The Judging Process
Beers are judged on both taste and packaging with 60% of marks on taste and 40% on packaging.
A team of expert judges including beer critics, current and former brewers, buyers and retailers and specialists from the packaging and marketing sector, are assembled for a day of judging in London. Each category is judged individually, with teams of judges awarding marks out of 30 in a blind tasting. The same team then judges the packaging from a different category, this time awarding marks out of 20. Each entrant thereby ends up with a combined mark out of 50.
The 70 beers with the highest scores will go through to the super jury stage. This stage will identify the 'World's 50 Best Beers', the winning beers from each of the 12 classes, the winner of the international section and of course our supreme champion. In addition, special prizes may be awarded at the judges discretion.
The Judging Panel
We are delighted to welcome Jeff Evans again this year as Chairman of Judges. Jeff is an award-winning, internationally-published beer writer and is seen as the leading authority on bottled-conditioned ales. He has written and edited eight editions of the Campaign for Real Ale's best-selling Good Beer Guide and six editions of CAMRA's Good Bottled Beer Guide. Jeff writes regularly for various magazines and newspapers, and was Beer Writer of the Year 2001. Jeff is responsible for overseeing the coordination of the judging panel. He also sets out the tasting and packaging guidelines and offers expert insight into many of the beers entered. Accompanying Jeff will be a range of judges including former brewers, beer buyers, independent beer retailers, and beer enthusiasts such as writers and broadcasters. Five of the judges will be selected for the Super Jury panel.
The list of judges will be available to all entrants once confirmed.
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