Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

For those interested, the BJCP has put the first exam online and it's now ready to use. To learn more visit http://www.bjcp.org/index.php. You can take the 200 question exam for $10. There is also a free 20 question practice exam you can take to see if you are ready.

Anyone who wants to become a BJCP exam must now start by taking the online exam. If you pass, then you can sign up to take a 6 beer tasting exam. Your score in the tasting exam will determine if you start at Apprentice, Recognized, or Certified levels. To get to National or higher, you must now score 80 or more on the tasting exam, acquire at least 10 judging points and pass the written exam.

I took the sample exam and passed, but will probably do some more studying before I take the real exam. There are many multiple-choice, multiple answer questions. These are graded all-or-nothing, so if you miss one you don't get any points for that question.

Oh, another relevant thing: You only have a year to complete the tasting exam from when you take the online exam. It's unclear at this time how strict they are going to be on this. So it's probably a good idea to hold off taking the official online test unless you are sure you'l be able to get to a tasting exam in time. In some areas they are full for the next 18 months.