Definitions

Terminology used in BJCP materials.

Competition Definitions

Competition: An event held in a single geographical area where beer and possibly other fermented beverages are formally evaluated against a set of pre-defined style guidelines or category descriptions for the purpose of constructive feedback and acknowledgment of excellence. A competition is comprised of one or more sessions spanning one or more days.
Day: A calendar date when judging is held. Competitions may take place on one or more days, and the days do not have to be contiguous.
Session: An uninterrupted time period when at least one panel of judges sits to judge one or more flights of entries.
Category: An arbitrary grouping of styles for purposes of judging. The BJCP Style Guidelines has categories of styles, but these do not need to be used as competition categories for award purposes. Organizers are free to group beer styles in any way they want for competition judging and award purposes.
Flight: A single grouping of entries that are combined for the purposes of judging, that are evaluated by a single panel of judges, and that result in a ranked ordering for purposes of determining awards. In large competitions, a single category may be divided into multiple flights with the overall winner determined in a Mini-BOS round.
Mini Best of Show (BOS) Round: A subsequent flight within a session during which judges compare the leading entries of two or more separate flights in order to determine overall class or category winners. This shall not qualify as a separate session for the purpose of awarding points.
Best of Show (BOS) Panel: A single session awarding top honors for a competition from at least five beer category winners or three mead and/or cider winners.
Organizer: The single program participant who completes and signs the application to register or sanction a competition and who in all ways assumes responsibility for the direction of that competition.
Judge: Any program participant who evaluates entries, completes scoresheets, and determines the final score and rank of entries in a flight.
Best of Show (BOS) Judge: A program participant who evaluates entries and selects a winner during a BOS panel.
Non-BJCP Judge: A person who has not taken the BJCP exam, but who has been approved by the competition organizer to serve as a judge in a competition. The person may or may not have extensive experience, but does not have a formal certification.
Mead Judge: A person who has taken the mead exam and scored 60% or higher. This person may also be a beer judge although taking the beer exam is not a requirement.
Steward: A program participant who assists judges, obtains entries and supplies, handles paperwork, and manages the competition logistics at a judging table.
Staff: Program participants who, under the direction of the Organizer, perform an active role in support of the competition other than as a Judge, Steward, or BOS Judge. These duties include, but are not limited to, Assistant Organizer, Head Steward, Registrar, Cellarmaster, Table Captain, Data Entry, Head Judge, Lunch Caterer, and Committee member. Direct participation is required to earn Staff points; passive participation by individuals who provide websites, software, materials, or other indirect services are not eligible to receive points.

Exam Definitions

BJCP Beer Judge Entrance Examination: A web-based examination of beer styles, ingredients, beer characteristics, brewing processes, and the BJCP program. Think of it as the online qualifier for the Beer Judging Examination.
BJCP Beer Judging Examination: A tasting examination that consists of completing scoresheets for the six examination beers. Taking this exam is the event that triggers membership in the BJCP, and is what causes a BJCP ID to be created.
BJCP Beer Judge Written Proficiency Examination: A revised version of the traditional BJCP essay examination, required to advance to the National or higher rank.
BJCP Legacy Beer Examination: The beer examination used prior to 1 April 2012 that consisted of an essay portion and a tasting portion where the portions were combined in a 70/30 ratio to determine a total (composite) examination score.
BJCP Legacy Mead Examination: The mead examination that existed before 1 November 2015.
BJCP Mead Judge Entrance Examination: A web-based examination of mead styles, ingredients, mead characteristics, mead-making processes, and the BJCP program. Think of it as the online qualifier for the Mead Judging Exam.; BJCP Mead Judging Examination; A tasting examination that consists of completing scoresheets for the six examination meads.; BJCP Cider Judge Entrance Examination; A web-based examination of cider styles, ingredients, cider characteristics, cider-making processes, and the BJCP program. Think of it as the online qualifier for the Cider Judging Exam.; BJCP Cider Judging Examination; A tasting examination that consists of completing scoresheets for the six examination ciders.; Provisional Judge; Someone who has passed the Entrance Exam, but not yet taken the Judging Exam. A Provisional Judge is not yet a BJCP member, and does not have a BJCP ID. Provisional is not a BJCP judge rank.
Apprentice Judge: Someone who has taken, but not passed, the Judging Exam. Apprentice is a judge rank, and an Apprentice Judge has a BJCP ID and is a BJCP member, although not yet with full membership rights.
Active Status: A BJCP judge who stays current in the program, generally by participating in BJCP events at least every two years (see the BJCP Member Guide for full details). Status is different than Rank; a BJCP member has both a rank and a status.
Affiliated Status: An Apprentice judge who does not meet the requirements in full membership within two years, regardless of activity level.
Full member: An Active BJCP judge who has passed one of the initial judging exams; a beer judge is a full member if they have a rank of Recognized or higher.