How to get into beer tasting..

I started to brew before I even had 9 micro brews and just now started to taste new beers. My problem is most prem beers taste good to me and I cannot seem to understand the beer. When other people taste them they can write a papargrah on what they taste but with me. I am like. This tastes great, a little sweet with a bitter finish while other people can describe the flavors of the beer. Taste what has been put into it...

Here is a really good place to start:

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2008_stylebook.pdf

Thanks...

I would suggest Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher. Great resource on beer tasting. It also helps to find someone near you who knows a bit more about beer and then maybe go somewhere with them and offer to buy them a beer to pick their brain on what you are smelling and tasting.

Also, get yourself a good tasting glass. Something like a tulip offers a great shape for being able to stick your nose in there and really get the aroma down. While you're tasting, read some reviews and see if you can pick out some of the consistent flavors and aromas.

There are SO many variables, it is nice to take it one step at a time. Starting with something with less complexity can allow you to pick out flavors little by little, until you work up to the rest. You'll get there. I can write paragraphs about beer I've tasted. I don't write reviews, but I think I have a pretty discernible palate. It just takes time.

It takes time and plenty of beer.

The way I started (and I am by no means a tasting expert) was to try a beer and write down my impressions on a standard BJCP scoresheet doing my best to describe every flavor I thought I picked up. The next thing I do is read reviews on a site like Beer Advocate, RateBeer, or one of the many other sites.

I compare what I have to what a group of people perceived to see what I might have missed.

You can work this the opposite way, but it tends to skew results. If even one or two people taste something in a beer and you read it, you are likely to perceive it even if it's not really there.

I have the same questions. I want to learn to taste beer, but I am afraid I just don't have a good sense of taste. I started on the BJCP stuff and is very confusing. It's hard to understand the flavor without having someone actually say, "Taste this, can you notice the XXXX in there?"

I have also ready Randy Mosher's Tasting Beer, and it is easily the most entertaining book about beer I've ever read. Even if you already know how to taste beer, buy this book! He is an excellent writer and this book is very enlightening and well written.

I brewed a blonde the other day and just got it carbed. I am not sure if I can taste fusels or if it's just young. Would be nice to know. I brewed while camping in my RV, so the ferm temp could be an issue. I'm starting to get good enough in brewing to have to start worrying about that stuff, but not good enough that I don't!

Plus it's ALL subjective. No two people will pick out all the same flavors on a beer. Taste and smell are like snowflakes, no two are the same. And some people like to taste beer so they can ramble on and sound educated. The best way to develop your taste is to dive in and drink a crap load of craft beers.

I really like this place in town and it is by far much cheaper than this other place. However, I soon found out quickly that these beers will break you. The avrg price is 4-6 bucks which is low compared to other place in town.

Tiako said:

I really like this place in town and it is by far much cheaper than this other place. However, I soon found out quickly that these beers will break you. The avrg price is 4-6 bucks which is low compared to other place in town.

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Where abouts do you live?

Some craft beer is expensive. I buy 4 or 5 bottles a month that are anywhere from 12-40 dollars and I deal with it because I know I will get something great.

I was excited to try DFH 120 which just came in to my beer store.


$10 a bottle... 12 ozer.

No thanks. I'll save it for when I have a bunch of extra cash laying around. I really want to try it, but for that price, I would expect a 750ml bottle!

Homercidal said:

I was excited to try DFH 120 which just came in to my beer store.


$10 a bottle... 12 ozer.

No thanks. I'll save it for when I have a bunch of extra cash laying around. I really want to try it, but for that price, I would expect a 750ml bottle!

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Meh. It is way overhyped.

wildwest450 said:

Plus it's ALL subjective. No two people will pick out all the same flavors on a beer. Taste and smell are like snowflakes, no two are the same. And some people like to taste beer so they can ramble on and sound educated. The best way to develop your taste is to dive in and drink a crap load of craft beers.

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To me reading beer critic comments is a waste of time really just for that reason.

We here at work are doing a cheese steak tasting thing. Once maybe twice a week we try one from a top 25 list or something on some Philly area website. Not only are the top rated places not even top rated by any of us, a couple places the vote was unanimous, the place sucked! Top that off with most times we don't agree on if the sandwich is good or not and all you have is a bunch of different opinions.

Critics....who really needs them? Just a glorified opinion giver IN MY OPINION.

....now is someone going to pay me for that opinion?

wildwest450 said:

Plus it's ALL subjective. No two people will pick out all the same flavors on a beer. Taste and smell are like snowflakes, no two are the same.

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Not true.

If I give you and someone else a skunked beer or a beer loaded with diacetyl, acetaldehyde, or an acetobacter infection (vinegar), there's a high chance you're going to report the same thing. Some flavors are more prominent and recognizable; others some may just not be able to taste for a variety of reasons.

OP I think the best method is the one your already doing.The more you brew the more you can tell what ingredients taste like what.

Make it cheaper: find a group of locals interested in tasting beer. Everyone go buy a 12ozer of something and get together with your glasses ready. That's the price of one beer to taste many.

Enhance your palette: Do blind tastings and try to figure the style based on the BJCP. Buy the Seibel institute's off flavor dosing kit and get together with people to try it.

jgln said:

To me reading beer critic comments is a waste of time really just for that reason.

We here at work are doing a cheese steak tasting thing. Once maybe twice a week we try one from a top 25 list or something on some Philly area website. Not only are the top rated places not even top rated by any of us, a couple places the vote was unanimous, the place sucked! Top that off with most times we don't agree on if the sandwich is good or not and all you have is a bunch of different opinions.

Critics....who really needs them? Just a glorified opinion giver IN MY OPINION.

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Where do you live in South Jersey? And don't get me started on Philly cheese steaks vs. South Jersey cheese steaks.

step 1) Buy beer.

step 2) drink beer.

repeats step 1 and 2 thousands of times and you will be very good at tasting beer. The real key is just to talk about hte beers with someone while you are drinking them. That will force you to consider what it is you are tasting, why you like and dislike things, and what is going on in your mouth.

Ya I don't think your missing much with the 120 minute. I think the Squall IPA is better then then 120.

My suggestion to you is to go to a bar that has a large sampler of beers you can get and try them and write down what you thought of each beer. Make sure to have water and crackers for in between beers so you can cleanse your palate.

thedude123 said:

Ya I don't think your missing much with the 120 minute. I think the Squall IPA is better then then 120.

My suggestion to you is to go to a bar that has a large sampler of beers you can get and try them and write down what you thought of each beer. Make sure to have water and crackers for in between beers so you can cleanse your palate.

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I worry (ok not really worry, but you know what I mean) that my tasting will be skewed by the extra variable of clean lines and the whatnot. Maybe it's better if you go to a taphouse or brewpub or whatever, but I know anytime I go to a Chotchkies or a Flingers I wind up wondering if they really gave me what I ordered because of how bad the lines are sometimes...

BNVince said:

Where do you live in South Jersey? And don't get me started on Philly cheese steaks vs. South Jersey cheese steaks.

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Well, I work in Pennsauken but I live in Pedricktown so most of our cheese steak testing is local to Pennsauken. Oh come on, let me get you started. Although I am perfectly happy with most local NJ pizza joint cheese steaks I must say Tony Lukes makes a decent one. Grey Lodge (bar) had quality meat and tasted very good but expensive and not a filling sandwich IMO. One or two of the guys here need to go on the road and plan trips to one of the places on the list for pickup depending on where they need to go. We do it about once a week.

My recommendation when I hear this question is to go buy some beers, it doesn't matter if you've never had them before of had it 100 times, then to beeradvocate.com, find the beer that you are about to sample and pull up the reviews. Not every review is going to be dead on and everyone's palates/sniffers are a bit different but if a beer has a few dozen reviews there will usually be a consensus on aroma, mouthfeel and palate. This may help you in properly categorizing/classifying aromas and flavors.

One of the most useful properties of the style guide is that it removes much of the subjectivity. As a person who doesn't like Belgians, I judged a flight of Belgians with someone who "only does Belgians". Our scoring was rarely more than 2 points apart.

Beertown-Brewers Association is another good place to start. Since they are focused on commercial beer, you can get 2-3 beers within a style and compare them.

And seriously, drink more beer. But not just drink, taste. Find a sheet with beer flavor descriptors on it and look at it while tasting and go through the list and see if you find any of those tastes. Make a note of the ones you do taste. Drink a different beer and repeat. I might be useful to compare beers of the same style. Do this regularly. Practice does make perfect. After a while, you'll realize you don't need the reference sheet anymore, and in fact you'll have come up with your own descriptors. It does take some time so don't give up!