Beer Judging

Judging at Plymouth Beer Festival

I had the privilege to sit on the beer judging panel at the recent Plymouth CAMRA Beer Festival and it reminded me as to how hard it is to judge beer. It sounds really easy, tasting beers and saying which one you like best, but actually trying to rank 6 plus different beers is harder than you think.

The format is well organised and credit to CAMRA and their volunteers for the way they run this. Usually there is table of 6 to 8 tasters with a chairman. Jugs of beer are bought to the table one by one and the judges mark the beers for various attributes. Each judge fills in sheet and sums up the scores at the end. Now for the actual tasting and that's where it starts to get harder for there is no right or wrong and there are sometimes opposing views around the judging table.

Firstly, in my view its a mistake to try and identify beer brands as you judge. invariably you are usually wrong. That's not what its about, what does it matter what the beer is called or who brews it, that will only colour your judgement as you start to associate brand or brewer values with the beer you are tasting. Better to focus on the beer itself, the colour, condition, aroma, taste and linger.

Everyone tastes with their eyes. A cloudy beer should not really make it to the judging table but a beer lacking condition could well do so. This is an instant negative and some well known brands can find themselves falling at the earliest of judging fences for this reason. Now it starts to get more difficult.

As a judge you are normally looking for a beer that stands out from the rest. This usually means more hops, more malt, more chocolate, more fruity flavours etc. Not always does it mean the best balanced beer which actually is usually what makes a popular beer with the general public. Having been a judge I can really see how the beers that do the best are the ones that are the most distinctive flavours. The best balanced beers don't always stand out, whereas those with lots of certain flavours do.

I'm not sure there is a right or wrong as any sort of guidance from CAMRA could result in a skewed result, I think its better to just let things take their course. However this does often mean the winning beers at a festival can be the odd ball tasting beers or those with strong flavours that don't always appeal to the masses.

How wonderful it would be if at this years Great British Beer Festival a well known, well balanced tasting brand could win the ultimate prize. Quite how we get to that point I'm not sure, but maybe judges should try to be aware of drinkability when they judge. How often do you here, tastes nice but I could not drink a pint - if that's the case then that's the sort of beer you would not want to win. I for one have my fingers crossed that the winning beer is something I've heard of before and brewed by a reasonably sized brewer.

Plymouth Beer Festival 2014

Having fun at Plymouth Beer Festival

Another fine event, Plymouth Beer Festival did not disappoint for 2014. Perhaps the largest beer festival in the South West south of Bristol, the festival claimed 150 different beers plus ciders and foreign beers on top for consumers to enjoy.

A highlight for me of this years event was the quality of the local brews. The St Austell Brewery beers as ever were exceptional, aided by a remote cooling system. The latter is a major benefit and the St Austell beers stood out. If only CAMRA could afford to cool all of their beers. One of their objectives is to promote the sales of cask ales and beer festivals are ideal opportunities to show case cask ales. Much effort goes into pubs serving cask ales in perfect condition, however its sad to say that's not always the case at beer festivals.

It's great to try lots of different beers, but for some the beer festival experience might be their first in tasting cask ales. Such a shame then that CAMRA might be serving it's beers at less than perfect temperature. At Plymouth they are fortunate that they can turn the venue air conditioning down overnight and this certainly helps keep the beers within touching distance of the correct temperature. However we've all seen in the past at other festivals no cooling or even wet bar towels draped across casks to try and aid cooling!

My view is that CAMRA could do worse than invest in some cooling equipment for its major regional beer festivals. The festivals are there to showcase the ales where they deserve to be seen at their best, both for the pride of the brewer and the enjoyment of the consumer. Having used remote coolers, saddles and jackets myself its not entirely straight forward to the novice, so CAMRA would have to have an expert on hand to aid the installs and comply with health and safety rules.

Another problem would be the cost involved, remote coolers are not cheap and they don't like being moved around a great deal.  Alternatives are ice jackets but using lots of these in one go is not practical - there are only so many you can fit in your freezer. However I do think the issue of serving cask ales at their best in your premier events is something CAMRA need to think about and funds permitting, that might mean a major investment in cooling equipment and training.

Having highlighted a potential issue, its great to report the festival at Plymouth was its usual huge success. Keep up the good work and I am already looking forward to 2015.