cheesy and/or grassy notes, and/or if the hops are brownish and fall apart easily, you've got old hops.


finally got a chance to brew again, pulled out my willamette from the fridge. there was definitely a cheese funk to them. having never used willamette before, I thought maybe that was normal and didn't think much of it.  good to know! fortunately I'm only out a couple bucks on that. and I really didn't mind the funk in the IPA, so I'll still end up using them, just not for anything I turn in to competition.
weirdo in a weird land.