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Hey Brewers,

To document my first recipe I was wanting to design a "Score Card" of sorts so my drinking buddies can rate my brew, so when I get deeper into new recipes I can refer back and see how that specific recipe went over & maybe alter it based on it's rating. Can I get some input on maybe 5-10 questions that would be asked. Maybe similar to whatever a home brew contest judges card is like or just important questions related determining a quality beer
 
How sophisticated are your friends' palate?

Here are some questions/categories:
Carbonation: 1-10, how bubbly?
Color: pale, golden, amber, brown, black, etc.
Head: small - big
hops: grassy, flowery, citrusy, etc.
malt: light - heavy
mouthfeel: thin - full
flavors
aroma
 
I look at it this way. If they drank it, they liked it. If they didn't drink it, I don't invite them back.
 
Hey Brewers,

To document my first recipe I was wanting to design a "Score Card" of sorts so my drinking buddies can rate my brew, so when I get deeper into new recipes I can refer back and see how that specific recipe went over & maybe alter it based on it's rating. Can I get some input on maybe 5-10 questions that would be asked. Maybe similar to whatever a home brew contest judges card is like or just important questions related determining a quality beer

Since I find most trained BJCP judges opinions of marginal help/accuracy/importance, not sure what your buddies' untrained palate is going to tell you.

Maybe you can just ask them and note it in your records?
 
I don't know how deep you want to go with the cards, but I always ask people what foods, plants, desserts, candies, drinks, etc the beer tastes like. It's far more helpful for a person to tell me "yeah it kinda tastes like brownies dipped in coffee"...you'd be surprised at how good of feedback you can get from a person if you have them relate it to something they know, instead of the standard "bitter" "good" "bad" "sweet" etc. You can look at your own beer and tell if it has head and lacing, but people have vastly different ideas of how things taste.
 
I agree with what is said above. If you read BA or some other beer sites where they rate things, most of what is written is of no help at all. Maybe its because I have not "trained my pallet" yet :D but i cant find about 90% of the flavors they claim are in there. Toasted biscuits and raisins my a**! but I digress......

What I do when I taste a new beer is ask some simple questions to myself:
Does it smell good?
Describe what it smells like. Grass, oranges, etc. I keep it simple
Is it too hoppy for my taste?
Is it to sweet for my taste?
Does it taste too burnt for my taste?
Do I like the aftertaste?

You could easily add a 1-5 scale for each of those, 1 being "this is crap" and 5 being "this is like drinking angel tears"
 
I brew beer to my taste and don't care what others think so long as I enjoy it. I could see how you could potentially benefit from opinions within a friend base of chefs, beer judges, etc. Even at that point I am still going to trust my opinion over theirs because I will brew what I like, not what they like.
 
I agree with what is said above. If you read BA or some other beer sites where they rate things, most of what is written is of no help at all. Maybe its because I have not "trained my pallet" yet :D but i cant find about 90% of the flavors they claim are in there. Toasted biscuits and raisins my a**! but I digress......

Reminds me of a positive review in Cigar Aficionado that I read once that noted "hints of pencil lead". Who the feck wants to smoke pencil lead?? :confused:
 
That's a good idea! I have a journal that I keep out when I have tasting parties. I encourage people to write about their favorite beers. What I always find interesting, though not surprising, is that everyone picks a different beer for their favorite. The point is that people drink what they like regardless of it is "brewed to style". I have yet to have anyone tell me that my American Wheat is "too hoppy for the style". People drink it. People like it. People drink more of it! Most likely it will never win an award but that is ok.......
 
If you really want better feedback, ask homebrewers not your friends. Join a club or enter a competition because the people who will drink your beer will be looking to analyze and discern different tastes in the beer.

To put it in perspective, all my relatives think my beer is good even when I know its not up to par...I once served my brother (pretty big beer drinker) a flat beer just to see his reaction...he sipped it for a while saying it was good until I laughed, poured it out, and got him a real beer.

On the other hand, I do find that serving your beer to family members who dont like beer (at least craft beer) is a great litmus test of the beer, they might not articulate it well, but they will let you know if they dont like it. I tortured my uncle at thanksgiving with my belgian tripels since I knew he didnt like it, he would say things like "I really dont like belgians, but I do like the taste of honey in this, etc"
 
Beer Friend Tasting Notes System

A) Good Job, we'll keep you around.

B) Meh, I'd probably drink this over a Bud Light.

C) It's free, right??

D) Hey, look over there! (dump)

E) GACK!
 
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