Hello, fellow BJCP judges. I’m sorry we can’t be together for our annual meeting and other events this year. As we are all impacted by the global pandemic, I’ll focus my remarks on that subject.
In our primary role as a certifying organization for beer judges and competitions, we have been flexible with rescheduling and cancellation requests from exams and competitions. The BJCP doesn’t run these events directly, so any status requests on individual events should go through administrators and organizers of these functions.
The BJCP has not kept anyone from holding exams or competitions — that decision is up to the local organizer based on their local conditions and public health orders. We don’t want to apply a universal standard to a problem that has local differences, but we do support the decisions the administrators and organizers make.
Since we know that people have fewer options for exams and competitions, we are also being flexible with online exam certificates and judge expirations. We don’t have set rules since we aren’t back to normal operations yet. Just know we intend to be lenient with honoring online exam certificates for exams that were cancelled, and that we won’t be processing judge expirations while the pandemic is in effect. Even when we do restart expiring judges, understand that we never delete your records — they can be reactivated at any time.
Several groups of judges expressed interest in exploring some form of virtual judging, or in coming up with standards for conducting in-person judging while under some form of social distancing rules. We support these efforts, and look forward to seeing what best-of-breed solutions emerge. We don’t have enough data yet to recommend any methods, but we will help publicize approaches that work. We don’t want to dictate specifics at this point since that might stifle innovative solutions.
Our education team is looking at conducting some additional events and introducing additional training during this inactive time. Stay tuned for more from them. I personally think it’s a great time to focus on your core skills that make you a better judge, whether it’s sensory training or working on your scoresheet comments, these are things you can do at home. Use your free time wisely to become better judges so we can all benefit when our events restart.
I have no predictions as to when things will return to normal. I’ve had events cancel on me through November already, so I know we have a ways to go. As we restart, do so smartly. Please be aware of any special rules introduced at any events you attend and don’t complain to them about complying. Consider not only your own health but the safety of others. We are all likely to be a bit more wary as we start to engage in normal life again. I think that’s not only normal but healthy.
Please continue to stay safe, and I hope to see you all again in the future. Be well.
Gordon Strong, President
Beer Judge Certification Program