DTF Chat Thread v. "The Aristocrats!"

[Kotowboy]

Thanks guys, seriously all the interviews I went to already put me in a negative mindset but I guess constantly going paid off.

Give your bike a clean and wax and top up her tank to celebrate. YOU DESERVE IT 

[cramx3]

I got the job this morning that I was interviewing for!

I came in for the panel interview, met with 5 people I met with the initial manager who would be my boss and he offered the job to me on the spot. I'm blown away both because I got the job right away and that it's at a much higher pay rate than expected, almost double my current salary.

After three straight months of rejection after rejection I feel pretty good.

hell yea congrats! 

[ReaperKK]

so what's happening with you guys this afternoon?

[Kotowboy]

It's pancake day !!!

Went up to Dads for dinner and pancakes and started up my bike and rode her up the drive and back a few times.  Seems fine. hoping to book her test this week.

[axeman90210]

Hoping to sail through the end of the work day relatively unscathed, then I head into NYC tonight to start weekly classes to prep for the test to become a certified judge for homebrew competitions.

[hefdaddy42]

 

[ReaperKK]

Axe what goes into becoming a certified judge?

[Hyperplex]

[cramx3]

Axe what goes into becoming a certified judge?

Curious as well.

The best part about work travel is all my expenses paid so free food. I'm out getting Mexican food at Olvera street which is apparently the oldest street in LA and has a bunch of shops and restaurants with authentic food.

[ReaperKK]

That's one thing I'm jealous of with my gf's work. She gets a good amount to spend on food per day and gets to try a bunch of new restaurants.

[axeman90210]

Axe what goes into becoming a certified judge?

There are two components to your beer judge status, test scores and points.

First there is a web based test that you can take at any time. 180 multiple choice questions on beer styles, brewing processes and ingredients, and the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) to be completed in an hour. You are simply graded pass/fail with no numerical score, and you can attempt the test up to once a day.

Once you pass that test you're considered Provisional and not yet an official judge. Provisional status allows you to sit for the Judging Exam, wherein you're served six beers blind and asked to fill out a score sheet for each one as if it were a competition. You have 90 minutes to complete all six, and your scoresheets are then graded by highly experienced judges. A score of 60 is needed to pass and become a Recognized judge.

At this point you're considered an official judge and can begin judging at BJCP sanctioned competitions. From there you can get up to the rank of Certified with a score of at least 70. This is where points come into play, as you accrue points as a judge for judging or otherwise working behind the scenes at competitions. So in addition to the 70 you need to accrue 5 points total from working competitions, half of which has to come from actual judging and not other work.

To advance further you need to take a second written exam, consisting of multiple choice questions about judging and five written essays. What makes this exam tough is that the material covered by multiple choice is information that all judges are expected to know, so you don't gain any points for correct answers, you just lose points for wrong ones.

The three levels beyond Certified are National (minimum score of 80 on the Judging Exam, minimum composite score of 80 taking the average between Judging and Written, 20 judging points), Master (80/90/40) and Grand Master (80/90/100).

[ReaperKK]

That's pretty cool axe

stupid question but do you guys use a spit bucket like wine tasting?

[cramx3]

That's pretty intense.  Do you get paid to be a judge?

[axeman90210]

That's pretty cool axe

stupid question but do you guys use a spit bucket like wine tasting?

Hell no

Judging is typically done in pairs (though sometimes there'll be three if the competition has a surplus of judges signed up) and each judging team will judge anywhere from 6 (high ABV category and/or lots of judges available) to 10-12 (low ABV category and/or shortage of judges) beers in their assigned flight. Entrants are required to submit two bottles of each beer they're entering, and the judges will be provided one, which they'll open and pour out a couple ounces of each. They'll try it separately and fill out the scoresheets with comments and such. Once they're done they'll come up with preliminary scores and discuss. They take into account the quality of beer as well as how it fits the style it's entered in. Scores are out of 50 (3 for appearance, 12 for aroma, 20 for flavor, 5 for body/mouthfeel, 10 for overall) and if the judges are too far apart they'll talk about why and may revise their final scores up/down. It's not uncommon for the judges to come to a different number, but they should be in the same ballpark. The average of the two scores is then that beer's official score.

If a single judging team has a flight that covers an entire category, then the highest three scores the judges give to that flight become first/second/third for that category. More commonly, more than one judging team is working on a subset of the entries for a given category. What happens then is that after all the teams working on a category finish their flights they get together and each brings any entries from their flight that they think is worthy of further consideration. All the judges (or at least one rep from each team that worked on the category) then try all the worthy contenders and debate and decide on first/second/third for a given category. This is called a Mini Best in Show. Once every category has been judged and winners determined, a panel is assembled to try all of the first place beers (hence the second bottle) and determine an overall first/second/third Best in Show. In addition a local brewer will sometimes be on the panel and choose a Brewer's Choice in addition to the Best in Show that the brewer eventually brews a commercial batch of.

[ReaperKK]

sweet, how many competitions do you think you'll be judging?

[axeman90210]

That's pretty intense.  Do you get paid to be a judge?

Nope, it's all on a volunteer basis.

sweet, how many competitions do you think you'll be judging?

Probably not too many at least at first, mostly because I'm not terribly mobile (no driver's license). There are a couple in NYC and north Jersey that I can make it too without too much trouble, but that's about it. Once I'm clear of my student loan debt and settled in a condo I may use it as an opportunity to do a bit of travel. Competitions are typically on weekends, maybe a Friday night session if it's a big one. Could easily plan a long weekend around a day or two of sightseeing and a day or two of judging.

[cramx3]

That's a lot of effort for becoming a judge all for fun, but I know you love that so that's cool

[axeman90210]

That's a lot of effort for becoming a judge all for fun, but I know you love that so that's cool

Well it's also two other things. One it's a bit of giving back to the community. I've entered a bunch of competitions over the years, and getting impartial feedback has been invaluable for me as a brewer. Second, prepping for the exam should make me much better at evaluating my own beer and thus make me a better brewer. We'll be getting into things like different off flavors (what they are, how they occur, and when they might be appropriate) and style minutiae (e.g. tasting two different pilsners and being able to discuss which is Czech, which is German, and why).

[cramx3]

Yea that's nice to give back, think you'll ever open a microbrewery? 

[ReaperKK]

If you open a microbrewery I'm there axe

[JayOctavarium]

so what's happening with you guys this afternoon?

Not much. Finished up with the shit I needed to take care of... and ran into an old coworker from the county job (not surprising, as I was across the street from my old office during lunch time.) The guy told me that they are so swamped that it's not even funny. They are doing 3x the workload that was expected.. and he alone has over 100 untouched cases, half which are overdue (in comparison, I as a trainee, was considered underwater with my 20 untouched and 5 overdue when I was fired). And it's not just him. The entire dept is drowning, as expected for this time of year (they took in new Medi-Cal /Medicaid cases from ACA referrals, and Open Enrollment killed them). -I am so glad I am not there.

I then came to work 2 hours early, threw on headphones, and walked the Marina. It was nice to just get away for a while in my head.

Annnd now.. Work.   

[King Postwhore]

That's a lot of effort for becoming a judge all for fun, but I know you love that so that's cool

Well it's also two other things. One it's a bit of giving back to the community. I've entered a bunch of competitions over the years, and getting impartial feedback has been invaluable for me as a brewer. Second, prepping for the exam should make me much better at evaluating my own beer and thus make me a better brewer. We'll be getting into things like different off flavors (what they are, how they occur, and when they might be appropriate) and style minutiae (e.g. tasting two different pilsners and being able to discuss which is Czech, which is German, and why).

Man I jealous.

[axeman90210]

Yea that's nice to give back, think you'll ever open a microbrewery? 

It's in the back of my mind, but not for a couple years at least. Firstly, I'm about a month away from being student loan free, and I'd like to enjoy not having any debt for a while Secondly, I just don't have enough beer recipes that I'm totally happy with. It's tough enough making the jump from doing what I do in my garage to brewing on a commercial scale even if you have all your recipes in place, and I'm not there yet.

[ReaperKK]

Roughly how many beer recipes do you have that are your go to's

[BlobVanDam]

Congrats Reaper!

[ReaperKK]

Thanks blob!

[BlobVanDam]

So when does this new job start? And do you know the hours?

[ReaperKK]

It'll start within 2 weeks, I have a drug test and a background check to do but also a shit ton of paperwork because I'll be working for a bank.

My hours are flexible to an extent, I can work 9 hours between 8-7. I will also have software to implement and test Saturday between 10pm-1am every few months.

[BlobVanDam]

It'll start within 2 weeks, I have a drug test and a background check to do but also a shit ton of paperwork because I'll be working for a bank.

If they find out about your crack business, you're screwed.

[ReaperKK]

It's alright, I have it well covered up.

[BlobVanDam]

Good. I like to keep my crack covered up too.

[ReaperKK]

oh you!

[JayOctavarium]

Well today was mentally draining.

Had to deal a suicide at work today, as well as the moral dilemma of whether or not I let someone on to the property who's intent was to break into the house, which ultimately led to the discovery of the body.

[Prog Snob]

Morning

[JayOctavarium]

Morning

Don't pull the "morning"  bullshit yet.  It's still nighttime damnit!