The BJCP Publishes Its First Formal Style Guidelines

In 1997, the Beer Judge Certification Program published its first formal set of style guidelines. Derived from earlier New England homebrew guidelines, the document organized beer, mead, and cider into defined categories and styles for use by judges, competition organizers, and entrants. The guidelines provided common descriptions of aroma, appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, ingredients, history, technical parameters, and representative examples. Their primary purpose was to support consistent evaluation in competitions rather than to define every beer tradition permanently. Later editions revised the taxonomy as brewing practices, historical research, and competition needs changed.