KernelCrush said:
I have other score sheets from other contests that are stamped 'push to second round' and they returned 2 sets of score sheets for the same beer.
pasted below is from the email from the competition organizer for this competition. Some do a round 2 and some don't?
In a contest like that one, the "First Round" is a set of prelims before the final round. The competition website gives four "Pre-judging" dates. That seems like the "first round" to me.
Prelims reduce the entries in larger categories like IPA that may get 30 entries or more to something more manageable like 10. The newer trend is to split a flight into several panels for queued judging and then have a mini BOS for the best two or three beers from each flight. While neither method is perfect, prelims can give you two score sheets.
Often, only a beer that DOESN'T pass prelims gest scored, while those that pass simply move on. This actually encourages judges to be more selective on which ones to hold back.
Your category was light lager. It typically has fewer entries and might not've been prelim'd. I'd contact the organizer to ask if it was.
I've only entered maybe 6 beer contests, and I really don't know how they work.
I think you should volunteer for one. At least steward, but eventually judge. Not only will you learn about how competitions work but also about what other examples of beer styles taste like. It will improve your own self evaluation, too. Nearly all contests need volunteers. Judging is a learned and mentored skill. You'll be paired with more experienced judges while you learn.
..I thought the medal placement was descending based on high score. It seems that's not the case, that its really a subjective placement by the judges and has nothing to do with the scores. And all golds don't automatically advance.
If the organizer used a combination of Prelims AND queued judging, that'd be unusual. The posted rules indicate only Prelims were used. Again, I'd contact the organizer to find out.
I didn't see anything in the contest rules to say high score or first place in category doesn't advance to BOS. In fact, I've never been at a contest where the best from each category didn't end up on the BOS table.
I was disappointed with the score number only cause I can only compare it to other sheets I have received. I always thought you had to be in the high 40's to medal.
Nope.
I've dealt with judges who refused to write much of anything and scored quite low. One wine judge missed the point entirely, with his worst sheet merely saying "contaminated" and gave it a 0. That was a hard flight to judge.
Judging standards typically require the scores to be within 7 points of each other. Sometimes I just have to ride it out with a low scoring judge and then make sure the best beers get the highest placement. In the above case, I gave up and scored appropriately.
I can safely tell you that scores in the 40's are rare for most judges, including me. With homebrew, I have awarded exactly 5 scores of 45 or higher in my 20 year judging career. Each of those beers were world class and memorable.