Oh boy! Yesterday’s class was intense! Not that you should really expect any less considering the fact that it was focused on the all-important hop plant, and the intensely hopped Pale Ales and Bitters. We also did a couple of short exercises to test some of our developing knowledge. Les gave us a pop quiz of sorts, requiring us to talk about some of the things we learned in our water session, and also a bit about general BJCP rules. Then we played “Name That Beer,” a game in which we are given a blind taste of a particular style of beer — one that we tasted the previous week, and try to guess specifically what style it is down to its country of origin. This week’s beer was a Munich Helles. I guessed a German Pils, but this was a rather hoppy example of the Helles so Les said that would be a pretty fairly understandable mistake.
CSI member, Lisa Klein presented the technical topic on hops, going over a little bit of their historical use; alternate uses; similarities to another intoxicating herb whose name I’ll leave up to your imagination; isomerization; the different uses for specific kinds of hops based on their alpha acid content; beta acids, essential oils, hop formats – whole leaf, plug, pellet, and extract; what an IBU is (International Bitterness Unit —which strangely enough is only referred to as international in the US. Everywhere else just calls them bitterness units. Kind of a head scratcher, huh?); why beers get skunky, and a fair bit beyond all that too. (more…)
There’s a fair number of connections I notice between beer and bicycles. How is there any natural commonality between bikes and beer, you might ask? What do bicycles and beer brewing have in common? Honestly, not a whole hell of a lot, but I dare you to do a google search for “beer and bikes,” or “bikes and beer” and see what comes up.
I got to brew my favorite beer with 
This past Sunday saw me at my third BJCP course. The technical topic — water — was something I had a broad understanding of, but no real depth of knowledge. Light lagers are something most of us are familiar with — some people experience that familiarity with less enthusiasm than others, and the class was largely unified in its disdain prior to the tastings. More on that later…
One of the many interesting things about my BJCP study course is its structure.
Yeah yeah yeah, St. Patrick’s Day swiftly approaches. Break out the Pogues’ records, be sure to put in your order for a big brisket of corned beef, make some soda bread, get some green clothing to avoid being pinched, etc.