Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Studio: David Teckam and Dave Louw
• DVD Release Date: January 5, 2009
• Run Time: 147 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001P06K4E
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,270 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for the absolute beginner in beer judging, October 27, 2010

By 

James "merddyn" (Houston, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beer Judging School - Judging (DVD)

This will NOT prepare you for BJCP certification or anything of the sort, but it is a good primer for the very basics in beer judging. If you've never done a judging session before it's worth watching. If you've done one or two judgings you're probably not going to get much out of this DVD.

Note, the production of this video is VERY low budget. It's literally filmed in a guy's garage as he's giving the class to a few students. As he walks them through tasting several beers and writing up score sheets you are often distracted by background noises such as a truck roaring by, an ice cream truck, etc. The light quality toward the end of the DVD is very poor as well since they're using natural ambient light only. Toward the end of the DVD you can't even read what he's writing, but you can still follow what's being said. I didn't let this effect my rating though, because you're not really buying this DVD for lighting and production quality.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best BJCP instructors out there, September 19, 2010

By 

Ken Weaver - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beer Judging School - Judging (DVD)

David Teckam was my BJCP exam tutor in Spring 2010, and his guidance, knowledge of the subject, and constant attention and support were hugely helpful in learning and understanding the material for the BJCP exam. David helped structure the material itself, as well as the necessary background needed to understand the exam and better prepare for what really was one of the most difficult test-taking experiences of my life. There's a ton of information to get through, and David's DVDs offer this same knowledge base and patience at, per usual, minimal cost. David's support for beer education and the skills learned through BJCP studying are hugely evident here.

As someone who isn't a homebrewer, and who didn't have the typical background going into the exam, David's teaching and online curriculum made the test approachable and passable. I was hoping for certified-level scores, and scored well beyond that.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top marks for content, valuable to learn beer judging, December 23, 2009

By 

Gail Ann Williams "call me gail, or fotogail" (Northern California, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beer Judging School - Judging (DVD)

I remember studying for the Beer Judge Certification Program exam and being desperate for something other than more reading material for my weary brain. Later, upon seeing this useful video overview of judging, I felt a little bit jealous of those studying for the BJCP exam now. This video will be particularly valuable for those studying on their own, without taking a judging class in person through their local brewers club.

David's live lesson for his class on the most important aspects of beer judging is practical and confidence-building. It has concrete and valuable tips for how to fill out a beer competition score sheet properly, and how to improve your descriptive abilities. This video offers plenty of insight and information to prospective judges. It may also be valuable for serious competitive homebrewers who want to learn more about how to interpret the score sheets they get back from competitions.

Grab a scoresheet off the BJCP site, pour yourself a beer, and do some tasting and describing along with the students in the video if you like.

I'm giving this video five stars despite very simple, primitive production values (one camera on a tripod during a live class, which proves charming in a slightly funky style at times). I've been a photo and film enthusiast for a long time, and generally am demanding about those qualities, but in this case they did not matter. You may not be able to get a spouse or pal to sit through it, but if you need to learn about judging beers, this is a solid addition to your elite homebrewer or beer judge's library.

[In the spirit of full and useful disclosure: I have gotten to know David Teckam pretty well and have both judged beer competitions with him and assisted him with some beer tasting and learning events. I also have suggested this video to people who are prepping for the BJCP exam, so I figured it would be useful to review it here.]