[tomsawyer]

With any luck I'll be in the same situation in a couple more months.  Honestly I think the new format will be easier to pass into National status, although it will take two sessions.  The 3-hr all-in-one marathon was fatiguing.

[gmac]

I did the 20 question practice.  Fun but without any score it's kind of disappointing.  I understand not giving the answers because the questions will show up in other places but I wish you could find out if you got 15/20, 2/20, 20/20 etc. 

[narvin]

I did the 20 question practice.  Fun but without any score it's kind of disappointing.  I understand not giving the answers because the questions will show up in other places but I wish you could find out if you got 15/20, 2/20, 20/20 etc.

You can see which ones you got right and wrong.  You have to go back to your list OS courses and click on the sample test.  They don't show you correct answers for wrong answers.

[gmac]

You're right. 15/20 but one was just a plain dumb mistake (not reading properly) and one I'd argue.  I'd lose but I'd argue.

[morticaixavier]

So I got 85% on the sample exam. Guess I need some work still. (can you tell I was one of those students that got depressed about an A-?)

[MDixon]

With any luck I'll be in the same situation in a couple more months.  Honestly I think the new format will be easier to pass into National status, although it will take two sessions.  The 3-hr all-in-one marathon was fatiguing.

I do not think it will be easier at all. In fact, it may be harder. 6 exam beers instead of four, more evaluation of beer and more fatigue during that period. Most new judges trying to do a complete job go at a 12-15 min clip and 15 is all the time you have per beer. There is also stress involved in knowing another beer is coming. Now if one has been judging and doing an exemplary job while judging it will be a piece of cake.

The written will be as hard as ever. Before it really was 8 questions and a virtual beer plus program information. The virtual beer and program info are gone. The T/F remain, but will count against you if you get any of the wrong. When it was 15 questions the vast majority of exams I graded were 12/15 or 13/15. I rarely got a 15/15, of course that should change. Now what that boils down to is 5 questions instead of 8. 5 questions where you have to answer 80% or better correct to make National. Of course the questions are provided in the study guide and what the mix will be:

two questions covering beer styles, one is a recipe question, and two questions covering brewing techniques, with the latter focusing on the relationship of ingredients and the brewing process to flavors in the finished beer.

[udubdawg]

With any luck I'll be in the same situation in a couple more months.  Honestly I think the new format will be easier to pass into National status, although it will take two sessions.  The 3-hr all-in-one marathon was fatiguing.

I do not think it will be easier at all. In fact, it may be harder. 6 exam beers instead of four, more evaluation of beer and more fatigue during that period. Most new judges trying to do a complete job go at a 12-15 min clip and 15 is all the time you have per beer. There is also stress involved in knowing another beer is coming. Now if one has been judging and doing an exemplary job while judging it will be a piece of cake.

the actual TASTING will be a little harder, with the additional 30 minutes and two more beers.  But I would argue that the fatigue you speak of has largely been coming from the written test most people are taking at the same time as the 4-beer tasting.  Right now everyone is starting with a 3-hour exam.  A 1.5 hour tasting exam would be fantastic by comparison.
I took just the tasting a few weeks ago.  4 beers was extremely easy, and two more wouldn't be that bad.  I took just the written a few months ago.  Nice to not be interrupted with beer arriving but still a huge PITA at 2.5 hours.  The stress of another beer coming?  How about writing an essay, and having to shift gears and judge the beer suddenly put down in front of you.  I found that much more stressful. 

cheers--
--Michael

[richardt]

Agree with the distractions/time crunch/writing fatigue issues of the old format.
New format should be better for all--and, at the end of the day, what most of us want is better feedback and consistent judging of the beers in competitions.  I like that this new format stresses that.

[tomsawyer]

Yes, I meant easier to do well on as separate parts not easier as far as the challenge of the questions and tasting.

As far as six beers and 15min per, that is better than a typical flight in most of the contests I've judged recently (8-12+).  Plus with different beer styles you won't get quite the palate fatigue you would with ten stouts.  Do you say how many of the six are to be good examples versus having a noticeable fault?  I think that was spelled out somewhere in the old format.

As for the essay part, I agree that just not getting the hand and mental fatigue with a 90min exam.  I enjoyed focusing on the essay parts of the exam anyway.  Granted, you come up short on one question and theres going to be more severe consequences as far as score.

If I'm squarely in Certified territory with my retake I'll probably put off taking the new one.  If one or the other is close to the next level, I know I'll be tempted to try the new format.  And it'd be sweet not to have to take both parts again to get National.

[tomsawyer]

How do you get to the practice test?  I don't see the link.  Or do you have to pay the $10 first?

[Hokerer]

How do you get to the practice test?  I don't see the link.  Or do you have to pay the $10 first?

Go to the exam website https://secure.coursewebs.com/bjcp/Default.aspx and look for the "Sample Entrance Exam Questions" part

[tomsawyer]

Thanks, I took it and passed!  Even though I didn't read the directions well and couldn't figure out how to put in more than one answer on those multiple answer questions.  How do you do that anyway? 

[morticaixavier]

Thanks, I took it and passed!  Even though I didn't read the directions well and couldn't figure out how to put in more than one answer on those multiple answer questions.  How do you do that anyway?

I think you just click on more than one box. If it is multiple answer they should be check boxes instead of 'radio' buttons (the round ones)

[jonathan of Better Beer Scores]

A few of the students from the Better Beer Scores course have taken the exam.  The common feedback they are giving is time constraints, lots of questions on style comparisons, flavor descriptors and how they are controlled.  They also mentioned that they have the guideline and other reference materials in from of them when taking the test, which they said is OK to use, but you don't have a lot of time to keep using it.  So far everyone one who has weighed in has passed.

[thomasbarnes]

So you have to take the tasting exam within a year of passing the online test to have it count.  When will these be offered?  I see the same list of exam dates on the bjcp site... are these all for the tasting exam now?  Will more be offered soon, since it seems like most of them had already filled up.

The current exam schedule won't be changed for at least a year, so that the effects of the new exam on demand and grading time can be assessed.

Right now, don't take the exam unless you've got a spot for a tasting exam lined up. Otherwise, you might be wasting your time and money.

If more graders come out of the woodwork, and if grading time for the tasting exam is significantly shorter, then I'm sure that the BJCP Exam Directors would love to be able to arrange more exams.