How commercial beer competitions sort entries into flights
Before a single beer is tasted, organisers have to sort entries into flights. How they do it shapes the results. Here is how commercial competitions group beers, decide the order and keep the judging blind.
What a flight is
A flight is a group of beers judged together by one panel in one sitting. In a commercial competition a flight usually contains beers from a single style category, so the panel can compare like with like. A typical flight holds somewhere around 6 to 12 beers. More than that and palate fatigue starts to distort the scores.
Commercial competitions use style guidelines with many categories. The Brewers Association guidelines, used by many international competitions, list well over 100 styles. Our guide to BJCP and BA style guidelines compares the two main sets.
Step one: entries are checked and numbered
As beers arrive, staff check each entry against its form: correct number of bottles or cans, correct category, nothing broken. Each entry receives a code. Any labels that could identify the brewery are covered or removed. From this point only a few organisers can match code to brewery.
Beers then go straight into cold storage. A competition that leaves hoppy beers in a warm warehouse is judging age as much as brewing. For the same reason, many competitions ask brewers to send recent stock.
Step two: beers are grouped by style
Entries are sorted by category. Large categories are split into several flights. Small ones, perhaps two or three entries, may be combined with a related style so that the panel has enough to compare. Specialty beers usually come with a description from the brewer, which is passed to the judges with the beer.
Organisers also try to keep each flight internally sensible. A flight of Belgian ales might separate a light blonde from a strong dark ale, even if the guidelines group them nearby.
Step three: the order within a flight
Within a flight, beers are usually served from least to most intense. A common order is by strength, bitterness and flavour intensity:
- Lower alcohol, paler and more delicate beers first.
- Then moderate, more malty or hoppy beers.
- Then strong, roasty, smoky, sour or heavily spiced beers last.
The logic is the same one you use for a home beer tasting: an intense beer leaves flavour on the palate that would swamp a delicate one tasted after it. Organisers often use the stated ABV and style to decide the order before the day.
Step four: assigning judges
Each flight goes to a panel, often two to four judges in commercial competitions. Organisers avoid conflicts of interest: a brewer should not judge a category where their own brewery has entered. They also try to match experience to category, putting judges with deep knowledge of lagers on the lager flights and so on.
Panels in commercial competitions often work by discussion and elimination. In early rounds they decide which beers advance. In the final round they pick the medal winners. Some competitions allow judges to withhold a medal if no beer in the category is good enough.
Why serving matters to fairness
Stewards pour every beer in the flight into identical glasses, usually small and clear so judges can see colour and clarity. They aim for similar serving temperatures across the flight. A beer poured at 3 °C next to one at 10 °C would not get a fair comparison.
Timing matters too. Ageing compounds, such as the honey and toffee notes covered in our guide to ageing in pale beer, show up more as beer warms and sits. Competitions therefore pour each beer just before it is judged.
When a category is too big or too small
Category size causes most of the headaches in flight planning. A popular style such as American IPA might receive dozens of entries. Organisers split it into several flights of around 10, each judged by a different panel. The top beers from each flight then meet again in a later round, so every entry still competes against the whole category in the end.
Small categories cause the opposite problem. Three entries of a rare historical style are not enough for a meaningful flight. Organisers may combine them with a neighbouring style, judge them in a mixed flight or, in some competitions, merge the category with another for that year. Entrants usually learn about this only when results come out.
For a brewer the lesson is simple. The number of entries in your category shapes how hard a medal is to win. Many competitions publish entry counts per category. That figure is worth reading before you celebrate or despair.
What brewers can learn from flight design
For a brewer, knowing how flights work explains a lot of results. Enter a beer in a style it truly fits, because it will be judged against the others in that flight. Send fresh stock, because it may sit in a cold store for days. Write a clear description for specialty entries, because that text is all the judges know about your intent.
Your first step: next time you see competition results, look up how many entries each category received. A medal in a flight of 40 is a different achievement from a medal in a flight of five.
Common questions
How many beers are in a competition flight?
Usually around 6 to 12, so judges can compare them before palate fatigue sets in.
In what order are beers judged?
Usually from least to most intense: lighter, lower alcohol beers first and strong, roasty, smoky or sour beers last.
Are beer competitions judged blind?
Yes. Entries are coded and identifying labels are hidden so judges do not know which brewery made each beer.
Can a competition withhold a medal?
Some do. If no beer in a category is good enough, judges may decide not to award a particular medal.
