Had a smoked robust porter score well (high 30's) last winter but didn't place and was told the balance was off with it being too smokey. I've saved a bunch of bottles from that batch do you think I should enter in contest and see if it has subsided? Or does it typically take more than a year to mellow. Thanks for any input. I never thought it was out of balance to begin with so I don't trust my taste buds.
Too smokey said the judge, how bout after a yr?
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ksbrain
Well-Known Member
My smoked didn't mellow much since last winter. I say try it and see for yourself. Though if their comments didn't make sense before and you thought it was already balanced, what are you hoping to accomplish by entering it in another comp?
If there's anything to the "time mellows" thing, I'd say ksbrain simply wants to see if time has indeed mellowed the smokey tones down to where the brew meets the judges "balanced" metric. Seems simple enough...
Cheers!
Cheers!
iaefebs
Well-Known Member
When I tried a 2008 Alaska Smoked Porter it tasted like liquid smoke. I wasn't impressed. I tried it a year later, (same batch) and it was the best smoked porter I ever tasted. I'd say give it a try, send it in.
ReverseApacheMaster
Well-Known Member
Open one up and taste it. If it is more balanced, sure, send it in.
What REALLY matters is what YOU think.
Did you like it last year?
Do you like it now?
While I certainly get the idea of competition and having the opinions of judges, does it really matter in the end? If you produce beers that you enjoy what does it matter what some guy you've never met thinks of it?
And to touch on a point that Hemingway wrote about, "If you listen to the critics when they say you're great, you must listen to them when they say you're horrible."
I'd submit it and see. It's a fun experiment. You get to compare two different judging on the same beer.
In my experience with smoked beers, vegetable/herb beers, and fruit beers, the amount of flavor and aroma from the addition that judges expect is quite subjective and can vary widely. I have had the same beer be judged as "too much X flavor" and "no X flavor" by different judges, even in the same competition. I suppose the same is probably true of wood aged beers, but I haven't made any of those yet.
If it were me, I'd submit it to another competition or two (no need to wait a year even), just to see if you get the same feedback.
If it were me, I'd submit it to another competition or two (no need to wait a year even), just to see if you get the same feedback.
JKoravos
Well-Known Member
IME you will lose a very significant amount of the smoke in that time. What was the percentage of rauchmalt in your SP? At 20% rauch I barely notice the smoke after a year. If you're talking like 50+%, it might still be considered unbalanced.
bh10
Well-Known Member
I brewed a smoked brown, which I thought it was WAY to smokey, I just opened one up after 9 months and it mellowed out a lot.
dwarven_stout
Well-Known Member
Smoked beers are IMO the hardest beers to judge. Smoke will wreck my palate far more quickly than IPAs, and a beer that is "too smoky" at the front of the flight is "needs more smoke" at the end of the flight. In addition. judge tastes can vary dramatically.
As others have said, the important thing is that you like it.
