WilliamWS
Well-Known Member
Just curious how many people actually are familiar with the taste of juniper. Reason being, I just got back my score sheet from the NHBC and, while I'm not too disappointed in the score for my juniper brown (35), this is the second competition in a row in which the main flavor descriptor from all of the judges was "piney" yet one of the major detractors for all the judges was that they couldn't taste any juniper in the beer.
I'm just wondering what flavor contribution they are expecting juniper to make if not a "piney" flavor. All of the five judges in the two comps attributed the pineyness to copious amounts of American hops and only one mentioned in passing that he supposed that it might be possible that the juniper had blended well enough with the hops to make the two indistinguishable (though he still said he wouldn't have known there was juniper in it had I not labeled it as such).
While I did use a respectable amount of American hops in the beer I think the judges would be surprised if they knew which ones and how much I used. I also know what the juniper tasted like when I picked it at my sister's place in Texas over Christmas, what it tasted like when I added it to the boil, and what it tasted like when I added it to secondary (thinks very sweet Christmas tree). That pineyness in the beer tasted just like my fresh juniper berries (I even tasted them side-by-side), similar to but not quite the same as hop pineyness (and, yes the juniper and hops did blend well-that was the idea). I was actually rather surprised with how much the juniper character came out in the beer.
Just wasn't sure whether maybe most people aren't familiar with the flavor.
I'll also say this much: The only times I've used juniper for anything it's been fresh. It was all over the place where I grew up and is actually pretty tasty. I know dried juniper is most commonly used and I'll admit that I've never tasted the dried stuff. Maybe it has a little different flavor and that's what the judges were expecting. Really not sure.
I'm just wondering what flavor contribution they are expecting juniper to make if not a "piney" flavor. All of the five judges in the two comps attributed the pineyness to copious amounts of American hops and only one mentioned in passing that he supposed that it might be possible that the juniper had blended well enough with the hops to make the two indistinguishable (though he still said he wouldn't have known there was juniper in it had I not labeled it as such).
While I did use a respectable amount of American hops in the beer I think the judges would be surprised if they knew which ones and how much I used. I also know what the juniper tasted like when I picked it at my sister's place in Texas over Christmas, what it tasted like when I added it to the boil, and what it tasted like when I added it to secondary (thinks very sweet Christmas tree). That pineyness in the beer tasted just like my fresh juniper berries (I even tasted them side-by-side), similar to but not quite the same as hop pineyness (and, yes the juniper and hops did blend well-that was the idea). I was actually rather surprised with how much the juniper character came out in the beer.
Just wasn't sure whether maybe most people aren't familiar with the flavor.
I'll also say this much: The only times I've used juniper for anything it's been fresh. It was all over the place where I grew up and is actually pretty tasty. I know dried juniper is most commonly used and I'll admit that I've never tasted the dried stuff. Maybe it has a little different flavor and that's what the judges were expecting. Really not sure.
