The first rounds are used to select a number of candidate beers for further judging for the best in it's style or category. Some judging panels are generous with their scores. Others are the opposite. If your beer received a high score in your panel yet was bested by a beer with a lower score from another panel, that's beer judging for you. Our second round panels were chosed from judges who hadn't judged the style in the first round.
Some judges are more sensitive to certain characteristics than others.
Believe me, I would have loved to have had only a first round and a Best of Show. My statistical program would have performed like a champ, instead of a chimp. We would have finished earlier. If your beer required a second round to select a winner, click on its style in the table below. Some styles required only a first round to select winners.