Class Plan

First off, let me say that I am coordinating the class, but I am not the be all and end all of judges or judge knowledge. I expect everyone who attends to contribute whatever information and skill he/she has to the best of his/her ability.

OK, here's the outline for the study group. This is just my idea of what we should cover. I'm sure I've forgotten plenty of stuff, and I have emphasized areas that I think people tend to be weak on or that the exam is likely to cover. Please let me know if you have any ideas or changes.

I propose 6 3-hour sessions. The first session will be introductory, subsequent sessions will follow a somewhat set schedule. Here are those schedules, with some rough guesses for time spent on each area.

First Session:

Course overview (10')
Goals
Structure

Book Learning:
-What is the BJCP? (15')
-What is a judge? (15')
-What is a style? (15')
-The exam (20')
-Grain anatomy and biochemistry (20')

Judging mechanics (60')
-Discussion of how to judge
-Some sample judging exercises (American Pale Ale,?)

Go over proposed styles to cover in the next 5 weeks (10')

Assign homework of 2 sample exam questions and beers to drink (5')

Sessions 2-6:

Tasting of Beers for style - done with scoresheet but with concurrent discussion 2/session? (40')
Doctored beers ®* - just taste for flaw, with discussion of causes etc. 2/session? (20')
Book Learning --style, technique, judging (60')
Test Review - go over a few sample questions from homework (30')
Judging practice - 1 beer in a well known or recently reviewed style - done ala competition, followed by discussion (15')
Assign homework (5'):
beers to drink (which brand etc.; to be judged)
sample questions (15' strictly timed/question)

Week # Styles Doctored Beers®* Lecture (+ discuss HW style) Judged style Homework style (from prev. wk.)

2 Barley Wine Brown Ale Acetic Lactic Mash contwater vs. style Pilsener Pilsener

3 Scottish Ale Steam DMS-strong bitter The Boil IBUs American Pale Ale Stout and Porter

4 Weizen Weiss isovaleric phenolic Hops and ??? Brown Ale IPA

5 Scotch Ale Bock oxidized diacetyl Yeast and ??? IPA Old Ale

6 Vienna Marzen esters tannic Recipe formulation and Review Dunkel English Pale Ale

This means that we will do 3 regular beers and 2 doctored beers each week after the first, which will have 3 regular beers. This makes 18 regular tastes (~3 oz) and 10 doctored tastes (~2oz). I propose that to sign up for the class one would need to pay $25. Depending on how many people sign up and so on, this should be an excess of funds. We can figure out how to get rid of the extra--maybe a down payment on a post test party? In any case, I will ask for a commitment to pay in full in advance of the first class, I can't afford to buy an excess of beer in anticipation of attendance.

Week #	Styles	Doctored Beers®*	Lecture (+ discuss HW style)	Judged style	Homework style (from prev. wk.)
2	Barley Wine Brown Ale	Acetic Lactic	Mash contwater vs. style	Pilsener	Pilsener
3	Scottish Ale Steam	DMS-strong bitter	The Boil IBUs	American Pale Ale	Stout and Porter
4	Weizen Weiss	isovaleric phenolic	Hops and ???	Brown Ale	IPA
5	Scotch Ale Bock	oxidized diacetyl	Yeast and ???	IPA	Old Ale
6	Vienna Marzen	esters tannic	Recipe formulation and Review	Dunkel	English Pale Ale

* Dr. Beer is a trademark of Jay Hersh