I'm a recognized rank judge, and after this weekend I'll be certified.
I just finished judging some belgian strong ales. The two guys at my table with me were quite annoying. They talked just about the beers the whole time without giving me the chance to let things appear to me. Some of it was just flat out wrong, the mead judge called a clove aroma an ester. They tried to influence each other and one gave terrible score sheets. Literally one to two lines per section.
We had a flight of 7 beers and two were really good. One was a dubbel the other a BDS. IMO, the dubbel lacked intensity of character to really be a great beer. It was really good, but no more than a 39 or 40. The other two judged it 42 and 43. We're within 5, so fine. The BDS was fantastic. The malt and dark fruit esters popped, dry smooth finish. Really damn good beer.
So we're arguing if we're gonna push both and the other two didn't like the dubbel as much as the bds. Both scored over 40. The one judge says, "I haven't had many belgians nor brewed many, It's not really my style." This is the certified judge that is heading the table. The other judge is a mead judge. So we finally agree to push both beers. When the head judge was tallying the score sheets he put the dubbel ahead of the bds even though it scored higher than the dubbel. He says, "I think the dubbel is a better dubbel than the bds is a bds." I just stared at him, shook my head and got up. Both got pushed, fine. I didn't care to tell this idiot it's not his decision.
I don't understand why these guys have egos about judging beer. It's ####ing dumb. You're supposed to be objective and go by the rules, not make arbitrary decisions.
I wish there was continued checks and balances in the BJCP. I think at events like this one random scoresheet should be pulled and copied from random ranked judges. Those sheets should be filed and checked periodically to make sure they are filling them out correctly. If the sheets aren't up to par, they should be put on probation. If poor sheets continue their rank should be reduced, or forced to take the tasting exam again if they are really bad. I also think that all judges should have to pass an online bjcp rules test every two years so that they don't make bad assumptions and comps are kept fair.
I know this is asking a lot, but I've been judging for 3 years now, this my first as official bjcp, and I've noticed these same behaviors above quite a bit. I hope it isn't prevalent in other comps around the country, but I bet it's the same.