Tasting & describing the taste of beer?!

[jennyss]

I know this topic has come up before, but please give me some more guidance all you experienced tastemasters. I have been trying different Coopers extracts from ales to lagers to a pilsner, some with hop additions, and now I'm confused! It's not good enough to say 'that was yummy' or 'that was yuck'. I want to be able to note and record the different tastes over time.

I found one site  which said to concentrate on 5 topics: malt flavours, hop flavours & bitterness, fermentation flavours from yeast, carbonation, and body and mouthfeel. Each topic had a list of possible describing words: eg for hop flavours - piney, citrusy, spicy, floral. 

But what are your best words, or ways to think about the taste of beer?

[ozdevil]

here is a couple of charts you could use to help   describe some notes on your beer





describing the taste can be personnel thing  as well    when i try a beer for the 1st time 

i  will try to sniff   the beer for  aroma  and to see  what i can pick coming through   specially when your using a couple different hops

then i take a mouth ful of beer then swish it around my mouth   just to try to get  mouthfeel from the beer 

then as i swallow   i will try to picks notes  

and i look for the after taste in what that leave

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

40 minutes ago, ozdevil said:

here is a couple of charts you could use to help   describe some notes on your beer





describing the taste can be personnel thing  as well    when i try a beer for the 1st time 

i  will try to sniff   the beer for  aroma  and to see  what i can pick coming through   specially when your using a couple different hops

then i take a mouth ful of beer then swish it around my mouth   just to try to get  mouthfeel from the beer 

then as i swallow   i will try to picks notes  

and i look for the after taste in what that leave

 

Yeah, that's pretty much it, you look at it, even hold it up to the light look for a nice even colour with a tight head of foam, about 2 fingers.

You don't want bubbles & an ice cream head hanging all over the glass.

Aroma, this will give you the first idea of how the beer tastes, swirling around in the mouth without immediately swallowing it will bring out the flavours, freshness etc. including mouthfeel.

The flavour should linger & make you want more, it works for me  try to pick out the hops you have added & this helps you decide or change different hopping methods.

Finally, if you have a nice lacing all the way down the glass it means you have made a pretty good beer.

If you aren't on your second one by now, you have done something wrong.

As with anything else, it comes with practice, also using different types of "beer clean" glasses (I couldn't resist that) will give you a different experience.

 

[Kegory]

I've been trying to improve my tasting skills and vocabulary this year @jennyss. Often I use google, many beers have a description on the brewer's or other websites. I smell it and taste it then read it and see if I'm getting the same characteristics as the description or if they are using words to describe things I don't have a name for.

I've read Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher which is really interesting. Beer Advocate is a really good website with lots of reviews of established beers although some reviews are better than others. I recall reading reviews for Coopers Pale Ale and I came across one review where the reviewer was clearly drinking Coopers Sparkling Ale unaware that they were different beers.

I have also learned that just smelling and tasting beers is not enough. It is important to take a moment to smell and taste other aromas and flavours to really turn on that part of the brain. But the more you do it the better you get at it.

[DavidM]

1 hour ago, jennyss said:

I know this topic has come up before, but please give me some more guidance all you experienced tastemasters. I have been trying different Coopers extracts from ales to lagers to a pilsner, some with hop additions, and now I'm confused! It's not good enough to say 'that was yummy' or 'that was yuck'. I want to be able to note and record the different tastes over time.

I found one site  which said to concentrate on 5 topics: malt flavours, hop flavours & bitterness, fermentation flavours from yeast, carbonation, and body and mouthfeel. Each topic had a list of possible describing words: eg for hop flavours - piney, citrusy, spicy, floral. 

But what are your best words, or ways to think about the taste of beer?

I can't describe Beer, I will try to use the charts provided by Oz to help me but at the end of the Beer, was it good? Do I want more? Will I make it again? That is all I need.

[jennyss]

Thanks all for your info.  Here are my first tasting notes!  A Coopers 86 Day Pilsner extract with1kg LDM and 25g Citra hop steep added on day 10.       

Aroma: faint whiff of hops - can't describe.   Malt flavour - ???     Hop flavour/bitterness:  grapefruit, spicy   Fermentation/flavours from yeast:  - ???                                    Carbonation: soft but not flat, not much head when first poured (glass was specially cleaned!) Body & mouthfeel: medium, smooth - not thick or thin.

 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, jennyss said:

faint whiff of hops

You should try more hops perhaps Jenny, even 50gms in a 23l brew is not excessive.

[Aussiekraut]

1 hour ago, jennyss said:

25g Citra hop steep added on day 10.       

Try dry hopping instead. Add something like 50g of Citra to the FV on day 3 or 4 and leave it in for 3 or 4 days, then remove it. Use a muslin bag or a hop sock, at a pinch, use a fresh Chux and tie it up at the top. Just make sure all is sanitised and you're wearing gloves. Rubber or latex gloves will do just fine if you don't have brewing gloves. Sanitise them as well of course. When you remove it, squeeze the hop bag to get all the goodness out. Then let the brew finish and cold crash, if you do. That should give you plenty of hop flavour and aroma.

[NBillett09]

@jennyss Malt is sometimes a bit hard to discern until you know what it tastes like. You can get malt powder or malt flavoring for use in other drinks like milkshakes etc, try a taste of that to get an idea of which bit is the malt taste. Malt can be sort of sweet and caramel-y  through to dark and roasty like coffee or dark chocolate depending on how it’s roasted.

For recognizing hop flavour go to a website like hopslist and look up the hop you added for its flavours and aromas and then you on ow where to start looking in your beer

Edited October 17, 2023 by NBillett09

[Pale Man]

When it comes down to it for me. I like a good clean malt taste just to know its beer. Then has to have a poke of bitterness so the beer isn't too sweet. And thats depending on what style.

Then I'll look for different flavours in different styles. And you can sort of pick that. Styles of beer have those distinct flavour and mouthfeel.

Thats as far as I go. I defy anyone to pick a distinct hop or hop combination in a beer if they were blindfolded, and also malts.  You're pretty good if you can, better than me and Ive had some beers in my life.

To me its just the whole beer satisfying you in the style you wanted. Does the job for the mood you're in at that moment.

[Pale Man]

6 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

Thats as far as I go. I defy anyone to pick a distinct hop or hop combination in a beer if they were blindfolded

 

Having said that, I can taste the difference in a noble hop, and a new age hop.  Noble hops to me are German, English sort of hop. Earthy and more subtle. A bit like potatoes and beetroot. They go with old traditional Ales, Stouts and Lagers. More suited to cooler climates. With big malts in the beer. And they are usually mellow that malt to bring it out, but have a bitterness.

New age hops to me are more an American thing. Pale Ales, Hazey Pale Ales, NEIPAS. Very fruity, tropical hops and zingy. Usually matched with lighter malts. To give that thirst quenching beer for warmer climates. These hops can over power malts and you're getting a big hit from them.

I could go on and on, but I'd end up writing an essay here 

[Tone boy]

On 10/17/2023 at 6:53 PM, Pale Man said:

When it comes down to it for me. I like a good clean malt taste just to know its beer. Then has to have a poke of bitterness so the beer isn't too sweet. And thats depending on what style.

Then I'll look for different flavours in different styles. And you can sort of pick that. Styles of beer have those distinct flavour and mouthfeel.

Thats as far as I go. I defy anyone to pick a distinct hop or hop combination in a beer if they were blindfolded, and also malts.  You're pretty good if you can, better than me and Ive had some beers in my life.

To me its just the whole beer satisfying you in the style you wanted. Does the job for the mood you're in at that moment.

I reckon I can pick a beer with Saaz hops. It seems to have a particular flavour for me that I can get straight away. Not saying I’m better than you PM it just seems to be distinctive to me.

New world hops, or hop combos are hard for me to pick. A lot of the newer fruity hops seem fairly similar to me. 

Pride of Ringwood maybe another one I could pick…

[jennyss]

My next brew after my 86 Day Pilsner is a Coopers Gold Crown Lager - extract mixed with 1kg BE2, 500g LDM and a 25g Galaxy hop steep on day 10. 

Tasting notes: Aroma - can't detect;  Bubblegum flavour (don't know what shapes this flavour, it is quite good); good bitterness; carbonation - effervescent, sparkling; head - creamy, almost a yellowy colour; full mouthfeel. Confusing? - yes! 

Overall: quite yummy - 6/10 (I'm a hard marker!)

 

[Kegory]

@jennyss, I think you may find this video interesting, How to Taste Beer - Critically. Someone posted it in another forum this morning and it popped up in my google feed later in the day. I found it interesting, 13 minutes well spent, I say.

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Kegory
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[jennyss]

9 hours ago, Kegory said:

How to Taste Beer - Critically.

Thanks @Kegory I found this video very interesting. Now I have to wait until beer time tonight to put some of Nate's tips into practice!

Sometimes the same beer tastes different to me on different days. For example, I am down to my last bottle of my Coopers Gold Crown Lager. Mostly I thought I tasted 'bubblegum'; but yesterday all I could think of was grapefruit! 

[Kegory]

1 hour ago, jennyss said:

Thanks @Kegory I found this video very interesting. Now I have to wait until beer time tonight to put some of Nate's tips into practice!

Sometimes the same beer tastes different to me on different days. For example, I am down to my last bottle of my Coopers Gold Crown Lager. Mostly I thought I tasted 'bubblegum'; but yesterday all I could think of was grapefruit! 

Yeah, I get that sometimes, too. Maybe it has something to do with having a clean palette, maybe it has something to do with the beer aging, maybe it has something to do with something else. Maybe it's a combination. It's firmly in the I-know-what-you're-talking-about-but-I-don't-know-why category.

[RDT2]

14 hours ago, Kegory said:

Yeah, I get that sometimes, too. Maybe it has something to do with having a clean palette, maybe it has something to do with the beer aging, maybe it has something to do with something else. Maybe it's a combination. It's firmly in the I-know-what-you're-talking-about-but-I-don't-know-why category.

My son yesterday had some cheese sticks, and said to me they taste weird are they out of date??? I said “no what did you eat before hand?” 
He said “two tim tams!”

I said “no further questions your honour!”

Extreme case but yes, what you eat/ drink before hand definitely can influence your taste! I do wonder about beer tasting comps with that!

[Classic Brewing Co]

23 minutes ago, RDT2 said:

My son yesterday had some cheese sticks, and said to me they taste weird are they out of date??? I said “no what did you eat before hand?” 
He said “two tim tams!”

I said “no further questions your honour!”

Extreme case but yes, what you eat/ drink before hand definitely can influence your taste! I do wonder about beer tasting comps with that!

I reckon taste is all about what you want it to be, you have to start with a visual, then smell that aroma, take a sip & indulge in the joyous experience of the lovely stuff in your mouth & then drink the bloody thing. 

[Kegory]

12 hours ago, RDT2 said:

My son yesterday had some cheese sticks, and said to me they taste weird are they out of date??? I said “no what did you eat before hand?” 
He said “two tim tams!”

I said “no further questions your honour!”

Extreme case but yes, what you eat/ drink before hand definitely can influence your taste! I do wonder about beer tasting comps with that!

I haven't attended one but I would imagine beer tasting judges would clear their palettes.