The Untappd Trap
For the serious beer enthusiast, a star rating isn't enough. Giving an Imperial Stout a "4.5" because it "tasted good" tells you nothing about its adherence to style or its brewing technicalities. Was the ester profile appropriate for the BJCP Style? Did the Mouthfeel lack carbonation? If you are tracking your tastings on a generic social app, you are missing the sensory data that helps you understand why you liked it. You shouldn't be "checking in"; you should be evaluating the liquid.
This template is a digital технічний scorecard for the aspiring beer judge. It aligns your personal tasting notes with the rigorous standards of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP), ensuring that every sip is analyzed, not just consumed.
The Sensory Breakdown
The strength of this system is its component-based scoring. It forces you to dissect the beer into five distinct pillars: Aroma, Appearance, Flavor, Mouthfeel, and Overall Impressions. Each section has a dedicated text field for descriptive notes and a numeric Score field (e.g., 0-12 for Aroma, 0-20 for Flavor). This granularity is critical. It allows you to separate a beer that looks perfect (3/3 Appearance) but fails on fermentation character.
The automated total score calculation gives you a final verdict out of 50, mirroring the official competition sheets. This provides an objective metric to compare a Brewery's latest release against the style guidelines.
The Style Archive
The ultimate value of this system is the reference library it builds. By logging the BJCP Number and Style for every entry, you create a searchable database of style examples. You can look back and see exactly how the "American IPA" you tasted in 2018 compares to the one in your glass today. You move from "drinking beer" to mastering the art of sensory analysis, ensuring that every Photo op and every Date Sampled contributes to your palate's education.