Alright, so I used the scoring metric. Let's hope these results make sense. When trying the first few beers and scoring them appropriately, my methodology was to look, smell, and taste the beers, in that order. So, here are the results.
Aroma: 8
Appearance: 8
Style: 8
Bitterness: 5
Maltiness: 7
Mouthfeel: 6
Head: 4
Balance: 4
These marks earn the English Bitter a total score of 44 out of 55. This gives it a rating, in my book, of 80%.
I really think this beer is very close to the style and I think the results show it. The first experience one has with this beer, besides its stunning golden color, is the distinct aroma of grain. Its a brewer's beer, as its aromatics are reminiscent of a heap of malted barley, particularly the ever present English favorite, Marris Otter. I think that scent brings one into the beer and allows the auxiliary flavors to present themselves accordingly. A short sip and one is embraced by the smooth balance of the simple malts and subtle hints of English alpha acids. The gentle current of golden liquid moves about one's mouth in a ever so slightly heavier manner than water giving the drinker a sense of refreshment and encouragement to proceed. Being a simple session beer, the English Bitter suggests "have another" as one realizes the sparse foam rings lining the glass.
My only complaints are possibly the over presence of malt in the flavor profile, the slightly heavier mouthfeel, and the under-achieving head retention. Future versions of this may see a reduction of grain in the grain bill to counter the over-maltiness and a slightly lower mash temperature to create a thinner mounthfeel to encourage drinkability.
Recipe: Session Bitter
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Beer Tasting Guidelines: A Stab in the Dark
Again, as I was preparing for another upcoming post, I realized some explanation is required to describe a new segment. I'm planning on describing and judging my own and off the shelf beers. I was thinking about the purpose of my musings and decided it would be a good place to track, record, and develop my sense of a good or quality beer. I do not assume my beers are good or quality. I merely mean to find a more accurate representation of my beer tasting experiences, so that I may one day create great beers based on my observations. Therefore, I have attempted to create a robust format for judging the beers I experience. Any feedback would be appreciated as this is, and will continue to be, an experiment in beer judging.
First, I need to describe my tasting philosophy and it probably wouldn't hurt to describe my own preferences. A philosophy is difficult to articulate, but I will do my best. I will attempt to be quantitative with the physical metrics and unbiased with my qualitative perceptions. However, what measures as a good or quality beer, may not score highly. The scores, hopefully, will reflect the amount of under-achievement or over-the-top-ness of each beer. It may take a few tries, but there will be a sought after middle ground that describes a pleasant, well balanced, and flavorful beer. Higher scores should reflect an over-done, over-the-top beer and lower scores should reflect an underdeveloped, unpleasant beer. That being said, I prefer more bitterness than most, complex flavor profiles, and style appropriate mouthfeel. Unfortunately, I probably have my own ideas about different beer styles and what they should taste, feel, and smell like. For instance, I prefer a very bitter IPA over and bland pale ale any day, but I still appreciate the delicate balance of a clean and balanced English Bitter. I also enjoy the complexity of just about any Belgian beer, assuming, what I like to call, the "star" of the beer is the yeast profile. I tend to shy away from big malty beers such as porters, scotch ales, and brown ales due to their extensive maltiness. Pale ale types should not be too malty or sweet, stouts should be drier than porters, and lagers should be crisp and clean. I could go on and on about the different styles and how they "should" be, but I'll leave that for when I taste them.
I think I'll go with eight categories to start: Aroma, Appearance, Bitterness, Maltiness, Head, Style, Mouthfeel, and Balance. Since flavors, sights, and textures are all subjective, its difficult to assign a linear metric. The difficulty is finding the way all these metrics interact with each other to define and describe a good or quality beer. I believe aroma, appearance, and style need to be qualitative, in that, they will be awarded higher scores for more favorable qualities. The scores will range from 1 to 10 for these metrics. The remainder of the metrics will be based on a similar scale, 1 to 10, but 5 being the most favorable. Scores over 5 will reflect an overabundance of a metric and visa versa for below 5. I think that's it. All that is left is to try it out and record my findings. I'll do my best to add tasting notes and flavor experiences as well. Also, bear in mind, this may change at any time.
UPDATE: I've decided that those attributes that have a target of 5 points will be added into the total as the absolute value of the difference from 5. This will more accurately gauge how much I favor a beer. For example:
Assuming a beer scores perfect in aroma, appearance, and style:
If a beer scores all 9's in the "target 5" attributes, the score would be a 32.
If a beer scores all 1's in the "target 5" attributes, the score would be a 32.
Either way, the number is lower to account for its inaccuracy.
UPDATE: Here is a sample Google Document that uses the formula.
Metric Sample
First, I need to describe my tasting philosophy and it probably wouldn't hurt to describe my own preferences. A philosophy is difficult to articulate, but I will do my best. I will attempt to be quantitative with the physical metrics and unbiased with my qualitative perceptions. However, what measures as a good or quality beer, may not score highly. The scores, hopefully, will reflect the amount of under-achievement or over-the-top-ness of each beer. It may take a few tries, but there will be a sought after middle ground that describes a pleasant, well balanced, and flavorful beer. Higher scores should reflect an over-done, over-the-top beer and lower scores should reflect an underdeveloped, unpleasant beer. That being said, I prefer more bitterness than most, complex flavor profiles, and style appropriate mouthfeel. Unfortunately, I probably have my own ideas about different beer styles and what they should taste, feel, and smell like. For instance, I prefer a very bitter IPA over and bland pale ale any day, but I still appreciate the delicate balance of a clean and balanced English Bitter. I also enjoy the complexity of just about any Belgian beer, assuming, what I like to call, the "star" of the beer is the yeast profile. I tend to shy away from big malty beers such as porters, scotch ales, and brown ales due to their extensive maltiness. Pale ale types should not be too malty or sweet, stouts should be drier than porters, and lagers should be crisp and clean. I could go on and on about the different styles and how they "should" be, but I'll leave that for when I taste them.
I think I'll go with eight categories to start: Aroma, Appearance, Bitterness, Maltiness, Head, Style, Mouthfeel, and Balance. Since flavors, sights, and textures are all subjective, its difficult to assign a linear metric. The difficulty is finding the way all these metrics interact with each other to define and describe a good or quality beer. I believe aroma, appearance, and style need to be qualitative, in that, they will be awarded higher scores for more favorable qualities. The scores will range from 1 to 10 for these metrics. The remainder of the metrics will be based on a similar scale, 1 to 10, but 5 being the most favorable. Scores over 5 will reflect an overabundance of a metric and visa versa for below 5. I think that's it. All that is left is to try it out and record my findings. I'll do my best to add tasting notes and flavor experiences as well. Also, bear in mind, this may change at any time.
UPDATE: I've decided that those attributes that have a target of 5 points will be added into the total as the absolute value of the difference from 5. This will more accurately gauge how much I favor a beer. For example:
Assuming a beer scores perfect in aroma, appearance, and style:
If a beer scores all 9's in the "target 5" attributes, the score would be a 32.
If a beer scores all 1's in the "target 5" attributes, the score would be a 32.
Either way, the number is lower to account for its inaccuracy.
UPDATE: Here is a sample Google Document that uses the formula.
Metric Sample
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Brewed: Rye Pale Ale
About two years ago, I came up with the idea to use rye in one of my beers. Though novel to me, this idea was not a new one. It seems that rye has been used in beer for hundreds of years, but has been relatively unpopular due to its being banned outright by the Germans in 1516 via the Reinheitsgebot. Thankfully, in America, and any other country that couldn't care less about the Reinheitsgebot, anything goes when it comes to beer. Just ask Dogfish Head, my radically brewing, unofficial mentors. Rye adds a very peculiar and distinct flavor to just about anything it comes in contact with and therefore, in my mind, is a prime candidate for a beer ingredient. I'm a big fan of rye bread, especially when it contains pastrami and spicy mustard, but also in general because of its famous bite and pleasant dryness. Irish whiskey presents these flavors well as it is a main ingredient in most if not the only in some. However, in order to experience this flavor first hand in a beer, I had to go a bit overboard. This became the now infamous "Marble Rye" beer. It was the lovechild of two fairly outlandish ideas: a heavy bodied, intensely flavored session beer and a rye beer. This beer was, admittedly, unpopular due mostly to the two characteristics that inspired it: heaviness and rye flavor. However, it did allow me to prove to myself that I could brew with rye as well as what rye tastes like in a beer. These are both important lessons as they lead to the inspiration for the next, but not only, use of rye in our beers.
The Rye Pale Ale has its own story to tell. In an effort to erect a shining symbol of his admiration of Magic Hat Number 9, Brewmaster Mike, decided to create his own interpretation of this well known beer. In the evolution of the creation of this beer, Brewmaster Mike decided not to include the signature apricot flavor in this his rendition of Magic Hat Number 9. The first brew of this beer was a fantastic blend of light malt flavor and crispy hops, refreshing its consumers with flavors of grapefruit and lemons. Brewmaser Jason, in a moment of brilliance, decided a sharp bite would compliment this blend of hops and barley well. Thankfully, due to my mishaps with rye, he added flaked rye to the grain bill. The combination has been a sought after delight by the Brewmasters ever since. I believe it has been brewed 3 or 4 times now and every time excites us all. We can only wait now for it to reach maturity and grace us with its rye inspired robustness.
Recipe: Rye Pale Ale
The Rye Pale Ale has its own story to tell. In an effort to erect a shining symbol of his admiration of Magic Hat Number 9, Brewmaster Mike, decided to create his own interpretation of this well known beer. In the evolution of the creation of this beer, Brewmaster Mike decided not to include the signature apricot flavor in this his rendition of Magic Hat Number 9. The first brew of this beer was a fantastic blend of light malt flavor and crispy hops, refreshing its consumers with flavors of grapefruit and lemons. Brewmaser Jason, in a moment of brilliance, decided a sharp bite would compliment this blend of hops and barley well. Thankfully, due to my mishaps with rye, he added flaked rye to the grain bill. The combination has been a sought after delight by the Brewmasters ever since. I believe it has been brewed 3 or 4 times now and every time excites us all. We can only wait now for it to reach maturity and grace us with its rye inspired robustness.
Recipe: Rye Pale Ale
The Brewery
As I was preparing a post that I will later put up, I realized that I have not yet explained our brewery. That is, the equipment we use to brew. Every homebrewer has a different, most likely, unique set of equipment that he or she uses to craft his or her precious recipes. Ours is not terribly complex, but in order to get an idea of our brewing process, one must read on to gain an understanding.
The brewery consists of three main peices: the hot liquor tank(HLT)/brew kettle(keggle, if you will), the pump, and the mash lauter tun(MLT). Due to monetary/situational forces, we have opted for a dual purpose water heating vessel. Our HLT/brew kettle consists of an old, and when I say "old," I mean really old, 15.5 gallon half barrel keg. Old refers to more than its age, but also the style of the keg. It is an almost antique, "on the side" style more akin to a stainless steel barrel than traditional keg. The keg has had one end plasma cut open and a fitting welded to what is now the "bottom" as a port for draining. This vessel, as the name suggests, has many uses which mainly involve heating some kind of liquid. The HLT use of the keg is for heating water for mashing in and sparging. The kettle use is, well, for boiling the wort. The pump is used, as the name suggests, for moving liquids from one vessel to another. More on that later... The final major piece of our brewery is the MLT, yet another vessel with multiple uses. Those are, if you can't tell by the name, mashing and lautering. The MLT is a marine sized cooler fitted with a custom copper manifold lining the bottom. The manifold was manufactured by our own resident "equipment engineer," Jason. He used 1 inch copper pipes to create a frame, roughly the size of the bottom of the cooler with multiple pipes running the length of the cooler. These pipes have small cuts at intervals allowing the liquids to drain through them. Connecting these pieces of the brewery are quick connect hoses which allow us to service each of the pieces without wasting valuable time.
These pieces come together on brew day in a delicately balanced and carefully choreographed symphony of brewing madness. Generally our brew days start with simultaneous grinding of grain and heating of mash water. Once proper volumes have been heated and grains appropriately ground, the two are combined in the MLT for approximately 60 minutes. Towards the end (25 to 30 minutes remaining) of that 60 minutes, we start preparing the volume of water needed for sparging. When time is up, we commence the vorlauf and begin mashing out into a spare cooler. Since we don't have a dedicated kettle, we have to store the first runnings before the kettle has finished its turn as an HLT. The discontinuation of liquid exiting the tun means we can start sparging. Water is pumped from the HLT to the MLT and remains there until the grainbed has settled. We vorlauf again and pump the remaining water into the kettle for boiling (along with the first runnings from the spare cooler). The wort is then boiled for 60 to 90 minutes and hops are added. At the end of the boil, fermenters, hoses, chillers, and the pump are all sanitized for the new beer. We connect our pump to the kettle and pump the beer cooling it as it flows through our counterflow chiller directly into our fermenters. Add yeast, and we're done!
The sequence hopefully yields beer at the end. We have had a few mishaps; namely, stuck mash, 80 minute boil (instead of 120 minutes, sorry Mike), and missed vorlaufs. Fortunately we have been doing this long enough to live the realization of our favorite saying: "Its easy to make good beer; its difficult to make great beer." This keeps us sane during the hectic brewing process, knowing that our worst case scenario is that we will have beer.
The brewery consists of three main peices: the hot liquor tank(HLT)/brew kettle(keggle, if you will), the pump, and the mash lauter tun(MLT). Due to monetary/situational forces, we have opted for a dual purpose water heating vessel. Our HLT/brew kettle consists of an old, and when I say "old," I mean really old, 15.5 gallon half barrel keg. Old refers to more than its age, but also the style of the keg. It is an almost antique, "on the side" style more akin to a stainless steel barrel than traditional keg. The keg has had one end plasma cut open and a fitting welded to what is now the "bottom" as a port for draining. This vessel, as the name suggests, has many uses which mainly involve heating some kind of liquid. The HLT use of the keg is for heating water for mashing in and sparging. The kettle use is, well, for boiling the wort. The pump is used, as the name suggests, for moving liquids from one vessel to another. More on that later... The final major piece of our brewery is the MLT, yet another vessel with multiple uses. Those are, if you can't tell by the name, mashing and lautering. The MLT is a marine sized cooler fitted with a custom copper manifold lining the bottom. The manifold was manufactured by our own resident "equipment engineer," Jason. He used 1 inch copper pipes to create a frame, roughly the size of the bottom of the cooler with multiple pipes running the length of the cooler. These pipes have small cuts at intervals allowing the liquids to drain through them. Connecting these pieces of the brewery are quick connect hoses which allow us to service each of the pieces without wasting valuable time.
These pieces come together on brew day in a delicately balanced and carefully choreographed symphony of brewing madness. Generally our brew days start with simultaneous grinding of grain and heating of mash water. Once proper volumes have been heated and grains appropriately ground, the two are combined in the MLT for approximately 60 minutes. Towards the end (25 to 30 minutes remaining) of that 60 minutes, we start preparing the volume of water needed for sparging. When time is up, we commence the vorlauf and begin mashing out into a spare cooler. Since we don't have a dedicated kettle, we have to store the first runnings before the kettle has finished its turn as an HLT. The discontinuation of liquid exiting the tun means we can start sparging. Water is pumped from the HLT to the MLT and remains there until the grainbed has settled. We vorlauf again and pump the remaining water into the kettle for boiling (along with the first runnings from the spare cooler). The wort is then boiled for 60 to 90 minutes and hops are added. At the end of the boil, fermenters, hoses, chillers, and the pump are all sanitized for the new beer. We connect our pump to the kettle and pump the beer cooling it as it flows through our counterflow chiller directly into our fermenters. Add yeast, and we're done!
The sequence hopefully yields beer at the end. We have had a few mishaps; namely, stuck mash, 80 minute boil (instead of 120 minutes, sorry Mike), and missed vorlaufs. Fortunately we have been doing this long enough to live the realization of our favorite saying: "Its easy to make good beer; its difficult to make great beer." This keeps us sane during the hectic brewing process, knowing that our worst case scenario is that we will have beer.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Beer Gadget: An Introduction
Someone once quoted Benjamin Franklin as having said, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Whether or not he actually said it is completely irrelevant. Simply the fact that someone said he said this famous quote should be enough to get a blog about my passions started. That being said, I have two hobbies: homebrewing beer and obsessing over gadgets.
Homebrewing beer is not only a passion of mine, but a creative outlet. I enjoy tasting, analyzing, sharing, and discussing all things beer/brewing. Creating recipes allows me to explore what I would really want in a beer and keeps me searching for the next beer I want to experience. Its a great feeling to be able to drink any beer, off the shelf or homebrewed, imagine what it could be, then create something new and different based on a feeling or desire. The other side of homebrewing is the fellowship during and sharing of a brewday. Its a great feeling to enjoy the company of people that love what you love, no matter what it is. Its like hanging out with people you work with, but everyone loves their job. Its hard to find a profession that this is true. Brewing may be the only "profession" (hobby, for most) that allows this kind of interaction amongst people, but let's not forget that this hobby/profession is based around alcohol. It greases the wheels of your inhibitions, emotions, and excitement. We have all seen what it is capable of; fortunately, brewers, at least in my experience, know a little bit better and try to enjoy the beer for its subtle flavors, textures, and aromas. This usually keeps brewers honest, allowing them pleasant company and sophisticated conversation.
Gadgets, on the other hand, are a whole 'nother beast. Since they appeal to the masses on a huge scale, followers of these minute machines cross all demographics. From fanbois in high, or even middle, schools to CEOs in their ivory towers, people love gadgets. Conversations about gadgets can be as sophisticated as those of beer, but can also be juvenile, ignorant, and fool-hearty as a three-year-old clinging to his or her blanky. For these reasons I have chosen to learn, obsess, and wonder about gadgets from afar. However, this doesn't mean I strictly look and don't touch. My deeply rooted fascination with gadgets stems mostly from my profession in electrical engineering. Every day I am blown away by what tech companies are doing with silicon and copper. From phones to TVs to power generation, these companies are furthering civilization in new and exciting ways.
There you have it, Gadgets and Beer: two of my loves/obsessions displayed and described for you. I can only hope you too enjoy these amazing facets of society as I do. Here's to creativity and fascination. Cheers.
Homebrewing beer is not only a passion of mine, but a creative outlet. I enjoy tasting, analyzing, sharing, and discussing all things beer/brewing. Creating recipes allows me to explore what I would really want in a beer and keeps me searching for the next beer I want to experience. Its a great feeling to be able to drink any beer, off the shelf or homebrewed, imagine what it could be, then create something new and different based on a feeling or desire. The other side of homebrewing is the fellowship during and sharing of a brewday. Its a great feeling to enjoy the company of people that love what you love, no matter what it is. Its like hanging out with people you work with, but everyone loves their job. Its hard to find a profession that this is true. Brewing may be the only "profession" (hobby, for most) that allows this kind of interaction amongst people, but let's not forget that this hobby/profession is based around alcohol. It greases the wheels of your inhibitions, emotions, and excitement. We have all seen what it is capable of; fortunately, brewers, at least in my experience, know a little bit better and try to enjoy the beer for its subtle flavors, textures, and aromas. This usually keeps brewers honest, allowing them pleasant company and sophisticated conversation.
Gadgets, on the other hand, are a whole 'nother beast. Since they appeal to the masses on a huge scale, followers of these minute machines cross all demographics. From fanbois in high, or even middle, schools to CEOs in their ivory towers, people love gadgets. Conversations about gadgets can be as sophisticated as those of beer, but can also be juvenile, ignorant, and fool-hearty as a three-year-old clinging to his or her blanky. For these reasons I have chosen to learn, obsess, and wonder about gadgets from afar. However, this doesn't mean I strictly look and don't touch. My deeply rooted fascination with gadgets stems mostly from my profession in electrical engineering. Every day I am blown away by what tech companies are doing with silicon and copper. From phones to TVs to power generation, these companies are furthering civilization in new and exciting ways.
There you have it, Gadgets and Beer: two of my loves/obsessions displayed and described for you. I can only hope you too enjoy these amazing facets of society as I do. Here's to creativity and fascination. Cheers.
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