Back in March, I posted about the beginnings of my BJCP study course adventure. I wrote about how I didn’t intend to become a beer judge, how I felt that blind adherence to the styles was a bad thing, and that I didn’t think my enjoyment of beer would be improved by analyzing every sip.
So what changed between March and August? I still feel essentially the same about these things, with beer judging being a bit of an exception — I’m not expecting to ever become a master judge, but I would enjoy testing my skills in competitions.
I think outside of the style specifics and technical topics, the most important thing I learned from the class was how to really engage my palate, and taste things. It’s odd how much we take for granted the way certain things taste. What I used to taste in most beers was an amalgam of the ingredients, and I couldn’t really pick out much about what I was ignorantly tasting. Now, I can blindly taste a beer and tell you at least what style it is, if not what kind of hops were likely used to make it, or what the grain bill was probably made up of.
One of the things I found most interesting about the whole affair was the science of discovering how to judge something according to a style. It’s not mere preference, and I think that makes this less about snobbery than it is about awareness. Like I’ve said in the past, I enjoy a Miller Lite for what it is, and I prefer it under certain circumstances. Now I know why it’s a fine beer for the style it represents, and if I judged it against a Russian Imperial Stout of inferior quality, the score would reflect that knowledge regardless of my preference.
One of the other things that changed over the course of the class you all saw; I wrote more, and I hope to get back to writing more, and brewing more.
In less than stellar news, the property on which I brew — my in-laws’ house — was devastated by fire. And while I lost a couple of kegs, some grain, and some smaller tools to the blaze, my family lost everything. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Seriously, get yourselves a fire plan, and back up all those old family pictures to some kind of online repository. You can’t replace them.
Wow man, very sorry to hear about your family’s loss. Glad everyone is ok, but that is truly devastating.