[MDixon]

People don't generally make things up. Perhaps the judges in the first case were sensitive to both DMS and diacetyl and the second set of judges were not. Perhaps the bottle in the first case was contaminated. Perhaps the entry was mixed up in the first case. Too many variables to be able to say the first score, the one you disagree with, was wrong and the second score, the one you prefer, was correct.

[dmtaylor]

People don't generally make things up.

I disagree.  I think many judges are overzealous in their searches to find some way to use their knowledge to find "flaws" that don't even exist.  They might be afraid to say "this beer tastes great to me" and score it a 42 when it deserves a 42, because they figure they must be missing something if it tastes THAT good, because 42s have historically been relatively rare.  Many judges decide consciously or subconsciously that they should try to be hypercritical of whatever aspects they don't fully understand, whether it be DMS or diacetyl or acetaldehyde or anything else, in an attempt to hide the fact that they truly don't fully understand it.  They want to look like they know what they're talking about, especially if they have rank at Recognized or above.  Yes, this is very unfortunate, but I believe it to be true.

I am Certified, by the way.  I do hope that this phenomenon is far less common with Certifieds and above.  But of course, we may never really know.  Some folks are better than others at looking like they know what they're talking about even if they don't.

Don't take my word for it, either.  Go ahead and come to your own conclusions.

[klickitat jim]

You may very well be totally correct. I wouldn't know because I haven't met most judges,  and have only judged with three. I do know that when I was sitting there with my first sample and a blank form, my initial thought was 'where do I start... hope I dont screw this up,,,' It was much easier to do once I consciously decided that it wasn't about me. I just went with what I saw, smelled, and tasted, and didnt try too hard to find things.

If you have to TRY to find a fault, maybe its not really there. Similarly, if you have to TRY to find greatness, maybe its not really there.

[hopfenundmalz]

I wonder how GABF is judged given that so many commercial beers are kind of out of style

They don't use BJCP guidelines.  They have their own.

That has about 3X the number of styles.

[dmtaylor]

If you have to TRY to find a fault, maybe its not really there. Similarly, if you have to TRY to find greatness, maybe its not really there.

That pretty well sums things up right there -- nice work!

[S. cerevisiae]

I recently worked two local competitions in which many of the same beers were entered.   The club that organized the first competition chose to use 2oz plastic shot glasses.  The second club chose to use plastic cocktail glasses.  Guess what event resulted in higher overall average scores?

[jeffy]

Ummm, the bigger ones?

[S. cerevisiae]

Bingo! 

[Jimmy K]

2oz! Damn. I thought 5oz were small.

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