Taking the BJCP Exam
Last Saturday, May 3rd, I drove up to Toronado in San Francisco to take the BJCP examination to become a beer judge. This is something I’ve been working towards for the past 3 months or so. If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, you’d know I’ve been attending a BJCP study class in preparation for the exam. So it all came to head last Saturday.
I arrived at Toronado roughly by 9:30am. The last time I was at Toronado that early was for their Barleywine Festival. The place was quiet, eerily so. Usually Toronado is bustling with activity, not necessarily packed with people but busting with a healthy number of folks all enjoying good beer. The exam was held in the side room that they only open for special occasions. By the time I got in, there were already a small handful of exam hopefuls already seated. Many of them I knew from the class and a few that I’ve never seen before.
As the clock struck 10am, the test began and I would not stop writing for the next three hours.
While I can’t tell you what questions were on the BJCP exam I took, it’s easy enough to find accurate study guides on the BJCP website. The test basically breaks down into two main sections: an essay section and the tasting section. The essay portion of the exam is worth 70% of your overall score and is composed of fill-in the blank questions, T/F questions and essay questions. Of these three, the essay questions will take up the majority of your time. The tasting portion of the exam will have you tasting 4 different beers and judging them on appearance, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel and overall experience. The person giving you the exam will tell you only what style beer you are having and it’s up to you to remember the finer points of that style.
You’d think that experience would have taught me be more prepared but in the end, old habits die hard. In my collegiate years, I’d have crammed the night before. This time, I crammed for three consecutive nights. In hindsight, I should’ve been studying all along but hell, three nights is an improvement over one. If you are thinking of taking the exam, here are a few pointers that should help you out:
- Memorize the BJCP Style Guidelines to the best of your ability. The test pretty much revolves around this.
- Study the BJCP Study Guide as it is a very accurate representation of what to expect.
- Study at night before you go to bed as you will retain this information longer
- Practice answering the study guide questions. The test is 3 hours long and you will be writing for 2 hours and 55 minutes of it.
Technically, I am now a BJCP judge with the rank of “Apprentice”. It’s the first rung on the Beer Judge ladder but everyone has to start someplace. Since the BJCP is a volunteer organization, it will take some time before I get my test results back, roughly 3-4 months. I hope I did enough to pass the test and move up the latter to “Recognized” but that remains to be seen.
Feel free to shoot me an email at betterbeerblog(at)gmail(dot)com if you have any questions about the exam or the BJCP or leave a comment to let me know how you did on your test if you’ve taken it before.
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