Beer Judge Certification Program

Interim Committee Rules / By-Laws

Adopted March 30, 1995

These by-laws will remain in effect for the interim period during which the BJCP is reorganized and converted to a program independent of either the AHA or the HWBTA.

INTERIM: The duration of the period for reorganization will be no longer than one year. If new by-laws are not adopted at the end of the year the BJCP shall cease to exist unless an extension is approved by the majority of participating judges in the program.

During the interim the by-laws titled "Beer Judge Certification Program, Committee Rules/By-laws" which were approved in June, 1989 and revised on February 21, 1995 shall remain in effect with the following exceptions:

All references to the original program sponsors (AHA & HWBTA), their appointments, and exofficio seats on the Beer Judge Certification Committee (BJCC) shall be ignored.
The seven (7) voting member seats of the BJCC shall remain filled by those existing appointees who wish to remain seated until such time as they can be replaced by delegates elected by the participating judges in the program on a regional basis. The US and Canada will be divided into seven regions each of which will chose a representative to serve on the BJCC during the interim.
The BJCC shall select a voting committee member to serve as Chair.
The positions of Co-directors, Associate directors, and Program Administrator shall be filled by appointees of the BJCC.
Vacancies on the BJCC will be filled by appointment by the Chair with approval of the majority of the remainder of the BJCC.
A temporary mailing address and bank account shall be established for the duration of the interim.
Records of the business conducted by the BJCC and the historical records of the BJCP shall be maintained by the Chair and passed to succeeding Chairs.
Records of the exams given during the interim will be maintained by the Co-directors.

Primary Tasks and Goals:

The primary task of the BJCC during the interim will be to hold an election for delegates to fill the seven voting seats on the committee. Every effort should be made to complete this election by the 4th day of July following the adoption of these interim by-laws. Once an election has been held the committee will focus on the creation of new by-laws which will define the structure of the future BJCP as a democratically represented, independent entity. These by-laws will be completed and presented to the participating judges of the Program for approval by vote no later than one year from the adoption date of these interim by-laws.

The Beer Judge Certification Program

Committee Rules/By-Laws

Approved: June 1986/Revised: February 21, 1995

Purpose and Authority: The American Homebrewers Association, Inc., (AHA) and the Home Wine and Beer Trade Association, Inc., (HWBTA) have agreed to establish the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).
1. The Purposes of this Program are to:
  1. Recognize and promote beer appreciation and evaluation, through educational activities which may include but not be limited to: publications, events, competitions, and examinations.
  2. Recognize and promote socially responsible use of beer as an alcoholic beverage.
  3. Set standards for program participants.
2. The authority granted to this program are:
  1. The Beer Judge Certification Program shall be governed by the Beer Judge Certification Committee (Committee).
  2. The Presidents of the AHA and HWBTA shall appoint an equal number of members from their respective organizations to serve on the Committee.
  3. The Presidents of these organizations shall serve as ex-officio members of the Committee.
  4. The Committee shall adopt, review, revise, and approve by-laws to fulfill the mission statement of the BJCP.
  5. The Committee shall be responsible for the financial and strategic planning of the Program.
  6. Three delegates to the BJCC shall be elected from the pool of active BJCP judges by same. The BJCC Chair may fill vacancies to these seats by appointment, with approval of the majority of remaining BJCC voting members.
  7. All exofficio members of the committee will be non-voting.
Beer Judge Certification Committee:
1. The Committee shall select a Committee member to chair the Committee, a member to serve as Secretary, and a member to serve as Treasurer. The Chair will be assumed for a period of one year from July 1 through June 30.
2. The Committee shall meet at least once a year and such meetings shall be in person, by telephone or other telecommunication, or by mail.
3. In all matters of procedure not otherwise herein provided for, "Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised" shall prevail in all meetings of the Committee.
4. Decisions of the Committee shall require a majority vote of the Committee membership.
5. Records:
  1. Records of meetings and actions of the Committee shall be maintained and communicated to both parent organizations.
  2. Permanent records of meetings shall be maintained in the offices of the AHA.
6. Program Staff:
  1. Administration of the BJCP shall be carried out by program Co-Directors, one representing each parent organization, program Associate Directors, an equal number from each parent organization, and by a Program Administrator. The Co-directors, Associate Directors, and Program Administrator shall be appointed by the Committee upon recommendation of the Presidents of each respective parent organization.
  2. The Co-Directors, Associate Directors, and Program Administrator shall be ex-officio members of the Committee.
  3. The Program Administrator may be an employee of either parent organization.
7. No individual may serve as an exofficio member of the Committee and hold a voting position simultaneously
8. A member of the Committee will be appointed Secretary for each meeting. Minutes will be provided to the membership promptly for their review and correction/acceptance.
Staff Responsibilities:
1. Program Directors:
  1. Conduct and/or authorize beer judge and beer appreciation and educational events, including examinations.
  2. Tests will be scored by the Co-director who schedules the test, the other Co-director shall either confirm the scores or designate an associate Director to do so. Disagreements between a Co-director and Associate director may be referred to the other Co-director. Once scores are agreed to, they shall be forwarded to the Program Administrator.
  3. The Directors shall thereupon grant or deny recognition or certification status to the applicant.
  4. The Directors shall prepare standards of conduct for Judges and judging procedures.
  5. The Directors shall define the requirements for and levels of achievement for recognition and certification.
  6. The Directors shall carry out such other responsibilities as are designated by the Committee to fulfill the Mission Statement and Program purpose.
2. Program Administrator:
  1. Maintain records of competitions and examinations.
  2. Notify examinees of test results.
  3. Maintain the Program financial records.
  4. Receive requests for examinations and other events and notify the Directors thereof.
  5. Receive complaints/grievances against competition organizers, judges and stewards and notify the Directors.
  6. Coordinate BJCP publicity efforts.
  7. Carry out such other responsibilities as directed by the Committee or the Program Co-Directors.
3. Associate Directors:
  1. Assist in the scoring of exams as detailed in III A 2.
  2. Carry out other responsibilities as directed by the Committee or the Program Co-directors.
Recognition and Personnel:
1. The voting members of the Committee, Co-directors, Associate Directors, and Program Administrator (Personnel) may not increase their level of recognition under the Program while active in any of the above official capacities.
2. During the term of service to the Program, the Personnel shall continue to accumulate experience points.
3. The Personnel shall be recognized as "Honorary Master Judges."
Status Publication: The name, status, city, and state of residence of program participants may be published by either parent organizations. Other information about participants may not be published.
Requirements for Recognition and Certification of Beer Judges:
1. LEVELS OF BEER JUDGES: An individual's level of certification is determined by two factors: exam score and experience points earned through sanctioned competitions.
  1. RECOGNIZED BEER JUDGE: A person who has scored a minimum of 60% on the judge certification examination, but who has not completed the other requirements for certification.
  2. CERTIFIED BEER JUDGE: A person who has scored a minimum of 70% on the judge certification examination and has accumulated five experience points.
  3. NATIONAL BEER JUDGE: A person who has scored a minimum of 80% on the judge certification examination and has accumulated 20 experience points.
  4. MASTER BEER JUDGE: A person who has scored a minimum of 90% on the judge certification examination and has accumulated 40 experience points.
  5. GRAND MASTER JUDGE - FIRST DEGREE: A person who has scored a minimum of 90% on the judge certification examination and has accumulated 100 experience points and who has performed a period of service for the BJCP to be determined by the Co-directors on an individual basis.
    1. Additional degrees, second, third, etc., can be earned in 100 experience point increments with additional service requirements to be determined by the Co-directors on an individual basis.
    2. Master Judges are automatically eligible to fulfill the service requirements at any time. Other judges may fulfill the service requirement at the discretion of the Co-directors.
  6. HONORARY MASTER JUDGE: A temporary designation by the Committee of a person whose skills in the appreciation and evaluation of beers are widely acknowledged.
2. EXPERIENCE POINTS: Candidates for recognition or certification as a beer judge will receive and accumulate experience points according to the following schedule:
  1. A Steward will receive one experience point at the national competitions, one-half point at large regional competitions having 75 or more entries, and zero points at recognized small regional competitions having less than 75 entries.
  2. 1. A Judge will receive two experience points at national competitions, one point at recognized large regional competitions having 75 or more entries, and one-half point at recognized small regional competitions having less than 75 entries.
    2. Effective March 1, 1994, in accordance with Sections VI-B-9 & 11, judges participating in "first rounds" of National competitions and competitions with at least 500 total entries shall receive 1 point for the first session attended and .5 points for each subsequent session with a limit of 1.5 points per calendar day and a total limit of 3 points for the event. Any judge who participates in all sessions of a National competition at a single site shall receive the total maximum allowable points (within the calendar and event limits), regardless of the total number of sessions judged at that site.
  3. A Best-of-Show Judge will receive five experience points at the national competitions, two points at recognized large regional competitions having 75 or more entries, and one point at recognized small regional events having less than 75 entries. Best of Show points may be awarded only in competitions which receive at least six entries in each of at least five different classes or styles of beer. A competition organizer may not submit experience points for more than one best-of-show judge for every 25 entries, with a limit of four best-of-show judges.
  4. A minimum of one-half of the experience points for judge certification must be judging experience points.
  5. The organizer of a national or regional competition shall receive experience points according with the following schedule:
```
ENTRIES		POINTS
500 or more 		10
300 or more 		7
150 or more 		5
75 or more 		3
Less than 75 		2
```
    The organizer may allocate his experience points to members of his competition staff, in increments of 0.5 points.
  6. For any one competition, only one point category will be allowed for an individual--steward, judge, or organizer.
    1. Effective January 1, 1990, a Steward, Judge or Best-of Show Judge may receive up to one experience point allocated by the organizer, as provided in section V. B. 5.
    2. Effective September 1, 1990, a Steward, Judge or Best-of-Show Judge may receive up to one experience point as an assistant organizer, as provided in section V. B. 10.
    3. Effective March 1, 1994, for any one competition, points may be awarded to individuals from different categories (ie. judging, stewarding, BOS, or organizing) provided the total points awarded to an individual do not exceed the calendar or event limits for the competition.
  7. Competitions must be recognized by one of the sponsoring organizations.
  8. A test administrator shall receive one-half point for exams with 4-6 test takers, one point for 7-11 takers, and two points for exams with greater than 11 test takers. Effective for exams given since April 1, 1989 the administrator may allocate experience points to those who help proctor the exam, in increments of 0.5 points.
    1. Administrator points may be docked or not allowed by the Co-Directors if the administrator does not score the tests and get them to the directors within two weeks of giving the exams.
    2. Program directors may not earn administering points.
    3. Exams given prior to June 1, 1988 shall receive points according to the above schedule.
    4. Effective for exams given since April 1, 1989 the administrator may allocate experience points to those who help proctor the exam, in increments of 0.5 points.
  9. Effective July 1, 1989, Judges and Best-of-Show Judges at a National Competition having judging sessions that take place on different calendar days will receive experience points according to the following schedule:
    1. Judges at national competitions will receive two experience points for judging one session and one-half experience point for additional sessions up to a limit of three total points for one event.
    2. Best-of-Show Judges at national competitions will receive five experience points for judging the best-of-show session and one-half experience point for additional sessions up to a limit of six total points for one event.
  10. Effective September 1, 1990, the assistant organizer of a national or regional competition shall receive experience points according to the following schedule:
```
ENTRIES POINTS
500 or more 5
300 to 499 3
150 to 299 1
```
    Assistant organizer points may be allocated between different assistants in 0.5 point increments.
  11. National Competitions:
    1. Each parent organization may submit best-of-show experience points for only one National Competition per calendar year.
    2. Each parent organization may submit National experience points for any number of events providing each event is part of a single competition culminating in the best-of-show described in VI B 11 a. Each event must be differentiated from the others by registration, either by mailing address, or registration of one event must start after all judging at the same location has finished.
  12. Effective July 29, 1993 Judges at extra-large regional competitions having 500 or more entries will receive 0.5 experience point per judging session, but not less than 1 experience point for the event. In any case, a maximum of 1 point per calendar day of judging and a maximum of 2 experience points for the event shall apply.
3. JUDGE ACTIVITY: If no experience points have been earned at the end of the two-year period, the judge will be put on an inactive judge list until experience points are earned. After two years on the inactive list, he will be terminated from the program.
4. JUDGE RECERTIFICATION: A judge whose Recognition or Certification has lapsed may re-apply for Recognition or Certification to the Beer Judge Certification Committee.
5. It is not intended that program participants derive economic benefit from their participation status by charging fees for their services as judges, or in any other way.
"Trademark":
1. No participant in the program shall allow the Program logo, the names BJCP, B. J. C. P., or Beer Judge Certification Program to be used in any way without the consent of the committee.
Committee Discipline:
1. The Administrator or either Co-director may bring to the attention of the Committee any complaint regarding the conduct of any participant. The Committee may, by majority vote, reprimand or remove from the program any Judge who demonstrates conduct that is contrary to the goals of the program.

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