just sitting here, sipping what I assume to be the very last of DT's Aquavit Ale 1.0 as most of the rest travels through Boston's Drainage system.
Musing today: it seems truly tasting beer is a somewhat elusive art. Case and point, not an hour ago I was embroiled in a heated battle of self vs. self at the Julio's Monday night beer tastings. straight up blind taste competition. No styles, no brands, no hints, no order to the pours. just beer in cup, name style, and if possible, brand and specific beer.
this was no mean task mein freunde.
without so much as a simple style guideline to hold onto, the mind wanders like crazy when presented with something that isnt already labeled, binned into a set category well known. Much like what driving in Nebraska must be like, having no reference point leads one astray, second guessing everything the senses are trying to tell you.
whats worse, many of the beers weren't the most robust examples of the style, many were, though some of my picks were quailfied with many scribbled sentences such as "cleaner than most," "drier finishing," or "weak and light bodied version of a...".
and so, the perceptions, my picks.
1. Belgian wit - easy first shot. thinner than Allegash, guessed Allegash anyway.
2. Standard IPA - another easy one. not particularly robust or malingering flavor. - Harpoon IPA
3. Brown Ale - simple as well. guess epitome of the style, Sam Smith nut Brown.
4. Saison - led me for a loop before I came back to my first gut feeling. lighter flavored than I like, very light color. guessed, NOT DUPONT
5. Imperial Stout - went away from first gut feeling of American Stout in favor of the deep roast and bitter finish. guessed Storm King
6. DIPA - this threw a lot of us, having another IPA on the board that didnt feel as full or sweet. aroma was gorgeous. could have been a weaker DIPA perhaps? didnt guess.
7. German Pilsner - this was evil putting after a strong IPA. had to wipe the palette twice before soming to this conclusion. wasnt bready enough nor hoppy enough really for style. still, went with it. Oskar Blues Mamma's Little Yellow Pils.
8. Bel/ Abbey Dubbel - full and rich, nice and sweet. a relatively fast and easy pick I thought. - Chimay Red.
9. Weizenbock - a sneaky one, lighter than dunkelweizen, not as heavy as weizonbock, really could have gone either way. Victory Moonglow.
10. RIS - super chocolate, roast finish and what I seemed to detect as hot alcohol readily apparent. or so i thought, right? Old Rasputin.
now, here comes the shame. in some parts. judge not too harshly.
1. CORRECT - Bel wit. Hoegaarden. made sense. ok.
2. CORRECT - American West Coast IPA - Bear Republic Racer 5. bullshite. racer 5 was much more robust that what was presented here. meh.
3. CORRECT - Brown Ale - Avery Ellie's Brown Ale. Avery sucks, so im fine here.
4. CORRECT - Saison - Ommegang Hennepin. I was leading in the right direction with the lighter versions on the style. feeling good right bout now.
5. INCORRECT - American stout - forget company, never had it. not too far off i guess.
6. INCORRECT - American East Coast IPA - Dogfish 60. this threw a mess of us off. the aroma was all there, but damn pissed and chagrined i missed this.
7. INCOEERET - Kolsch. forget who. but its still evil putting such a light beer after DFH 60. pils aint that far off. the nearly identicla grain bill threw me. its all about knowing the difference between a true lager yeast brewed at 50 and a German ale brewed at 55
8. INCORRECT - Abbey Quad. St. Bernadus Quad - overshot it a bit in my opinion. getting it down between an 8% dubbel and 10% quad, all other things equal aint as easy as it looks 8 beers deep.
9. KINDA CORRECT - Dunkelweizen. Schneider Dunkelweizen. was oscillating between this and weizenbock for a damn good while. expected a dunkelweizen to be darker, but shouldda went with the lighter feeling. cutting apart 2 beers that can overlap in spectrum... rough dilly.
10. INOCRRECT - American Porter. Smuttynose Robust Porter. this one blew all of us out as well. the high chocolate and hyper- stong roast flavors, plus what seemed like strong alcohol presence, (couldda sworn it was 10+) made us all overshoot it hard. tough, but meh.
anyways, this was a great excersize and I highly recommend it for all to try out and see just how refined that palette is before sitting for the BJCP exams.
till then, keep that tongue sharp.
