Class six was in the seventh week thanks to Easter, and the nice holiday that Les gave us. The weather warmed up quite a bit, and I was initially not looking forward to drinking a ton of heavy, darker beers so far into April. Maryland Homebrew Day member Stefin Clapham presented a flight of excellent beers, and I have to say that I enjoyed this tasting session pretty thoroughly despite not feeling like I was in the right season to drink them. The technical topic presented by CRABS member Glenn Quinting — mashing — is probably the most important activity we’ve discussed so far, and I hope to put as much of what I’ve learned from this session to use in my own brewing.
As usual, we started with some questions to answer, and we also did our first legitimate scoring of a beer. Then we moved into “Guess that beer,” and most of us — even the more experienced folks who had already been through the course — were completely stumped. We tasted a beer that featured almost no hop character, but was still pretty malty. There was some light ester going on, but without that hop character it was difficult to pinpoint what the style was, let alone what kind of beer it was. I guessed bock, as there was some minor alcohol heat to it, and the color seemed appropriate, and I was totally off the mark. It turned out to be Morland’s Hens Tooth Strong English Ale, but the bottles were a bit old, per Les’s admission. Despite the age on the bottles, this was a great exercise. (more…)
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.