Weezy
Well-Known Member
All of the ingredients, pun intended, for this test fell into my lap on this one. A couple weeks ago, we hosted a family picnic. My dad brought over about 3/4 case of Coors Light. By the end of the picnic, there were 4 left (and my XPA keg was drained...and someone quaffed one of my Jester Kings because of the cool logo
). I had also just gotten some hops from LHBS and some 1/2 lb sacks from online retailers (Galaxy is in stock people, get moving!). This test was wonderfully rewarding...please try it one day.
The test was simple and stolen from http://www.bertusbrewery.com/:
1. Add 2-3 pellets of hops to each bottle of beer (recommend 3-4),
2. Let them sit for 3-4 days at room temperature,
3. Cool slightly,
4. Invite a couple friends over to help taste test.
I put together a checklist or taste notes sheet for hops (i'll get that uploaded here in a future post or edit) with common vernacular for the stuff. This sheet I gave to each of my friends to complete as we smelled and tasted each one.
I also had a answer sheet prepared with check marks next to commonly commented flavors or aromas for each hop.
Now, none of these hops I've used but a few I've had in beers. I was comfortable with knowing Galaxy's flavor, having had it in a single hop beer before. Millenium and Ahtanum I've had in beers intermixed with several other hops so it's quite difficult to truly pick out the flavor of each.
Test day was tonight and it was a treat. The hop flavors leaped out of the beer. These are the sum of the descriptors that we individually marked down for each hop:
Ahtanum: citrus, grapefruit, earthy, piney.
My thoughts: aroma is mixed pine/citrus or sharp/citrus. Flavor is somewhere between Amarillo and Cascade; perhaps slightly milder.
Delta: mild, citrus, spicy, herbal
My thoughts: Lovely smooth but spicy aroma. Citrus comes out in the flavor.
Galaxy: tropical fruit, sweet, fresh
My thoughts: aroma is maybe passion fruit moreso than pineapple. Flavor is sweet but sharp tropical fruit.
Mosaic: herbal, floral, tropical fruit, earthy
My thoughts: aroma is mixed floral/fruit but I swear this beer & hop combination tasted exactly like a mild green tea. Retest with more hops; double.
Millenium: mild, clean/neutral, resiny, grassy, hay
My thoughts: Not much there for aroma. Flavor had a simple, smooth grasy and resiny overtone. Retest with more hops; double.
Personally, I was knocked out by Delta. Love it.
I'll do this test again with some of these again and some other hops in the freezer. I'll probably use a local light lager (I.C. Light) which is an extremely light flavored beer. But DO IT...JUST GO DO IT. It was educational and fun all at the same time.
