Time has no meaning. In December 2023, when I was on vacation due to my kids winter break from school, I, like many people, made a New Year’s resolution. I resolved to write one blog post a week and to look for opportunities to write elsewhere. I made a plan, and immediately didn’t follow through. Yet it was not for the lack of trying.
Over the past five-plus months I have attended the Craft Maltsters Guild Malt Con, judged in the Malt Cup, judged for the America’s Finest City Homebrew Competition and the first round of the National Homebrewers Competition, completed the AFicioNAdo™ nonalcoholic and alcohol free beer certification program, been awarded both the Beer Judge Certification Program® (BJCP®) mead judge and cider judge, and been busy with family. We also took our first family vacation to Hawaii and Sarah and I attended a wedding in the Bay Area.
I also am currently judging for the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Cookbook Competition and am the newly established Awards Coordinator and serve on the Board of Directors for the North American Guild of Beer Writers (NAGBW). I am also the Craft Maltsters Guild (CMG) Education Committee Co-Chair and a member of the Conference Committee. At work I have increased responsibility where I now have a team that I supervise and manage as well as serve as the chair of the Committee on Committees in Elections, the chair of the Staff Affairs Committee, a ex officio member of the Senate Executive Committee and an University Senator.
Time has no meaning. We have a finite number of hours in the day. We have a finite amount of time, and an infinite number of tasks. The balance between tasks that we must do, that we have to do, that we want to do, and that we should do vary day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month.
For example, my team at work has been exploring different project management software for the past half a year and we have not settled on over yet due to external circumstances. Budgetary support, accessibility, learning curve, shareability and transferability, etc. Developing effective workflows today to simplify cyclical tasks in the future takes time away from doing said tasks today.
While I haven’t been writing, I have been busy reading, researching, and developing new skills including studying for the Oyster Master Guild level two Certified Oyster Specialist course and another retake of the BJCP® beer tasting exam. I also need to finish a statistics course since I will be starting the UC Davis Applied Sensory and Consumer Science Certificate Program in the fall which I am really excited for.
Time has no meaning. But time has value. And the value is self-determined, based on what you want to do, have to do, and must do. Every night is a ten minute argument telling my kids why they have to brush their teeth. We tell them we need to ensure good dental hygiene because spending the time brushing your teeth today means you won’t have to spend the time in the future going to the dentist. My older kid is starting to understand this causing and effect and that us parents are willing to participate in a have to in order to avoid something they don’t want to do down the line. My younger kid is not there yet; I look forward to the day when they both can see this pattern.
What amazes me is that as adults we often don’t see that pattern ourselves. We use improv skills like “yes, and“ to get ourselves in situations that we would feel uncomfortable being in because those situations support one of our want to task. For example, at work, I create rubrics, forms, criteria, committees, and other tools in order to award millions of dollars of competitive scholarships and fellowships to support graduate students at San Diego State University (SDSU). Those same skills directly affect what I do for the CMG Education Committee, the NAGBW awards, and when judging food and drink.
Similarly, the skills that come from sensory opportunities directly affect my day-to-day work. My work is cyclical in nature, so every cycle we review, reflect, and make iterative changes to improve the processes for the nominees, the nominators, the reviewers, and for us as the organizers. We do the same thing when judging beer, mead, cider, spirits, wine, barbecue, malt, cheese, chocolate, etc., etc., etc. Saying yes to opportunities should not take away from other “half to”have to’s” and “want to’s”.
Yet it often does make for late nights. Having a supportive partner and supportive kids and supportive coworkers helps immensely. So thank you to Sarah and my kids for supporting me on following this journey as a culinary historian and a sensory scientist. it warms my heart every time my kid says they want to do judging on food and drink and they start to break down the flavor, aroma, mouthfeel, appearance, and their overall impression of whatever snack they’re eating. It warms my heart a little less when it’s for some dinner that we spent a lot of time and effort on, and the feedback is less than stellar. But that’s the nature of kids, family, cuisine, and life. I’ll take their engaging in shared interests around foodstuffs everyday.
In June 2023 I took the BJCP® mead tasting exam, cider tasting exam, and written exam. I also took the Advanced Cicerone® tasting exam. This was after presenting at the American Homebrewers Association Homebrew Conference, judging the final round of the National Homebrew Competition, and participating in the conference. I passed the mead tasting exam with an 86 out of 100, and I passed the cider exam with an 81 out of 100. as of today I am one of only 136 judges who are BJCP® certified in beer, mead, and cider.
As for the Advanced Cicerone® tasting exam, I passed the oral exam where I presented on a beer style and everything I knew about it, and I presented on a food and beer pairing, what works, what doesn’t, what I would do to improve it, and what I would do to change the pairing, both a different food with the beer and a different beer with the food. I did not, however, pass the off flavors, style identification, and one other section of the tasting portion. This means that I will have to retake the tasting exam at some point after spending a good amount of time studying. I have yet to take the written exam, which is now online as that is a whole other beast. So my current goal is to take the tasting retake prior to taking the written. I am not sure if that’s the most effective means, but we will find out sometime in 2025.
As for the BJCP® written exam, I needed an 80 out of 100 to move up to being in the National Beer Judge. BJCP® combines the highest beer tasting exam and the highest written exam scores. I received a 76 on the written to add to my 81 on the tasting, so a cumulative average score of 79 (they round up), which stung a little. However, in reading the Report to Participants or RTP, I concede that that score is accurate. I’ll write more about the written exam in a future post as I prepare to study more.
Additionally, in December 2023 I took yet another BJCP® beer tasting exam, and I received my score back of 80. I disagree with one of the tasting exam RTP areas. The BJCP® tasting exam is closed book and silent, and it consists of six samples of beer, mead, or cider over 1.5 hours. You are told with the samples are (e.g., American Pale Ale, German Pilsner), and you judge the aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, and overall impression according to whether that sample is what they say there is and if it is good example of that style. Sometimes the exam organizer will say it’s an IPA but give a German Pils, they will blend two different beer styles, or they will doctor the beer with an off-flavor. The proctors are National or Master’s level judges who take the exam alongside examinees, but the proctors can use the style guidelines and converse amongst themselves. Examinees are scored on five criteria, each with equal weight of 20% of the overall score:
- Perceptive Accuracy: the examinees’ descriptions match the proctors’ descriptions. This is a subjective area so examinees need to include any and all descriptors they come up with since this is judged against the proctors.
- Descriptive Ability: the use of descriptive language including intensities and addressing all aspects of the beer. This requires identifying as many specific flavors and aromas as possible and not forgetting to include things like esters, phenols, Belgian lace, legs, etc.
- Feedback: Providing relevant feedback to the brewer to improve the recipe and/or brewing process. Basically, how to make the provided sample be an exceptional version of the style. This can be tough but knowing off-flavors or beer faults really helps.
- Completeness: ensure the scoresheet is filled out completely, every check box checked, every line filled with at least six words (so no writing in really large font), and the words have weight to them, so no writing filler words. This is the easiest 20% to get yet it can be difficult to search for words when in a time crunch.
- Scoring Accuracy: Each section of the scoresheet has a maximum number of points that add up to 50 points. The examinee’s score must be as close as possible to the proctors’ average score, with more points removed the greater the difference in the scores.
- Aroma (malt, hops, esters, other aromatics) 12 points
- Appearance (color, clarity, head (retention, color, texture)) 3 points
- Flavor (malt, hops, fermentation characteristics, balance, finish/aftertaste, other flavor characteristics) 20 points
- Mouthfeel (body, carbonation, warmth, creaminess, astringency, other palate sensations) 5 points
- Overall Impression (overall drinking pleasure, give suggestions for improvement) 10 points
For the recent beer exam one of the six samples was highly divisive among the other exam takers and the three proctors. After finishing the exam the proctors and examinees share their takeaways. I would’ve scored much higher if I was not in the minority of folks based on my sensory comments and scoring. 80 is still a great score and good enough for national ranking, but I want to get to master’s level. I am happy that my palate has not decreased over time and sensitivity. Below is my RTP for illustrative purposes. I have a lot of studying to do before getting to the 90s for master’s level.
There’s a difference between being busy and being productive, and both are subjective. To bury the lede, I am honored and humbled to be chosen as a sponsored delegate for Slow Food USA at the 2024 Terra Madre Salone del Gusto! We are figuring out logistics right now to get Sarah to go with me to Turin, Italy in late September. I have no idea what’s in store for this awesome opportunity other than the ability to discuss sustainable foodways, the Ark of Taste, the San Diego Estate Beer Project, Slow Beer, craft malt, and more with an international audience of passionate and knowledgeable folks.
After reading dozens of food books for the IACP Cookbook competition my brain is simmering with ideas. I am about to embark on the book proposal phase for one of the four or five book projects that I have been brewing in my head for the past ten years. The Terra Madre is going to set my writing ablaze (or flamé if you will). So look forward to more entries here on judging, competitions, and plenty on sustainable foodways and supporting local agricultural producers and manufacturers. I used my time wisely by “writing” most of this post through voice-to-text in my car and it worked quite admirably. Keep saying “yes and” to opportunities as you never know what works and what doesn’t without trying.
Mural Brewing 
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