Thomas Barnes, HOF Inductee 2025
Thomas joined UNYHA in 2005 after moving to Rochester from his native Indianapolis. Prior to joining UNYHA he had dabbled in fermentation with meads, beer kits, and partial mashes; focusing then on Malty English and Big German styles, today more on session brews and Saisons. Thomas is known to many as the BJCP/Beer Guru of UNYHA. Most judges who have passed the exam in recent years owe it to Thomas’ hard work and dedication to the craft.
He started his Beer Judge journey self-taught with taking the BJCP exam back in 2006. Many would be surprised to hear that his score on that first exam was a 73. After that score, he really dug in on how to do better by studying and teaching the BJCP, spending years of his life perfecting the scoresheet as the educational resources for BJCP were few and far between at that time. He made himself, in his own words, “a pest” to all the top grandmasters, constantly asking questions until he got answers he was looking for. There is even a story told by Terry Felton of Niagara Homebrewers that he once interrupted Gordon Strong on a trip to visit Ron Pattinson in Britain to argue about British IPA.
He has been in various roles throughout the last 20 years with UNYHA. He has been club Secretary, Librarian, and Competition Organizer. His “blending superpower” and years of experience teaching have taught so many here in attendance how to taste and improve our beer. He consistently stresses that anyone can judge if you try and you’ll be a better brewer for it.
Being a Distinguished National judge, he wrote an entire Continuing Education program for BJCP and created the guidelines for Planning Commercial Tasting Events that BJCP still uses today in their Training Resources.
His central role in the past 10-15 years has been training judges and hosting tastings in Rochester. Many will remember for years Thomas along with Deron Weet would hold BJCP training sessions at the Old Toad on Alexander Street for as many as 40 people. He would have travel way outside of market to find fresh examples of hard-to-find styles. Sometimes even changing the training schedule because he found a really great example of something that must be shared fresh.
Thomas really pushed judges to write an excellent scoresheet in competitions making sure completeness, scoring accuracy and the feedback section were all top notch. He estimates he has judged over 60 competitions and administered 6 exams. Thomas can correct me if I am wrong but I estimate he has helped around 40 people reach BJCP certified level and 3-4 to BJCP National level. In short the Rochester area would have a much smaller judging pool if it were not for Thomas Barnes. Thomas is one of the biggest reasons we can continue holding out annual competition which is now in it’s 47th year.
In Thomas’ honor lets continue to furthering beer education and Judge training in our club.
Please join me in welcoming Thomas Barnes beer educator to the 2025 UNYHA Hall of Fame.
Congratulations, Thomas!
