Mazer Cup Home Volunteer Info

Judges and Stewards

If you have registered, log in and then choose Edit Account from the My Account menu indicated by the icon on the top menu.

Other Volunteer Info

PLEASE SIGN UP ON THIS SITE FOR BOTH HOME AND COMMERCIAL

If you would like to volunteer to be a competition staff member, please register or update your account to indicate that you wish to be a part of the competition staff.

Meals will be provided for all volunteers and judges.  Each night there will be a sponsored Happy Hour for all judges and volunteers with drinks and light snacks.

The judging location will be in downtown Milwaukee, WI; the address will be updated this week.

Judging Instructions

• If you score a mead lower than 25, you will need approval from the organizers.  Notice we are not saying you cannot; we only say you need permission.
  
  
• All meads are served double-masked, meaning neither the steward nor judges will see or know the poured mead. Likewise, judges and stewards don’t see the bottles of entry.
   
• The entire flight will be served at one time. Flights will be limited to seven meads.
   
• Don’t be a jerk! Do not write mean comments on scoresheets.  
   
• DO NOT be a hero! Instead, please use the spit bucket. 
   
• Please stop judging if you even remotely think your palate is tired. We owe that to our fellow mead makers!
   
• You cannot take those points to heaven with you. Stop playing it safe and worrying about what your judging partner will give the mead or playing the middle of the road in the thirties game. State your claim and score for the mead, and then justify why you gave it that score. Do not be intimidated by your judging partner or feel you are wrong because they do not pick up or appreciate the same things you do. Do the work and know that there is a conversation between finalizing the score and you can talk about the mead.  
   
• Do not champion entries! Keep meads in the room to share. Also, do not discuss a mead you have judged with another judge, not at your table. 
   
• DO NOT trash talk an entry that you don’t like. 
   
• The mini-bos judges are randomly selected from judges who did not judge in the category. 
   
• Do not fall in love with weird honey just because it is weird! Please take a deep breath, let the wow factor disappear, and judge the mead on its merits.
   
• Please do not assume you know who a mead is for. There is nothing we can do about folks posting on social media that my wonderful orange blossom, nutmeg, rosemary, and gin barrel mead took first at a competition. Still, I guarantee they are probably not the only people who made that mead!
   
• Only share meads with judges who are at your table. There will be time for this afterward. Feel free to share with your stewards.
   
• The order of the ingredients should not matter in your decision. Once again, this is an excuse. If a mead maker uses multiple fruits or berries, combining these things changes the taste. Also, the impact of fermentation and oak should be considered. 
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• Please take your time and focus on quality feedback on both home and commercial. No one will rush you and take pride that your name is on that scoresheet and that you are judging meads for a peer, friend, and many inspiring mead makers. 
   
• Smokers, we understand it is your choice, but lingering smoke on your body impacts other judges—just something to keep in mind.
   
• Finally, we prefer the content of your score sheets to focus more on sensory evaluation. Focus on how your senses and taste evaluate what is in your glass, and you will be fine.