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Using a Beer Judge to Evaluate Your Virtual Tasting | Seattle Brewery

When we go on brewery tours, the purpose is usually to sample the delicious beers, learn about new kinds, and figure out which ones we like. This generally entails taking notes and analysing the beers using a set of criteria. We don’t have to be professional judges, but noting what we appreciate about different beers and recognising some of the qualities of the beer can increase our enjoyment. It’s also entertaining to exchange notes and perhaps select a favourite beer. The Lockdown Beer Virtual Tasting Kit includes resources to help us take notes, organise our thoughts, and find the perfect words to describe what we’re Virtual Tasting.

The following items are included in the kit:

Score sheet for beer tasting. This page provides room for four beers to be graded and remarks taken. Each beer’s name, IBU, ABV, and appearance are recorded in a separate section. You may give each beer a rating based on fragrance, flavour, texture, and overall impressions, as well as a note-taking section. Print as many as you require.

Mat for beer. Although we can’t deliver beautiful flight boards like the ones seen in most breweries over the internet, you must nonetheless line up the beers for comparison. Each beer mat features four spots for beer cups, as well as a space to write the name of the beer.

Reference manuals with information on popular beer taste components are also offered.

Taking a look at or judging your beer

When we drink beer, we use almost all of our senses. The appearance, smell, taste, and feel of the beer Virtual Tasting in our tongue are all part of the experience. As a result, take your time to experience and assess each sensation. Keep in mind that these are your likes and experiences, so don’t sweat it. You are not judging the Great American Beer Festival finalists. You’re sampling beers to learn more about different kinds and discover new favourites. So it’s fine if you don’t like beer. One of the reasons there are so many distinct kinds of beers is because of this. There are lots of beers available just for you.

Appearance

How does the beer appear? The beer should, first and foremost, be aesthetically pleasing. The colour is the first thing you’ll notice. This can range in hue from transparent, pale yellow, or golden to a deep, impenetrable black. The beer’s clarity, or haziness, comes next. Each style has its own distinct look. Pilsners are light and transparent, NEIPAs are golden and hazy, and stouts are deep and black. Is there a lot of carbonation in the water? What’s the state of your head? Is the beer attractive to you? Make a list of your impressions.

Aroma

Next, take a smell while holding the glass six to ten inches beneath your nose. There’s no need to press your nose into the glass. What do you think you smell? Pine needles, perhaps? Citrus? Is that new-cut hay? Is it better to drink coffee or chocolate? Is there a distinct odour, such as damp newspapers or an old horse saddle? Is there an odour you can’t place?

One issue with scents is that they are processed in the amygdala, which is located deep within the brain. The amygdala is responsible for processing memories and emotions, which is one of the reasons why odours may elicit long-forgotten memories and strong emotions. However, the amygdala is not responsible for processing speech and language. This might explain why most individuals have trouble expressing or describing odours. Even expert beer judges have trouble agreeing on the exact description of scents detected in beer for whatever reason. So don’t feel terrible if you can’t place or describe that odour you’re sure you’ve smelled. After a period, you’ll be able to distinguish between various beers based on their fragrance.

  • Aromas in beer are mainly created by three sources.
  • Hops are commonly associated with barnyard aromas such as hay, grass, pine, fruit, or flowers.
  • Malt, often known as kitchen scents like grain, bread, chocolate, or caramel, is a kind of malt.
  • Yeast, often known as yeast, has a scent that is similar to banana, clove, spice, apple, or bubble gum.

Taste

After that, take a swig of beer. Make sure you have enough to cover your tongue. You have a lot of taste buds, and we want to make sure they all get to try the beer. The tastes of beers are described in a variety of ways, which might be confusing to a novice beer drinker. Was it truly “wet potter’s clay, waxy flax, and sesame chocolate candy” that that beer tasted like? There are many ways to describe a beer’s flavour, and the finest terms are those that make sense to you. CraftBeer’s Beer Flavor Six Pack, which divides most beer flavours into six groups, is included with your sampling package.

Crisp and tidy

These beers have a clean, refreshing flavour. Hops and malts are usually well-balanced. Consider a Pilsner or a Blonde Ale as examples.

Sweet & Malty

These beers derive their tastes from malt and can be toasted, like a Brown Ale or Schwarzbier, or have a dried fruit or caramel flavour, like an English Bitter or a Scotch Ale.

Roasted & Dark

Coffee or chocolate flavours are brought out by dark roasted malts. A Robust Porter or Brown Ale, for example, might be dark and malty, or dark and dry, like an Irish Dry Stout or a Black Ale.

Bitter & Hoppy

The hops are mostly responsible for the bitterness. The beer can be exceedingly bitter or harsh yet balanced with the malt, depending on the hop and malt bill. This taste profile includes IPAs and Pale Ales, as well as Steam Beer and certain Amber Ales.

Spicy & Fruity

Malt and hop qualities can coexist in a beer, as can bright yeasty flavours like citrous, spices, and bubble gum. With these characteristics, Belgian Ales take the lead. Consider a Belgian Golden Strong Ale or a Saison. A Belgian Dark Strong Ale or a Quadrupel will have dark fruit tastes. These beers are frequently flavoured with fruits and spices.

Sour, tart, and edgy

When a bacteria like Lactobacillus or a unique yeast like Brettanomyces are involved, the findings can be very fascinating. A refreshing Berliner Weiss or Göse can be tangy and gently acidic. Mouth puckering sour beers, such as Belgian Flanders, Fruit Lambic, or a Sour Kettle beer, are available. Saisons and Gueuzes are spicy farmhouse beers with a unique taste.

Mouthfeel

Pay attention to how the beer feels in your mouth and what kinds of sensations you experience. Is the beer’s body thin or rich and creamy? What’s the deal with the carbonation? Do you sense the alcohol’s warmth? Is there any astringency? Do you get a pucker or a dry mouth after drinking the beer? Do you get a whiff of the spices? What is the beer’s temperature like?

All of these characteristics influence how we react to beer and either enhance or detract from our enjoyment. This is a highly subjective assessment; if you enjoy the mouthfeel, give it a higher score.

Overall Thoughts

The sight, fragrance, tastes, and texture of a beer all contribute to the overall taste experience. Our brains evaluate all of the experiences as we drink the beer, contributing to our overall impression of the beer. This is why a beer’s second sip frequently tastes different than the first. Especially when another flavour was present in our tongue. For example, a hoppy IPA may be overbearing at first, but after a few swallows, it becomes more drinkable. Take a sip of a sour Lambic while sipping a lovely, clean Pilsner; the Lambic will taste very, very sour. However, give your palette a break, wait a beat, and then try a few more sips to become used to the new flavours.

How does the beer make you feel after you’ve taken a few sips and given it a chance to be evaluated by all of your senses? Is this a beer you’d like to sample again? Or is it a beer you’ll drink if it’s around but won’t go out of your way to find? Maybe this will become your new favourite beer. Give the beer a letter grade and tell us how you feel about it.

Compare and contrast notes

Compare and contrast your taste notes with those of your pals. It’s better to keep your opinions to yourself until everyone has had a chance to try the beer and judge it for themselves. Everyone will have a distinct reaction to the beer, making it a very personal and subjective experience. What you like, your buddy will despise, and what you despise, your friend will enjoy. That’s OK; the point of sampling a range of beers is to discover what we enjoy and compare our preferences to those of others. I’ve gone to beer tastings when someone will take a drink and remark, “Gad, that’s a stinky beer!” It’s revolting! Wow!” Following that, everyone basically said the same thing. I’m sure this individual didn’t enjoy the beer, but his outburst biassed the rest of the group, and that beer received the lowest score of the day. Worst of all, the individual lacked a basic understanding of flavour terminology. That beer was a lot of things, but it wasn’t weird in the least. Keep your opinions to yourself until everyone has had a chance to sample the beer and record their thoughts.

You are not required to designate a winner, but it would be interesting to observe if one beer scored more than the others. If you want to present certain awards, give ones that are exclusive to your group or the beers you tried. What about categories that aren’t found anywhere else?

  • When you’re socially isolated, the finest beer to drink is
  • After the coronavirus quarantine is lifted, the first beer I want to drink is
  • While viewing ancient basketball games, the best beer to drink is
  • While binge-watching Netflix, the best beer to drink is
  • The beer to drink alone if you don’t want to bother
  • The strangest taste description
  • I didn’t think I’d enjoy this beer.
  • Our new all-time favourite beer, or at least for this week.

Share Your Beer Lists and Tastings

Let people know about your beer tasting and your thoughts on the various brews. Use social media to share your tasting list, beer images, awards, and other detailed accounts, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Use the hashtags #lockdownbeertasting and #virtualbeertasting to tag the brewers. It would also be cool if you tagged @seattlebrewerywalkingtours.

Please let me know how things went. I’m excited to learn more about your experience.

For your Virtual Beer Tasting, here are some more resources.

Take a look at our blog on Conducting a Beer Virtual Tasting During the Coronavirus Lockdown, as well as our recommendations on serving your beers and planning your beer flights for your tasting, for additional information on how to put together your own virtual beer tasting. Download our Virtual Lockdown Beer Tasting Guide to acquire all of this information.