[amh0001]

Hello all. I entered my first beer competition (because of this site!). It was Jamil's brown porter. I had 5 entries in my category and placed 3rd winning me a metal. I'm quite happy with my results. The judge on this score sheet won at least 2 golds in the other categories he entered. I thought the reviews were spot on, and it blew me away that he knew I need to mash higher, because I know my mash temp was too low for this batch. I am going to be enter another competition with the judges input and try again (I am actually brewing a stout as I write this!).



Cheers!

[bluesman]

Competing is fun and provides great feedback to the Homebrewer. It can be subjective, but overall is a great way to help improve upon your process and your beer. Hats off to all of the BJCP judges that volunteer their time and effort to AHA/BJCP sanctioned Homebrew competitions.

Congrats on your success and brew on!

[corkybstewart]

Congratulations, I know how happy I was when one of my beers made it past the first round.  It got dinged for low carbonation and that was true.
It's great that you had knowledgeable judges.  I entered a cider in the French category and was told that my cider was too dry for a French cider.  I don't know what part of France he drank cider from but all my experience with real French cider is that it's bone dry.

[udubdawg]

Congratulations, I know how happy I was when one of my beers made it past the first round.  It got dinged for low carbonation and that was true.
It's great that you had knowledgeable judges.  I entered a cider in the French category and was told that my cider was too dry for a French cider.  I don't know what part of France he drank cider from but all my experience with real French cider is that it's bone dry.

in fairness, I bet that judge was just using the BJCP guidelines for French Cider, which says medium to sweet, full-bodied, and rich.  A competition has to have guidelines to judge against and that's what most use.  It doesn't mean your cider was bad, but you have to consider how your beverage is going to stand up against whatever guidelines that competition is using.    There is a sentence near the top of Category 27 to this effect.

cheers--
--Michael

*edit*  and of course, congrats to the OP!