Experience Point Award Schedule – Beer Judge Certification Program

Experience Points

The mechanism used by the BJCP to indicate the practical participation of members in BJCP events. There are two groups of experience points: judging experience points and non-judging experience points. Each of these groups consists of different categories of points that are accrued according to the rules of the various types of events. Experience Points are recorded in the BJCP database as judging and non-judging experience points only, not the more detailed schedules for each event.

Program Participants

Individuals who perform an active role in a sanctioned competition. Important categories of program participants are Organizers, Judges, Best-of-Show Judges, Stewards and Staff. Each category of participants has different rules that govern the awarding of experience points.

Organizers

Organizers are the only program participants to receive Organizer Points, which are non-judging experience points that are allocated based on the total number of competition entries as shown in Table 1. The Organizer may ONLY receive Organizer Points, not Judge Points, Best-of-Show Judge Points, Staff Points, Steward Points, or any other combination of points, regardless of other roles performed. Any other program participant is eligible to receive any combination of Judge, Best-of-Show Judge, Steward, or Staff Points in a single competition, except as noted. However, the total points (judging plus non-judging experience points) awarded to any program participant may not exceed (but may equal) the Organizer Points designated for the Organizer of the competition.

Judges

Judges earn points at a rate of 0.5 Judge Points per session, but the following limitations apply:

Judges earn a minimum of 1.0 Judge Point per competition.
Judges earn a maximum of 1.5 Judge Points per day.

BOS Judge Points are a separate category of points, and are not subject to these limitations. The total number of experience points (including Judge Points) a judge may earn in a competition is limited by the Organizer Points, and is shown in Table 1. Judge Points are a type of judging experience points.

Best-of-Show (BOS) Judges

BOS Judges are eligible to receive 0.5 Best-of-Show (BOS) Judge Points if they judge in any BOS panel in a competition. BOS Judge Points are a type of judging experience points separate from Judge Points. The BOS Judge Points are a bonus (i.e., an additional or extra reward) in addition to any other judging and non-judging experience points earned in the competition, and may only be awarded to a single judge once per competition. BOS Judge Points may only be awarded if a competition has at least 30 entries in at least five beer and/or three mead/cider categories.

The number of judges eligible to receive the BOS Judge Point bonus is correlated to the number of entries in each BOS panel as follows:

5-14 entries, including beer = 3 BOS Judges
3-14 meads and/or ciders (only) = 3 BOS Judges
15 or more entries of any type or combination = 5 BOS Judges

This limitation applies to each individual BOS panel. Competitions may seat separate homebrew, commercial and mead and/or cider BOS panels, if desired.

A best-of-show judge receives the BOS Judge Point bonus if a judge judges in at least one other session in the competition. If a judge only judges in a BOS panel, that judge earns 1.0 BOS Judge Points and no Judge Points.

Stewards

Stewards receive 0.5 Steward Points (non-judging experience points) per day with a maximum of 1.0 Steward Points per competition. Participants may not earn both Judge and Steward Points in a single competition. Steward points are awarded separately from Staff Points and do not come from the Staff Point pool shown in the following table. A program participant may earn both Steward and Staff Points.

Staff Points

Non-judging experience points awarded by the Organizer to one or more program participants in minimum increments of 0.5 points. The sum of all Staff Points awarded to all program participants may not exceed the Table 1 Staff Point maximum.

Note: In order to maintain competition integrity, staff members with access to entry data should refrain from judging as they may be able to associate entry numbers or entry descriptions with an entrant’s identity.

# of Entries	Organizer	Staff	Judge
1 – 49	2.0	1	1.5
50 – 99	2.5	2	2.0
100 – 149	3.0	3	2.5
150 – 199	3.5	4	3.0
200 – 299	4.0	5	3.5
300 – 399	4.5	6	4.0
400 – 499	5.0	7	4.5
500 – 599	6.0 Max	8	5.5 Max
		+1 staff point for each additional 100 entries

Note: The Staff point numbers represent the total points which can be awarded to all staff members collectively. No single person can receive more total points than the Organizer. For each 100 entries over 500 one additional staff point may be awarded. Organizer points are capped at 6, regardless of competition size.

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.