Archive for the ‘Geek-Out’ Category
This Rules.
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009How do I/They do that? Malting
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
I wrote about malting a little bit in a post about the first BJCP class. You may notice the slight difference in the title from previous “How do I do that?” posts. The explanation comes down to my honest belief that malting, while something you can do yourself, should be left to the experts. This shouldn’t deter anyone from wanting to know how it’s done, what’s going on in the process, and ultimately how they might do it at home. But I can tell you that I probably won’t ever do this myself. Why? Lack of patience, lack of practical experience, a genuine respect for the companies that do it well; any of these reasons is enough to discourage me from trying it. But don’t let that stop you if you’re interested in it.
What I find most interesting about the malting process is that it’s done so well that it’s made techniques like decoction mashing obsolete. Grains are now so well modified that we don’t need to go to the trouble that brewers of the past did to achieve the same results. But let’s get down to brass tacks. What is the malting process?
At its core, malting is a controlled germination of the grain. What this germination does is convert some of the starch contained within each kernel of grain into sugar, but most importantly is the production of enzymes within the infant plant — or Acrospire — that are then activated during the mashing process. (more…)
My First — semi-real — Judging Encounter
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
Got out to the Guild picnic last week at Patapsco Valley State Park with time to sit down at the judging table for the wheat beer competition that was held.
While I’m not an examined judge, the event wasn’t sanctioned, and my votes wouldn’t have counted toward an official result, it was good experience for my exam in August.
I got to taste the finalist round of beers, all of which were pretty good.
My scoring was within four or five points of both Les’s scores and Walter Ames’ scores. Both of these guys have taken the exam, and both of them know what a wheat beer should taste like, hopefully this bodes well for my chances on the exam. (more…)
BJCP 10: Recipe Formulation + Belgian Sours
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
My BJCP class met for the last time yesterday, and it was the best class of the whole course.
We began tasting and judging the same beer we sampled the first day of class. To Les’s credit, my ability to describe a beer has improved considerably — with my responses bearing little resemblance to the monosyllabic, one-word, vague descriptors of my first attempt. My ability to make an educated guess as to what kind of beer I’m drinking blindly has gone from extremely basic to pretty accurate. The beer in question was Clipper City’s Winter Storm, which according to Kurt —one of the brewers at Clipper City, and a class member — is stylistically an Extra Special Bitter, which is what I guessed it to be and judged accordingly. Not quite to style considering its higher than normal ABV, but otherwise a pretty good example. We didn’t score the beer.
Next we tried another beer blindly, but were told to judge it as an English Dark Mild. I gave the beer a total score of 36, noting that it should probably could have benefitted from a litle less attenuation, or increased maltodextrine that would provide body, sweetness, and reduced the roast-malt astringency I experienced. The beer turned out to be Les’s Mild brewed at Big Brew about a month ago. He agreed that the beer deserved to be in the upper 30s, but not quite a 40.
All in all, I feel pretty confident that my abilities have improved, and my palate as developed significantly. I still have no problem drinking a Miller Lite, but I have to note that I’m more inclined to drink bottled beer at establishments I don’t know well, or have experienced the effects of dirty taps at. (more…)
BJCP 9: Taints & Flaws 2 + Belgian Strong Ales
Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
We had yet another round with evil Miller Lites this past week. Again, we got to try the horrible flavors that may inhabit your beers that I discussed in my last BJCP post. We finally received our sensory kit from BJCP partner, Siebel Institute. The kit included additional flavors to the previous session’s nastiness; isolations of Acetaldehyde, Almond, Butyric, Mercaptan, etc. Some of the flavors were described as “sewer-like,” “Farm/Barnyard,” “Soapy/Fatty/Goaty,” “Cheesy/Old Hops/Sweaty Socks.” My favorite descriptor is “goaty.” How would you even know what goaty smells or tastes like?
Les lined up all 24 flavors in doctored Miller Lite in a random order numbered from 1 to 24, and it was our job to attach the corresponding number to the flaw on a sheet. I was suffering worse than usual from my normal seasonal allergies, and I only got four right. Pretty bad. I hope when we take the exam in August that I am not suffering similarly.
Next we tasted Belgian Strong Ales, as presented by CSI member Greg Thompson. (more…)
Beer Apps
Monday, May 18th, 2009
Having the good fortune to be an iPhone owner, I was directed by my BJCP class president to check out the BJCP style guide app. But without a link, I simply searched iTunes for BJCP and not only did the app I was interested in come up, but a couple others appeared too.
The BJCP style guide app is exactly the same as the paper or PDF version available at bjcp.org. It’s searchable, which comes in handy while you’re out and about, trying a beer and doing your best to narrow down what style it might be, or maybe trying to come up with a classic example of a style to compare to the one you’re drinking. Or maybe you’re wondering if you should be tasting butterscotch notes in a Stella? A quick search, and you’ll know for sure.
Yeah, it’s a bit of overkill but if you’re taking the BJCP course, and you own an iPhone it’s free, so why not download it as a study aid? (more…)