I'm starting a beer tasting group in my neighborhood soon, to expand my range (I'm currently stuck on IPAs) and to meet with more beer appreciating neighbors. I was wondering if anyone has thoughts on how to arrange the tasting gatherings. I'd like to have everyone rate the beers, possibly before knowing the name and style and then again after getting a description and name.
Also, I'm currently thinking of doing it once a month and focusing on styles of the season, such as barleywines/stouts in the winter, heffs in the summer, etc.
I appreciate any feedback.
BTW, I'm in Colorado, so we have no shortage of local brews to focus on.
"Ray Stone" schreef in bericht news:TNadnfasx7apMCHbnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...
In case you're serious, some tips.
Start with the lowest ABV's, and build up gradually. That sounds evident, but it is often overlooked. At least, when you keep in the same "style" or range. If you mix different styles or beers, then something else comes up. It sounds strange, but a dark beer often can kill a blonde beer with a much higher ABV. Without venturing too much in chemistry or organoleptics, darker beers have a much fuller mouthfeel, which is often confused with being stronger. A stout can be really thin and low on alcohol, and feel a lot "heavier" than a pilsner with a full 1 % ABV more. Besides things as melanoidins, sugars are an important thing here. If plain sugar is added, and the beer fermented out, or refermented in the bottle, the body will become very thin (high attenuation), but the alcohol very high. (Alcohol has a lower density than water, and also thins the beer). If , OTOH, the beer contains a lot of restsugars and unfermentable sugars, the body will be beefed up. Extreme beers - very bitter like double IPA's, or very sour, like lambic-based beers - will cut through a lot of beers, even when they WERE dark and heavy. But after that, don't revert to more delicate, if stronger, beers. In fact, it's all logic. But you have to think about it first.
"Joris Pattyn" schreef in bericht news:yCcvi.46428$ snipped-for-privacy@phobos.telenet-ops.be...
Something else. Allow plenty of plain water, to take in between beers, or even for direct comparison. Also, some palate cleaner is appropriate. Crackers or stale bread. What works best, IMO, are matzes, which you will be able to find in Colorado, I'm sure.
Excellent tip about the bjcp.org site, the descriptions and examples of the different styles will be perfect for the tastings. I'm going to add a link to that on the web site I'm starting for the tasting group. We're also going to keep a blog of the tastings and opinions in case anyone is interested.
Actually, the point of tasting the beer and commenting on it before knowing the style are more of a learning tool. I want to try and get people thinking about what they're tasting before being told what it should taste like. Hopefully after several sessions, they'll be able to think critically about what they're tasting without having guidelines. Plus, it will be interesting to see what styles people truly enjoy at first taste.
Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely keep the water and a palate cleaner around.
Also, thanks for the tips on the order of the beer being tasted. I think serving in order or alcohol content will be the way to go as we will generally be tasting the same style, maybe with a few surprises thrown in at the end. Although, I thought a month or two should be dedicated to holiday beers (Christmas) and they can be pretty diverse.
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.