Donaldson explains that being a judge requires “very specific skills,” as Liam Neeson once said. Unlike tasting wine, which involves swirling, sniffing, and spitting, beer and cider are all about swallowing and savoring, as the taste buds needed to make decisions are located in the back of the throat.
“It’s really difficult. We’re looking for a little bit of experience. For example, have they done it before? Have they been a judge in a lot of competitions? What makes them good is It means that they have a very high quality sense of taste and smell, and not only can they delve deeply into the taste, but they can also pick out what we would call faults.”
He also said future judges must have the qualities to form a “United Nations of judges”, given the intense debates that can arise among experts over who is right and who is wrong. thinking.
“They need the ability to just work with other people. The Lone Ranger can’t get off. If you have a big ego and think you know everything, you can’t get away from it in a team environment. Well, I’m not going to do the work because I’m being cooperative.’ It’s a back-and-forth thing, and there’s a certain amount of diplomacy and politics as well.
“Even if other people think it’s really good and you don’t, you have to stay on top of the hill and not die,” he laughs.
Despite experimenting with different liquors over the years, Donaldson admits he’s never been tempted enough to venture into the market, although he’s dabbled briefly in the past. There wasn’t. He says he enjoys what others are doing so much that he can’t give it all up.