Proper Tasting Techniques - Opinions

Hey Guys,

This may sound stupid, but I am really curious about the different suggestions/techniques that everyone might have regarding the best part of home brewing: tasting.

I've been really into different styles of beer for quite some time now and have noticed how different a particular beer can taste when put in different environments/conditions.

For example, I might drink a beer before dinner and it tastes fantastic. Yet while I'm eating, the same beer will not taste anywhere near the same. I know that anything put on my palette will alter anything after it, and I know that certain beers pair very well with certain types of food.

However, what I am looking for is the proper way to prepare your palette before sampling your beer so that I have a baseline and I know that I haven't altered my palette into disliking something that I actually might like.

Sounds pretty stupid, but I am very excited about brewing my own beers and I want to make sure that I sample correctly.

Is it best to sample on an empty stomach? Should I eat crackers to cleanse my palette before drinking? Etc.

Just curious as to what a beer judge might do before and in-between samples.

TIA

Justin

I try to use animal crackers to "cleanse" the palate...I feel it works relatively well. I am no expert lol. Aside from that I am interested to hear what a beer judge may say. Hopefully someone responds to your question.

Personally, I don't care for crackers between samples. They are usually Saltines and the residual salinity on the palate alters the flavor of teh sample. Sometime good sometimes not.

I prefer water between but, that's just me.

Protocol for competitions is to have water and matzo or neutral bread (ie french), available for palate cleansing between beers.

I've heard the correct glass can alter taste quite a bit. I've never put it to the test. In a way, it makes sense. I think it is mainly due to aroma. The correct glass will deliver more of the aroma to your nose which, by all accounts, affects taste.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Personally, I don't care for crackers between samples. They are usually Saltines and the residual salinity on the palate alters the flavor of teh sample. Sometime good sometimes not.

I prefer water between but, that's just me.

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I know that you can get the saltine type crackers without the salt. I would assume that this would be a good alternative to the bread suggestion and this is what I might try first.

Mojotele,

I've heard good things about the Sam Adam's glass. However, it could just be marketing hype.

Anyone ever tried the Sam Adam's glass?

I have a set of four of them, they are great. They combine the standard "pint" glass with a rounded belgian beer glass, they feel great in your hand and on your mouth

Theres a couple videos out there about tasting practices, one of the things I remember is a guy who will take a big inhale through his nose as he sips his beer, since aroma and flavor or taste are nearly indistinguishable.

Bread is a good palette cleanser maybe for wine, but it makes little sense to cleanse your palette with something that has flavors similar to what you are tasting. A little common sense would have prevented falsely and blindly adopting that practice from wine tasting.

Water works fine for palette cleansing.

Flavor is mostly aroma and aroma varies with temperature and glass shape.

Try swallowing and then exhaling your your nose (while keeping your mouth closed).

I haven't tried it for beer but, inhaling fresh ground coffee cleanses the sense of smell between samples of perfume, or so my wife says. I only ever liked one brand of perfume she bought. I think it was called "Justifiable Rape".

remilard said:

Try swallowing and then exhaling your your nose (while keeping your mouth closed).

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That technique actually works very well for me. I've been doing that for years now and is just something I started doing after trying so many different beers.

Wellshooter said:

I haven't tried it for beer but, inhaling fresh ground coffee cleanses the sense of smell between samples of perfume, or so my wife says. I only ever liked one brand of perfume she bought. I think it was called "Justifiable Rape".

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Smelling your cotton sleeve, assuming you don't use smelly detergent is a whole lot better, at least in beer tasting. I think the coffee bean thing is exclusive to the perfume world.

As for other tasting: BJCP suggests that for a competition, you refrain from eating fatty or spicy food the day before, don't wear cologne/perfume, don't use mouthwash the day of judging and try to taste in as much of a smell neutral area as possible. Obviously, you won't follow these to a T when casually tasting.

I've noticed that I get more out of a beer when its a small sample. When I want to really evaluate a beer, I'll pour a small sample into a small glass first. This allows you to swirl more vigorously and release aromas. A small sample also warms up faster, which makes it easier to enjoy the full gamut a beer has to offer in a shorter amount of time. I also suggest the "slurp" method. Don't slurp quite as much as coffee cuppers do. I don't actually slurp much beer to the back of my throat. I do try to forcibly inhale the aroma in through my mouth, the exhale it out of my nose as I'm swallowing the sip. You get a lot of aromas this way.

remilard said:

Try swallowing and then exhaling your your nose (while keeping your mouth closed).

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I'll pile on and echo this suggestion. I do this when tasting whiskys and wines as well and it helps noticeably. I've also found taking a tiny bit of air into the mouth between swallowing and exhaling can open up even more flavors.

Wellshooter said:

I haven't tried it for beer but, inhaling fresh ground coffee cleanses the sense of smell between samples of perfume, or so my wife says. I only ever liked one brand of perfume she bought. I think it was called "Justifiable Rape".

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This is sort of like the bread thing. The trick is to smell something that smells different. Coffee smells different than perfume/candles but similar to at least some beers. So the sleeve thing works, maybe other things work.

Hoppy beers are the only thing that really cause me olfactory fatigue.