I want to taste all the mistakes!!!

So im waiting in the doctors office (wifes preggo) and we are early so im in the truck and happened to have "how to brew" by John Plamer in there. So im reading stuff and I come accross where he discusses all the off flavors. You know, oxidation, soapy, metallic, on and on and on. I thought to my self, really I dont have alot of expereince with this stuff. Im pretty careful with my beer, and any off flavors are usually so slight I cant really put a finger on it. "Hmm..well how do I know if Ive never really known?!?!"

I wish there was a 24 pack of beer, each bottle purposly messed up in a specific manner. A "nasties pack" if you will. So that you could smell it, taste it, and learn from it. I think I could really learn how to judge my beers better from soething like that. Or maybe im just crazy.

Yeah, that is an interesting idea. Some flaws are obvious and others are not.

You could always study for and take the BJCP exam. I understand they do bring you beers with known flaws that you must identify. I'm not sure if they brew them themselves or salvage them from competitions, but they are getting them somewhere. Also the judges I know say in almost any competition there is a fair amount of beers that come in with significant flaws usually tied to fermentation of sanitation. It that regard, I'd bet you'd soon lose your desire to taste those flaws your looking for now. At least that is the impression I get from the judges I know.

I agree...I guess that is one reason why I volunteered to help with the HBT competition next week. I want to learn what these off flavors are too.

Well you are in luck sir!


http://www.flavoractiv.com/drinks/beers/enthusiast-beer-taste-troubleshooting-kit/


How bout that.

You my friend, are in luck:
http://www.bjcp.org/cep/kits.php

I took the Cicerone class on off-flavors.

They mail you a kit with little bottles of concentrated off-flavors. You pour a small amount of each into bottles of Sam Adams Light. Then, you log online and Ray Daniels gives a lecture and you and all the other participants taste the off-flavors during the lecture. It's not that much money either when you consider that there is enough for something like 6 people to taste it with you. Split it with a homebrew club or something. Great class.

Wow!!!! Thanks guys!

tag

Judge or steward competitions and tell people you are trying to learn off flavors and they can save bottles for you to try after the round. One competition is enough to get good examples (lots) of diacetyl, acetaldehyde, oxidation and DMS. Some of the others are a bit more rare. Not lots of enteric beers, thankfully.

To clarify some of the above comments. BJCP prep classes which are registered as CEP classes (most of them) receive a free off flavor kit from Siebel. BJCP members may order one kit per year at a heavily subsidized cost of $50. I believe the normal cost of that kit is around $150. Even at the full cost, they provide around 20 samples so if you get a group together, the cost isn't so bad.

Red Hook ESB is a good example of a commercial beer with relatively high levels of diacetyl. There is detectable (to most) diacetyl in many commercial beers but diacetyl is one where you have to have it pointed out to you where it is obvious and then you start getting it where it is more subtle.

I recommend maybe finding a club and splitting the cost of a spiking kit. I took a tasting class last year the very awesome Siciliano's Market Homebrew Day Seminars, and it was actually pretty hard for me to taste the correct flaws. It takes practice for some of us. Very practical practice for people who want to understand their beers flavors and help themselves not give out crappy beer unknowingly.

That what I want from understanding the off flavors. Not necessarily to become a judge but so that I become better at making my own beer.
As I mentioned earlier, I am supposed to help this weekend at the HBT competition and hopefully I can take advantage of it. Depending on what I'm doing (I'm supposed to stewart but will help where ever) I will see if I can see if the judge can find a few examples for me.