The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) has released new guidelines for beer, mead, and cider. The guidelines can be found at the BJCP Style Center.

There are some major changes in the beer guidelines.  I have not had a chance to look at the mead and cider changes.  The beer guidelines have undergone major changes.  I like the fact that the new guidelines have a category for “historical” beer.

This is the opening paragraph of the new beer guidelines:

The 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines are a major revision from the 2008 edition. The goals of the new edition are to better address world beer styles as found in their local markets, keep pace with emerging craft beer market trends, describe historical beers now finding a following, better describe the sensory characteristics of modern brewing ingredients, take advantage of new research and references, and help competition organizers better manage the complexity of their events.

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