OVHA Chat

Here is a message I received from John Morrical, Chief Steward for the Brew's Cup this year.



Hello,

This message is going to those who have expressed interest in serving as a steward for the 2009 Indiana State Fair Brewers' Cup, as well as those who were stewards in 2008. I have spoken with many of you and exchanged e-mail with others. I am the Chief Steward for this year's Brewers' Cup, and hope that you can join me on July 10th/11th and help out as a steward.

Many of you have been a steward for past competitions, and other may be interested in participating for the first time. Either way, it is a great experience. It's a lot of fun and very rewarding. You'll have the opportunity to taste some great beers, hear first-hand what experienced beer judges have to say about them, and be able to compare your thoughts to theirs. For those of you who are brewers, being involved in the competition can help you to hone your skills and gain a better (or at least different) perspective on what judges are looking for in a great beer.

Stewards will be charged with presenting the beers to be judged to the judges in an ordered, anonymous fashion, ensuring that the judges have all of the resources that they need (e.g. cups, water, bread, style guidelines), and performing some record-keeping for the flight of beers being judged. No experience is required...only a love of beer, a desire to learn, and/or a willingness to help.

This year's Brewers' Cup competition will be held on Friday, July 10th and Saturday, July 11th. Depending on the volume of entries, there could be an extra session added Thursday evening. In total, there will be at least 3 regular sessions and a Best of Show round. The Friday session will take place in the evening (judging is at 7:30 - stewards should arrive at 6:00), the Saturday morning judging starts at 10:00 (stewards should arrive at 8:30), and the Saturday afternoon judging starts at 1:00 (stewards not already there should arrive at 12:00). The Best of Show session will follow the Saturday afternoon session and precede the 6:00 p.m. Brewers' Cup Award Ceremony. We will need stewards for all 3 sessions and the Best of Show. If a Thursday evening session is necessary, I'll let you know.

Please respond to this address to let me know if you'd like to steward. Also, please let me know if you plan to be available to steward for all 3 sessions (1 Friday & 2 Saturday) or if you'll be available for only certain sessions. For those interested in stewarding, more information will follow, including a more specific timeline and a list of things to bring.

Thanks again! I'm looking forward to working with all of you and making this year's Brewers' Cup another great success. Please let me know if you have any questions. You can reach me by e-mail to jmorrica@sbcglobal.net or by phone at (317) 283-6344.

Cheers,

John Morrical

I have volunteered for all three sessions. I'm interested in carpooling and splitting a room if anyone else is going up on Friday. I will be staying Saturday night also. Stewards are to be at the fairgrounds by 6:00PM EST on Friday, so we will have to leave approx. 1:30PM our time.

I'm planning on going but can't get there in time for the Friday night session. Probably will leave EARLY Sat. AM and will come back Sunday AM

I am going Friday afternoon. I thgink Jim Dippel is too. I can take a total of 4.

I've signed up for all three as well. I'll likely be staying at my uncle's again. He could probably fit two more in the living room, another on the den couch, and I can bring an aerobed if interested. He's over by the airport so it's a little bit of a drive but not too bad. Let me know if you would like to stay with us.

Looks like it is Jim, Dwayne, Chris and I going up Fridy afternoon. Let's meet at my house between 12:00 and 12:30PM. Jim & I are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in downtown Indy. Two nights for $136.20 on hotwire.com. You can drop us off & take my truck to your uncle's house. Just remember to pick us up Saturday morning.

Sounds like a plan. Chris, does the offer still stand for a place for me to crash at your uncle's?

Randy and I are planning on making it up there as well. Because we're not sure when I can be there due to work, we decided to not commit to Stewarding.

Wish I could make it up but it's my b-day weekend and I'm heading to a show with the lady. Bring home some ribbons gents.

Offer still stands! It's not as good as it was because he has some other family in town so the spare bedroom is out Friday night, but there are plenty of big couches and I'm bringing an AeroBed.

Wasn't Brad going too?

Ok, I have a question. Just got home from vacation and received my pack from the state fairgrounds. The judging sheets included in my pack scored 42 and a 41. However my cover sheet clearly had an average score of 42 and someone erased it and put a 39. How and why would that have happened? thanks

Was the "Went To Mini Best of Show" box checked? There is always discussion at the end of the flight on which was 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. This is usually decided by the score, but if there is a Mini Best of Show round, two tables (or more) of judges are judging the same style. There were just too many entries in the category for one set of judges. So each table will send there best zero to four beers on the MBOS. They are not "re-judged" at the MBOS, the beers are just all poured and tasted and there is discussion among the lead judges about which will be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. The score on the cover sheet is called the "Final Assigned Score" and my not just be the average of the score sheets. Once 1st, 2nd, and 3rd are assigned, the cover sheet scores are adjusted to reflect that 1st place had the highest score, 2nd the second highest, etc. I might be able to explain this better at the meeting.

Or someone can't do math...

Ok, granted my comprehension is low because my head is full of salt water and sand right now, not to mention how much belgian beer I drank last week. But I think you'll have to try again in person to explain that one. lol

I did not place 1 -3 so my beer should not have gone to that second panel right? Is there a way to find out the actual score of 1 -3? I'm not bitter or anything and they said it was a great balanced tripel they enjoyed so I'm happy. I just don't get the math.

Let's try this example:

3 groups of judges with 10 beers each to judge

These beers go the mini-Best-of-Show (2 best beers from each group of judges)
Group 1, beer 1, scored 38
Group 1, beer 2, scored 40

Group 2, beer 1, scored 36
Group 2, beer 2, scored 35

Group 3, beer 1, scored 43
Group 3, beer 2, scored 41

After tasting all of the beers, the 3 lead judges decide that:
1st goes to Group 2, beer 1 (36)
2nd goes to Group 3, beer 1 (43)
3rd goes to Group 3, beer 2 (41)

Since 1st scored less than 2nd and 3rd, adjustments must be made to the final scores.