Judging Options

By accessing “Judging Options” in “Settings”, configurations related to judging can be set:

You will be directed to this screen:

Fields to be completed:

Service: You can determine whether the entries will be judged one at a time (“Queued”) or simultaneously in flights (“Flights”). If the second option is selected, it is then necessary to define the maximum number of entries that can be evaluated in one flight.

First round cellar-to-panel control: Select between the Manual Check Out (entries must be explicit sent by the Administrator / Cellar Master to the panel before judging) or the Auto Check Out (judges have the ability to evaluate any entry that belongs to the categories assigned to their panel; the Check Out is done by the judge itself). It is important to mention that the Auto Check Out is only available for Queued judging.
Panel service style: Decide whether the bottles are sent directly to the judges (“Bottles are sent directly to the panels”) or if they are pre-served in glasses (“Previously opened and served in glasses”). In certain types of scoresheets, the “Bottle inspection” field will then be available.
Panel entries: Choose whether the judge tracks the entries by using the judging code (“Judges can only access entry information by using the judging code”) or if they have a complete list of the samples beforehand (“Judges have the ability to preview a complete list of entries assigned to their panels in advance“).
Entry Visibility for Judges: Select the entry details that are going to be presented to the judges. Those details can include the Base Style, Special Ingredients and Information about the entry, in addition with the entry's extra fields generated by the administrator in the Settings => Registration menu (if added). Two examples are presented below (with and without extra fields added):

The selected information will be shown to the judges during the different stages of evaluation (First Round, Mid Round, mini BOS and BOS). Below are examples of that, from the judge's perspective:

First Round - Scoresheet type: Select between six beer judging scoresheets, three mead judging scoresheets and two cider judging scoresheets. Clicking on “Example” allows you to have a preview of each scoresheet.

The options for beer are:

AHA/BJCP® Beer Scoresheet - Structured Version: The most detailed out of the six. You can write comments for each sensory aspect. Individual scores for aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel and overall impression are assigned, as well a global score. It is mainly used for homebrew competitions.

BAP Scoresheet: Although it requires scores for each sensory component, it has fewer fields for judges to complete with the aim of reducing judging time in comparison with the AHA/BJCP® Beer Scoresheet. Recommended for professional competitions and for amateur events put together by more experienced homebrew clubs or associations.

BAP Tasting Notes (no scores): It promotes debate around sensory aspects, not score adjustment. Judges debate and select the best beers to advance to the next rounds and don’t have to assign scores to the different aspects.

BAP Express Scoresheet: A fast and very summarized sheet with score assignment. Due to its versatility, it can also be used to judge mead and cider.

BOCBA Entry Tasting Notes: Another summarized sheet with no scoring required, used in the Best Of Craft Beer Awards in the US. Ideal for competitions that judge entries in flights.

PSPD Scoresheet: A summarized sheet with score assignment, used in competitions promoted by Poland’s Homebrewers Association.

The scoresheets currently available for mead are the BAP Express Scoresheet (explained above), the Mead Judging Program (MJP) Scoresheet and the AHA/BJCP® Mead Scoresheet - Structured Version, which are presented below:

Mead Judging Program (MJP) Scoresheet:

AHA/BJCP® Mead Scoresheet - Structured Version:

The options for cider are the BAP Express Scoresheet (explained before) and the AHA/BJCP® Cider Scoresheet - Structured Version (shown below):

The following settings should also be defined:

Minimum overall number of words.
Minimum feedback number of words.
Time warning: Sets the amount of minutes from which a warning appears to the judge informing they went over the established time for a sample to be judged.

In the example below, it is necessary for the judge to complete at least 20 words in the feedback part of the scoresheet before they are able to move on to the next entry. In addition to that, if they spend more than 10 minutes on that entry, a warning will appear (which will not prevent them from continuing judging).

Scores:
- Minimum score: Minimum score that the judge can assign to an entry. For example, in BJCP competitions, the minimum courtesy score is 13 points.
- Maximum score distance: Maximum difference possible at a panel between the judge who scored the highest and the judge who scored the lowest on the same entry. If the difference exceeds that setting, the judging of the entry cannot be recorded unless the judges adjust their difference to lie within that range.
- Allow consensus score out of panel range (maximum and minimum score): By enabling this option, the consensus score can be below the minimum score or higher than the maximum score in the panel. This is useful in case that you have some panels with some judges using the platform, and others using written scoresheets. The consensus score can fall out of the minimum and maximum score defined by the judges using BAP, so this feature allows the organizer to take into consideration the score from written scoresheets.
First Round Advancement Method: Choose between "Judges will have the authority to manually select which samples advance to the next round" (in this case, advancement to the next round will be decided by the judges in the panel) or "Set a minimal score threshold and samples meeting or exceeding the minimal score will be automatically marked as advancing" (if a set score is achieved, the entry will automatically move on to the next round).
Mid round:
- Make mid round notes mandatory: If this option is selected, judges must provide notes on every entry that is judged in the mid rounds.
Mini B.O.S. / B.O.S.:
- Number of award positions: Number of positions that will be awarded in final rounds (this information needs to be defined). If the option “Allow multiple winners for a position” is selected, more than one winner will be allowed in the same position. See the example below; the first position is shared between two entries.

Sample Labels:
- Use the same entry label and number for judging: If this option is selected, the same registration code will be used for judging. This is not recommended if there are judges who have submitted samples. Below are examples of the label without changes, and the label when the sorting process was done.

Suppress participant information on label: If this option is selected, the participant information is not displayed on the entry label. See an example below.

Delivery of scoresheets: Choose between four options: show judge info with contact data (“Show judge info, including contact data”), show judge info but without contact data (“Show judge info, but hide contact data”), show only judge country (“Show only judge country”) or directly avoid showing judge’s data (“Hide judge info”). Below are some examples.

Additionally, the following options can be activated:

“Hide score from scoresheets”: This option hides the score of the entries when the scoresheets are sent to the participant.
“Disclose only consensus score”: Only the consensus score will be shown, but not the individual scores from each judge.
“Disclose mid rounds / Mini B.O.S. and B.O.S. to participants”: The notes of intermediate rounds, Mini B.O.S., and B.O.S. will be displayed to the participants.
“Enable participants to provide feedback on scoresheet quality”: Participants are enabled to provide feedback on the quality of the scoresheets.

Calibration Round: If this option is activated, it allows a calibration round prior to judging. It is necessary to define the style of the calibration round. It should be noted that the style guidelines to be used must first be selected (see Administration => Entry styles).

Once the “Judging Options” settings are finished, click on “Save”.