Tasting this year's crop of holiday beers -- all 52 of them
There are a couple of reasons why I haven't posted in a few days. First, I had trouble with my home computer. The server went on a two-day vacation. My wife fixed it using the remedy that seems to work for all electronic devices: unplugging everything, then plugging it back in.
Then there was that tasting of 52 holiday beers yesterday. I will be writing about these beers in detail in The Sun's Taste section.
But now I want to talk about what goes on at a beer tasting ...
It is not mining coal, but tasting beer is work. You have to take notes, ones that you can somehow decipher later. You must also maintain your " professional composure." That means you take small sips of each beer, spit a lot, eat a lot of pretzels, nibble more cheese than a hungry mouse, and take frequent breaks.
There is cross talk at some beer tastings. Someone might say "I really like the malt in D-9." But if you do not care for the malt in beer D-9, you must not be swayed. You must also refrain from calling your fellow taster a nasty name or saying he has taste buds made of sand.
Finally when the winners are "revealed," (in this case when the brown bags covering the bottles in the tasting are removed), you must not appear to be shocked that you failed to recognize your longtime favorite brew.
This year the top domestic winter beers were Snow Goose, Clipper City Winter Storm, Clay Pipe Winter Warmer, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Allagash Grand Cru and Sierra Nevada Celebration.
These beers are, I assure you, some of my longtime favorites, even if I failed to vote for all of them.
Any tales of beer tasting experiences, good and bad, that you want to share?
Comments
No notes on tasting, but Celebration Ale is, in my opinion, the best beer on the market.
And it's always exciting when it shows up in the liquor stores--the holidays are just around the corner.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 15, 2007 8:53 PM
I really miss Snowball's Chance from Blue Ridge.
Posted by: Rick | November 16, 2007 1:38 PM
A good source for truly understanding beer tasting and beer judging can be found at www.bjcp.org
You can print out the style guidelines and get tons of info on beer judging and all the intricacies of the science of brewing. Warning: put on your geek hat before entering this site. Judging a competition can be quite an arduous task having been involved in numerous all day affairs. The recent Governors Cup included around 76 entries and the annual Turkey Shoot homebrew competition this year had 113 entries. Talk about all day long!
Posted by: Dominic Cantalupo | November 16, 2007 3:40 PM
My favorite so far is the Clay Pipe Pursuit of Happiness Winter Warmer.
The Heavy Seas Winter Storm is always a good one to have on hand.
Posted by: C Double | November 18, 2007 5:14 PM
Maybe it just got out early this year, but the Sierra Nevada Celebration is outstanding. But I always go back to the first Xmas beer I ever had - Anchor Steam. New label every year, and a malty / nutmeg flavor.
Posted by: TimD | November 19, 2007 10:32 PM
Last week I went to the Ellicott Mils Brewery and tried their seasonals. I was very impressed. Their pumpkin spice beer was absoultely amazing. I could smell and taste the nutmeg and cinnamon. Great for pre-meal appetizer. THeir beer with the peach aftertaste (i hate peach) was shockingly good and perfect for dessert. I think those two are their best works..and would stand out among all the other seasonals.
Posted by: Bolt | November 20, 2007 11:37 AM