ABOUT

Judging Method

1. A judge team is composed of 5 to 7 judges. The qualifications of judges of "The International Beer Cup" are one of following.

  1. Member of The Craft Beer Association who are certified as "Beer Judge".
  2. Brewer who is currently working for a brewery and have brewing experience for more than 3 years.(The brewer cannot judge the style which includes their beer.)
  3. International judge who have judging experience of WBC, IBA(formally BIIA), AIBA ,EBS or IBC.
  4. Person who is certified as having similer skill of above "a", "b" or "c" by The Craft Beer Association.

2. The judges judge the beers using a blind test with only a number of the samples. The name and brand of the beers are hidden for the judges.

3. The judges taste the samples individually, then the judges have a discussion.

4. The judges use the "Beer Style Guideline 2404" as a standard of the competition. The beers which does not conform to the guideline, or has a off flavor for the style are excluded.

5. The judges make decisions of the color of the medals for each style with evaluating the appearance, flavor and balance of the beers which passes the 1st step using the standard. Gold, Silver or Bronze medals of a style is generally given only for 1 beer. The case of "not applicable" is possible. The standards for the color of the medals are following.

  • "Gold". The beer which completely follows the Beer Style Guideline and has the world no.1 class appearance, aroma and flavor.
  • "Silver". The beer which highly follows the Beer Style Guideline and has the outstanding appearance, aroma and flavor.
  • "Bronze". The beer which follows the Beer Style Guideline and has the excellent appearance, aroma and flavor.

6. Category Champions

  • The judges make decisions of the "Category Champions" from "Gold" winning beers for 12 categories which is composed of several styles with the comprehensive evaluation such as balance, drinkability, overall impression and additional components.

7. Entrants of the IBC will receive

  • Certification Sheet and Medal (Gold / Silver / Bronze medal winners only)
  • Certification Sheet (Category Champions only)
  • Judging report with summary of the result for each entries.
  • Comment sheets from each judges for each entries.
  • Comment sheets from each judges for each entries.(generally from 5 or 6 judges, at least from 3 judges)

Competition Organizer

Yusuke Yamamoto

CEO/Director General

The Craft Beer Association

Isao Tamura

Competition Adviser

Satoshi Murabayashi

Competition Manager

Tetsuya Kojima

Competition Manager

Masayoshi Kaji

Chief Judge

Yuji Tsuji

Chief Steward