Tips on how to Improve Aroma - general suggestions?

dangerbrew said:

Just looking for some general insights from anyone with thoughts.

I judged a competition this past monday and it really struck me just how much aroma is counted towards the final score of the beer by BJCP guidelines - 12 points - only 8 points away from flavor's 20 - and that it's something that I feel isn't considered as much as it might as well should be in brewing: producing a great aroma, even in a beer that doesn't have a great, big, defining addition to it - hops, etc. Of course, in some cases, and especially in some lagers an aroma isn't appropriate, but for all other cases... well... anybody?

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weirdboy said:

Using quality ingredients.

What you have to remember is that the aroma score is based on how closely your beer matches the description. This means, for example, that if you brew an Light American Lager, your beer shouldn't have much aroma at all. Having less aroma in that case usually means a better score. So it is not like there is a catch-all answer to your question. You get better aroma scores by closely matching the style descriptions.

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weirdboy said:

Using quality ingredients.

What you have to remember is that the aroma score is based on how closely your beer matches the description. This means, for example, that if you brew an Light American Lager, your beer shouldn't have much aroma at all. Having less aroma in that case usually means a better score. So it is not like there is a catch-all answer to your question. You get better aroma scores by closely matching the style descriptions.

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dangerbrew said:

As a judge, I do understand this. However, what I'm saying is, in terms of styles like, say, for instance, an Oktoberfest - what you're looking for is, en quote:

"Rich German malt aroma (of Vienna and/or Munich malt). A light to moderate toasted malt aroma is often present. Clean lager aroma with no fruity esters or diacetyl. No hop aroma. Caramel aroma is inappropriate."

Now say you're judging a beer and when you go to smell the aroma of the beer to see if it exhibits any of those characteristics and it doesn't at all, whatsoever, i.e. you don't get any malt aroma or any semblance of a toasted malt aroma (or even worse, no aroma at all) that would seem to me that the beer in question would be scored a bit lower in that category because it does not exhibit those desired qualities of the style. In Oktoberfests like Spaten you can absolutely observe those qualities, but in cases where you can't, you wonder if there may be a definite way to improve that in your homebrewed beers. That's my question.

But, from what I've gleaned, you're simply saying that using quality ingredients is the answer? Because, from what I'd assume, knowing most of the people who brewed beers in this competition lately, that they mostly use grains from Northern Brewer and that they are, at minimum, a pretty good quality.

I mean, if that is the answer then... I guess that's fine. I just thought maybe there was something more involving a different technique or method in terms of the brewing process.

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Yooper said:

Oh, aroma is very complex! Sure, quality ingredients play a part. But the whole key is balance and making the beer the proper way. An IPA should have plenty of hops aroma, but with a hint of malt coming through. A maibock should be a malt bomb in comparison and exhibit strong malt aromas and little to no hops.

There is a lot to making a great beer- and aroma is a HUGE part of the flavor of a beer. A great recipe will go a long way to creating the right balance in the flavor and aroma, as well as the mouthfeel.

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MachineShopBrewing said:

Have you tried holding you hand over the glass to build up some more aroma? You would be amazed how much of a difference doing that for only 10 seconds or so will make in the aroma when judging it.

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