For those of you, who have not taken the BJCP tasting exam already... any of you interested in starting a small study group for taking the BJCP this Summer? There are a few opportunities for taking the exam... Either at AHA Conference in June or in Chicago in Aug, date TBD.
Let me know. Would love to start meeting right away, since AHA is only 5 months away, and need to take online exam prior. I'm thinking maybe 2-3 times a month to meet? We can rotate meetup locations and beer buying/sampling. I have some blank score sheets to make copies for practice tastings too.
Im in
Great, I spoke to a few other peeps at stout night who said they would be interested too, waiting to hear from them as well. Maybe we can set something up for next week to start.
What days work for you? Thursdays are generally good for me.
Thursdays are fine for me.
Totally In for this, but weekends work best for me. Especially Saturdays.
Would a Thursday/Saturday combination work if we do multiple times a month... Maybe one of each per month, for a total of 2 meetings? My Saturdays are usually jammed, so this would help break it up a bit.
The only Saturday in Feb. that could work for me is 2/15, I'm planning on brewing at CHAOS that day, so we could meet there. And for Thursdays I could do: 2/6, 2/13, or 27, but if we meet on 2/15, I'd rather do the 2/6 or the 2/27, so we break up the sessions a bit.
Thoughts?
OK, Do these times/dates work with you guys? Come to both or just one if you can. Otherwise I'll be drinking/studing party of one. Since there is only a few of us, we can prob just sit up at the bar area. Let me know if this doesn't work for ya. I'm kind of winging the structure, and will probably jump around a bit, I want to cover more of the beer styles that will most likely be used in the tast exam, and/or ones that I feel, I am less familar with and need to really capture the flavor profile. I was thinking a combination of tasting and studing the BJCP for dummies (for the online written, dummy prep PDF is on the BJCP website) would be good. And because I'm a nerd, I also have their beer flashcards printed out too, so we can quizz each other.
http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php
I'll buy the first round of beers for Feb., maybe we can rotate monthly after that, since there are just a few months left before testing.
Sat. 2/15 4-6pm at Chaos - Scottish & Irish Ales
(I'll bring the 3 classic styles, 1-2 bottle of each)
- 1 hour study and 1 hour taste and discuss
Thurs. 2/20 5:30-7pm at Chaos (this is prior to wing night) - American Ales
(I'll bring the 3 classic styles, 1-2 bottle of each)
- 1 hour taste and discuss, and a little studying
I have a bunch of material you guys can use.
This is a near complete list of all the commerical examples that have a master level score sheet available for them. It also links to the AHA comericial calibration and to the ongoing BN Brewing with style show.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlGu2FhNUjjDdGliV1BVMEJpMG9...
I have quizzes you can use as well. Can you see the BJCP study session group on the forum? They are all posted there.
Have you contacted Brian yet about reserving a spot? You should if you have not done so. He is also requiring that you judge at a competiton or two before then. He and I can help you get in on them. There are two coming up soo. Drunk Monk and BOSS Chicago Cup. After that its pretty quiet until the fall, so you should try and get in now.
Also there is a bunch of reading material that you should go through. There is a syllabus on the forum as well that lists all of it.
This is great, thanks! I downloaded the commercial examples. I need to locate and print some quizes.
I contacted both Brian and Sandy from AHA. Sandy said it would not be a problem to sign-up for the tasting exam that will be held at the conference. I would just need to notify her once I pass the online exam, so I can be placed on the list. I'm planning to take the written exam next month. I already bought a 3-pack of exams, so I should be good to go, just need more studying!
I am most likely out-of-town for BOSS, but I will look into signing up for Drunk Monk.
Thanks again, for info!
I am good for both of those dates. Im brewing on that first saturday 2/15 but should be wraped up by then. Ill bring the samples for the next month also.
Sweet. Sounds good.
If there is still room, I am interested in participating.
"Give a man a beer, and he will waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he will waste a lifetime!" Bill Owen
Yes, join. I'll make sure to bring 2 bottles of each style then, so there is enough for us to taste.
I would be interested as well.
The emperor is not as forgiving as i am
Great, the more the merrier.
As James said, definitely try to do a competition or two before the test. I found judging at them to be extremely valuable experience for the test.
When I registered for the BOSS competition, the organizer shot me an email asking for more judges and stewards from CHAOS, which is pretty cool considering the delicate relationship we have with the older clubs.
Here's the link to register for judging and or stewarding: http://www.bossbeer.org/ChicagoCup/
Reminder:
Sat. 2/15 4-6pm at Chaos - Scottish & Irish Ales
(I'll bring the 3 classic styles to sample/taste test)
- 1 hour study and a BJCP pop quiz!
- 1 hour taste test and discuss
Didn't have any peeps show up on Sat., for study group, so didn't pick up any new beers for today. If anyone is still insterested in studying with me, just message me and you can join me when I study a la carte.