Article and Photos by Gary Morgan, Certified Judge
The tables were set and the judges were gathered to evaluate over 1000 of the best home brews of the year. Not only were the beers the best, so were the judges. That much judging intelligence had not been gathered in one place since Michael Jackson judged alone in London back in the late eighties. ( I pretty much plagiarized that from remarks JFK made about Thomas Jefferson).
The competition was superbly organized, the stewards well instructed and competent, and the beers were served at the right temperature.
Flights were kept to an average of eight in the morning and six in the afternoon. The often occurring pallet fatigue was avoided.
There was some confusion regarding the hybrid judging styles defined by the organizers. Those who used their phone apps were frequently jumping back and forth. The organizers printed customized style guidelines with the categories grouped according to the hybrid style groupings used in the finals. Those who used the hard copy had no problem.