So this is more of an introduction to beer reviews. I haven't done one yet, but I've got some ideas. I had an awesome idea to work through the Orkney Island Brewery's beers and finish the series with a review of Dark Island Reserve, which I still have in the cupboard. Sadly that plan was thwarted by someone stopping importing them. I was gutted, Dark Island is possibly the best dark ale I've ever had. Anyway, I found the notes I made at a beer tasting I went to last Christmas so I thought I'd give beer reviewing a go. Hang onto your hats, it's going to be intense.
Intense is too strong a word for this little blog post. There aren't even any pictures. Maybe I should have said "Hang onto your hats, it might hold your interest for a couple of minutes". Anyway, let's get on with it.
Bit of an intro
So the story goes like this: Once upon a time David went to a beer tasting event at the local beer supermarket. The beer supermarket is exactly as it sounds. In Norway you can only sell alcoholic drinks (not beverages, drinks) over 5% alcohol if you're the government controlled alcohol dispensary, Vinmonopolet. However if you're someone else like a supermarket you can sell anything under 5%, which pretty much just means beer. Bars and restaurants can sell stronger stuff of course, but I think they buy it from Vinmonopolet. In my town is a small supermarket that only sells beer. They have a decent range of British beers, which are the ones I usually stick to, but last Christmas they had a tasting event. A lot of breweries release a Christmas beer and if you go to a British pub around Christmas you'll probably see a couple of them. They often tend to be a bit thicker and more treacly than the all year round beers, or unusual in some other way. I assume it's just because people expect things to be heavy and hearty at Christmas time. Anyway, I don't remember how much the ticket was, but it included samples of ten of that years Christmas releases from Norwegian breweries and a concert from the local Johnny Cash cover band. Hot dogs were extra.
Since I'm not so familiar with beer tasting I had a word with my old friend Mr. Tiffen. He's something of a brewing genius and moderately well known on a British home brewing forum for his innovative "JDT" style counterflow cooler. Chances are you haven't heard of him beyond my blog, although he does read it so if you're him you probably know him pretty well. Hi, Tiffen. Anyway, we had a little chat and I learned a load of cool stuff about beer, particularly how to spot a good beer. Until now I've been asking myself the question "Do I like this beer?" (which really is probably the most important question), but now I've learned about "balance".
Balance refers to malty sweetness and hoppy bitterness in a beer and the two should balance nicely so that a really sweet beer ought to have a fair bit of bitterness to it and vice versa. Personal tastes and preferences come into it of course, so there's a bit of wiggle room as far as I understand it. The sweetness comes from the malt and is the first taste to get into the mix. The sugar in the malt is drawn out with hot water. I won't go into much detail right now as I'm planning a beery interview with my old friend Mr. Tiffen which I'll post on here. Don't want to say it all before he gets a chance. For now I'll just say that it involves sparging. Some of the sugar from the malt will ferment and some won't. If there's a high content of non-fermentable sugar you'll get a lot of sweetness in the final result. If there's a lot of fermentable sugar you won't get such a sweet result because the yeast will have eaten all the sugar. Pretty simple so far.
Bitterness comes from the hops, which are boiled in the nice sweet malty concoction, which is then cooled with a JDT style counterflow cooler before yeast is added and it is allowed to ferment. As the hops begin boiling they start to release some lovely aromatic chemicals into the liquid like some kind of posh tea. As the mixture boils, the aromas begin to break down and "alpha acids" start to some out which are the chemicals that give it the bitterness. It seems unusual to me that an acid would give bitterness and not sourness, but I'll ask my old friend Mr. Tiffen about that. I remember brewing with him a few years ago and putting in a pile of hops at the start of boiling the stuff we were boiling (probably wort at that point) and then adding some more hops at the end and just letting them boil for a few minutes. The first lot were for bitterness and the second lot were for aroma. The aroma also has to go well with the sweetness and bitterness and other flavours to create a really good beer.
As I understand it Christmas beers can be a bit experimental and some breweries use a new recipe each year. This would account for them being a bit hit and miss in terms of now nice they are, since apparently there's no sure fire way to tell how sweet the final product will be and therefore no way to be certain how much hops to use. There are also several different kinds of malt and different kinds of hops, with all different kinds of aromas and flavours to match up as well as the general bitter/sweet balance. It's all a bit of guess work and experimentation, so let's have a quick round of applause for all the good beer producers for a job well done. If you actually applauded on your own just now then I don't know what to say to you. That was weird. You'd expect a brewery that's been running for a long time to produce better Christmas beer simply because they've had longer to play around with recipes, but I don't know if that'd the case.
I'm having to go with the notes I made at the time. I made notes on the aroma, taste and aftertaste, which seemed to work pretty well as a way of breaking down the beery experience into manageable chunks, but I missed comments on balance. I tasted the beer nearly a year ago and learned about balance this afternoon, so don't get too upset. I'll try to comment on it anyway, but take it with a pinch of salt. I didn't make notes on the appearance either, or get any pictures, since it was in a dimly lit marquee in a car park and the lighting wasn't ideal. It was difficult enough to make notes. Anyway, feel free to comment with any suggestions about beer tasting, I'm willing to learn.
1. Inderøy Gårdsbryggeri - Nisse Øl - 4.5% abv
Inderøy is an island somewhere. Gårdsbryggeri means "farm brewery". A Nisse is a weird little gnome thing that's associated with Christmas in Norway. Back in England you leave a mince pie out for Sants. In Norway you put a bowl of porridge in the barn for the nisse. Øl is beer.
Aroma
Malty vanilla
Savoury
A tiny hint of Marmite (a kind of spread made from yeast extract. Look at this for more. Apparently you need a license to sell Marmite in Denmark)
A tiny bit of a yeasty smell
Taste
Not a lot
Aftertaste
Hoppy
Kind of chocolatey, almost like dark chocolate. I suspect chocolate malt was used, but I don't know a great deal about beer malts.
Balance
I reckon pretty well balanced. This was the lightest, but since I mentioned chocolate and malty vanilla there was clearly sweetness and since I said it was hoppy there was probably bitterness too.
2. Klostergården Håndbryggeri - Jule Øl - 4.5%
Klostergården I think means "the monastery farm", Håndbryggeri means "hand brewery" and Jule Øl means "Christmas beer."
Aroma
Dried fruit
Liqorice
Christmassy (by which I mean it has various smells that I associate with British Christmas. Things like cinnamon, cloves, dried fruits in brandy, etc.)
A touch of Marmite
Treacle toffee
Toasted seeds
Christmas cake (dried fruits, sweet, nutty, baking, spiced, maybe allspice or clove or something)
Taste
Very pleasant, although it was difficult to pin down anything specific.
Aftertaste
Bitter
Buscuity
Burnt sugar bitterness but in a good way
Balance
Apparently quite good again. it's got some sweetness and bitterness, neither or which appeared to be overwhelming. Sweet biscuity malt balanced with a burnt sugar bitterness.
3. Lindesnes Brygghus - Jule Øl - 4.7%
Lindesnes is a place, brygghus means "brewhouse". Jule Ol is "Christmas beer" again.
Aroma
Farmy
Maybe a touch of silage
Sweet and sour at the same time, but not like a Chinese takeaway
Sweet yeasty smell
Kind of fruity
A kind of Christmas tree sourness
Taste
Fruity
A bit farmy
Aftertaste
Woody
Bitter hops. (I put in my notes "hops boiled long". Apparently the longer hops are boiled the more bitter flavour is imparted to the beer. The less time they're boiled the more aroma is imparted.)
Balance
Again it sounds like this one was quite well balanced. I've mentioned sweetness and bitter hops and I liked this one. I don't really know if it was well balanced or not, but apparently this combination of sweetness, bitterness and aroma was one I enjoyed.
4. Namdalsbryggeri - Jule Øl - 4.7% abv
Namsdalen is a place and the name means "The Nam Valley". Bryggeri you should have picked up by now, and Jule Øl. If not then you should have been paying more attention. Shame on you.
Aroma
Faintly smokey
Kind of earthy and woody
A bit meaty (although that could have been the smell from the hot dog stand)
Fruity yeast
Taste
Kind of greasy mouth feel like a hot dog.
Generally quite yeasty and smokey
A bit unusual, but really nice.
Aftertaste
I didn't write anything down for aftertaste for this beer. possibly because it was pretty much the same as the taste in the mouth, possibly because I was chatting to my slender Nowegian friend Mr. Tollaksen. Maybe even because proceedings were interrupted by the call of nature, as is to be expected at a beer tasting.
Balance
Hard to say. Possibly the fact that I didn't mention sweet or bitter means that they were perfectly balanced out. I have no idea really.
5. 7 Fjell - St. Niklaus' Christmas Ale - 4.7% abv
Fjell means mountain. St Niklaus is obviously St Nicholas. If you need me to translate the words "Christmas Ale" into English for you then the situation is worse than I'd feared. Around this point I had a brief converstion with my slender Norwegian Friend Mr. Tollaksen about the experience of taste and how it's affected by alcohol. A lot of things were being affected by alcohol at this point. He commented on how it's difficult to be objective when everyone has different ideas about what good beer is like. I said it's been almost impossible to be objective since the second of third beer, because of the way the alcohol affects perception. Everything seems more enjoyable after a couple f drinks. That's why I try to stick to real things I can taste and smell instead of giving marks out of five or whatever.
Aroma
Meaty but fruity
Kind of like a British sausage or pork pie.
Sausagey herbs (I'm pretty sure sage)
Hoppy
Malt
Marmite
Taste
Generally bitter
Aftertaste
Fruity yeast
Crisp, bitter hops
Balance
Again hard to say for sure, but it sounds like this one was pretty well balanced, but maybe leaning more to the bitter hop side. The description of the taste as "generally bitter" gives me that impression.
6. Kinn Bryggeri - Jule Fred - 4.7% abv
The name is taken from an old communal building in the town or Florø called "Kinnhuset". You know bryggeri and jule. Fred means "peace" so this one's called "Christmas Peace". How nice.
Aroma
Christmas cake (dried fruit, baking, nutty, spices etc.)
Nutty
Malty
Soy sauce
Taste
very savoury, heading towards soy sauce, but not as salty.
Hazel nuts
Something close to Marmite, but not completely Marmite. Some other savoury yeasty flavour.
Aftertaste
I didn't write anything down for aftertaste for this one either. In fact, I appear to have forgotten about aftertaste from this point on. My notes are also becoming harder and harder to read.
Balance
It appears this one was possibly very well balanced. I mentioned malt, but then mostly described it as savoury, suggesting to me that the bitterness wasn't so noticeable, but complimented the maltiness creating a lovely flat surface on which to explore savouriness. Maybe not. It was another good one as I recall.
7. Balder Brygg - Julebukk - 7% abv
Balder was one of the Norse gods from the old Norse mythology. Brygg means "brew" and Julebukk I believe means "Christmas goat". Possibly the norwegian equivalent of reindeer, but they have reindeer here too. Not sure of the significance of a Christmas goat.
Aroma
A bit flowery
Savoury
A bit nutty
Taste
Sweet
Treacle
Very thick
Just a shade too thick and sweet for me
Aftertaste
Again no notes. I was chatting a lot at this point and not concentrating so much on notes. Also I was getting rather merry.
Balance
Sounds like this one was a bit too much on the sweet side with not enough alpha acids to balance the non-fermentable sugars. At least not to my taste. Not my favourite beer of the night.
8. Lervig Aktiebryggeri - Lervig's Jul - 6.8%
Lervig is a name I think. The "aktie" part of aktiebryggeri I think means something to do with shares. Maybe you can buy shares in Lervig Aktiebryggeri. Lervig's Jul should be obvious.
Aroma
Fruity yeast
Nutty
Toast
A hint of Marmite
Taste
Really fruity
Nutty
A bit of British sausage taste (Although I'd had a hot dog or two by this point.)
Aftertaste
No notes again, and my writing was all over the place.
Balance
Not sure, ant my notes don't give much of a clue. I liked it and didn't seem to notice sweetness or bitterness. Is that good? Who knows?
9. Schouskjelleren - Jule Øl - 6.5% abv
Schou is the name of one of the founders of the brewery. The name means "Schou's Cellar". Jule Øl again, these brewers aren't as imaginative with their names as the British.
Aroma
Sweet
A lot of treacle
A liquorice note gave me the impression of liquorice and treacle toffees that I had once.
Bit of toast
Bit of Marmite
Taste
At first a bit too sweet
Liquorice and bitter hops came in after a second and brought the sweetness back within sensible parameters.
A slightly weird but pleasant blue cheese quality
Tea
Aftertaste
I was thinking more about hot dogs. I was getting peckish again. Hot dogs and beer are awesome.
Balance
The notes here show how I was experiencing the way the bitterness balanced the sweetness. This was another one I liked, but I'm not sure if it's because it was well balanced while allowing me to experience both the bitter and the sweet, or if it was because it was beer number nine.
10. Berentsens Brygghus - Stellinger Divum - 2012 Årgang - 19%abv
Berentsen is a name, Brygghus is "Brewhouse." I think Stellinger Divum means something like "divine star" but I'm not certain. It's interesting that they included the year with this one because it's really more of a barley wine than a beer. 19% would be insanely strong for a beer. I assume the difference is in what type of yeast they use, but I'm not certain.
Aroma
Marmite
Treacle
Alcohol (the first one where you really noticed an alcohol smell)
Taste
Marmite
Treacle
Like a Marmite liqueur
Mainly Marmite
It just tastes of Marmite
Aftertaste
You can see from the notes on taste that things were getting a little unsophisticated. Aftertaste wasn't as important as not sliding off the bench. (Just joking!)
Balance
I'm not sure where the marmite taste fits with balance. I mentioned the treacle smell which suggests this one was a bit on the sweet side, but I have no idea.
A few extra comments
Part of what was interesting with this event was seeing how increasing blood alcohol changed perception of taste and smell and particularly of enjoyment. I wrote in my notes that numbers 3,6,8 and 9 were the nicest. I very much enjoyed 8 and 9. Can you guess why? I was enjoying everything by then. My subjective enjoyment of the experience was heightened by the alcohol I had already consumed in the previous samples. To me, marks out of ten are too subjective. Do they tell you how good the beer is or how drunk the reviewer was when they tasted it?
Beer rating systems I've come across before have never quite fitted the bill for me. They use a system on the Vinmonopolet website (Norwegian state run bottle shop) that is designed to give you a clue about what to expect, but they give a rating for fullness, freshness and bitterness, which doesn't make much sense to me. I suppose you'd get a fuller beer if there was more sugar, bitterness is obvious, but freshness? To be fair, they do include some tasting notes. I think I'm going to stick with aroma, taste, aftertaste and a comment on balance.
Just a quick word of caution: These were samples not pints. I'd say each sample was a quarter to a third of a pint. Ten pints would do me no good at all and I wouldn't be enjoying the evening if I'd had that much. I wasn't wasted, just no longer able to make reliably objective assessments about the quality of the drinks.
Conclusion
What a thoroughly enjoyable night, even if the little boys room turned out to be several blokes standing in a row and pissing off a small cliff. All the beers were pretty good. My least favourite was number 7 which was a bit too thick and sweet for me. If I don't like a Christmas beer it's usually because it's too thick and sweet. I'd like to have another go at numbers 8 and 9 to see if they were really that nice or if they just had the backing of the previous seven beers. The barley wine was a bit much. Certainly not unpleasant, but just a bit much after having had nine other samples. Another one I'd like another go at, but with a fresher palette and a clearer head. Number 1 was a bit insubstantial. Not much to it, but you could probably drink a lot more of it than the others. Possibly what you'd call a "session" beer, but I'll ask my old friend Mr. Tiffen about that too.
Would I go to a beer tasting again? Most definitely, but I'd be careful how much I drank, as I usually am.
On the standard scale of one to ten: Beer!
Watch this space for more beer reviews, and a spectacular interview with my old friend Mr. Tiffen on all things beery. Or at east some things beery. We'll have a skype chat and a pint and see what happens, how about that?
No comments:
Post a Comment