I was pleased that one of my beers, my Scottish Export, got 3rd in its category. My first medal. Total results are below.
Avg Scores
Munich Dunkel: 38.5
Scottish Export: 39 (1st round), 39.5 (2nd round)
American Stout: 40 (1st round), 35 (2nd round, more on this below)
Barely Wine: 35
Cherry Mead: 29 (more below)
Gotta say, I thought if any of my stuff got a medal, it would be the stout. It is delicious. After reading the judge's score sheets, I was even more disappointed. I had one repeat judge between the first and second rounds. He praised it the first round and gave it a 39. The second round he wasn't as impressed and gave it a 32. Out of the 4 score sheets I got for that beer, that 32 was the one outlier. Scores were 38, 39, 41 and 32. Most comments said I needed more hop bitterness. I think I'll try to enter it into another stout category for the next competition to see how it fairs.
And I goofed on my cherry mead. Apparently I forgot to specify the sweetness. I got docked 5 points for that. Lesson learned! Also, both judges said it was fantastic to drink, with one even saying they would serve it at dinner. They both felt it was more like a wine than a mead. I'm just not sure where to classify it next time.
In general, I got some good consistent feedback that is going to help inform my next iteration of these beers. They're not perfect, yet
Hope everyone that entered got the same and had a good time in the process.