I can’t believe a month has already passed by since I started taking this class. While I feel I have learned a lot, I don’t think that I have learned enough to pass the BJCP certification test yet. From what John told us, the next test will be on May 3rd, just a couple of weeks after our last session. There’s a lot that we’re covering while in class but I know there’s so much more I need to cover outside of class. At this point, there’s a lot on my plate to really take the time necessary to study but I’ll do what I can. Maybe I’ll take it on a lark to see how I do and to get experience on taking the test. You never know, I just might pass.
In any event, here’s are the beers we covered this week. We went a bit out of order but I’ll put things down in the same way I went through them.
| Style (Example) | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Mouthfeel | Overall Impression | Total |
| 11A English Brown Ale (Moorehouse Black Cat) |
10/12 | 3/3 | 18/20 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 43/50 |
| Notes: This is probably the grandfather of all English beer. In a way, it’s a boring style. It’s balanced in its malt and hop flavors but nothing too exciting. To add to it’s “boring”-ness, it’s a session beer, which means it’s lower in alcohol so you can drink more of it. An interesting thing to note, I found the aroma of this beer to be more interesting than I had initially thought. I picked up some roasty grains and raisins. |
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| 11C Northern English Brown Ale (Newcastle) |
9/12 | 3/3 | 16/20 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 39/50 |
| Notes: We didn’t sample the Southern English Brown Ale style simply because no one really makes them for export. The funny thing about the commercial example was that I used to drink a lot of Newcastle. I mean, a lot. i would always wake up with the worst hangovers though. |
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| 9A Scottish Light 60/- (John’s Homebrew) |
9/12 | 3/3 | 17/20 | 3/5 | 4/10 | 36/50 |
| Notes: Another session brew, the example for this style was a homebrew that John made. I don’t think this particular beer scored really high in class and even John rated his own beer low. This is a beer style that is slowly becoming extinct, same as the traditional English Brown Ales. The reason for this is that no one in Scotland is drinking them anymore. They still make it for tradition’s sake, but everyone orders something bigger in flavor and alcohol. |
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| 9C Scottish Export 80/- (Bellhaven Scottish Ale) |
10/12 | 3/3 | 16/20 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 41/50 |
| Notes: Just about all the Scottish ales share the same description in the BJCP. The major distinction is the amount of alcohol increases at you go up in number. Even then, this beer weighs in at 3.9 – 5% ABV, about average, really. | ||||||
| 9D Irish Red Ale (Smithwicks Irish Red) |
10/12 | 3/3 | 17/20 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 41/50 |
| Notes: If in a true Irish pub and you order a “Smithwicks”, they’ll correct you with the proper pronunciation of “Smitticks”. Don’t ask me why, it just is. For an ale, I found this to be a clean and smooth beer, almost lager like. That being said, this style is sometimes brewed as a lager but I don’t think this particular example is. |
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| 9E Strong Scotch Ale (McEwans Scotch Ale) |
10/12 | 3/3 | 17/20 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 42/50 |
| Notes: This beer was exhibiting some initial sourness in the nose but after it aired out a bit, the sourness went away and I was left with a good tasting beer to style. This was the last beer of the Scottish/Irish variety and the first of the strong beers we’d be having tonight. |
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| 19A Old Ale (Samuel Smiths Winter Welcome) |
10/12 | 3/3 | 17/20 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 41/50 |
| Notes: While this beer ended up ranking pretty highly, I found it to be unremarkable and bland. It was to style but I wasn’t enjoying it. Maybe it was because of the higher alcohol but I just wasn’t feeling this beer. |
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| 19B English Barleywine (Bison Barleywine) |
9/12 | 3/3 | 17/20 | 4/5 | 7/10 | 40/50 |
| Notes: Bison Brewing is a local product based out of Berkeley. They are certified “organic” and are one of the few breweries to have that distinction. As for the style, I found it to be well within the guidelines for the style and well balanced between the malt and hop flavors. |
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| 19C American Barleywine (Sierra Nevada Bigfoot 2008) |
11/12 | 3/3 | 15/20 | 4/5 | 6/10 | 39/50 |
| Notes: While 39 is no slouch of a score, this beer could’ve scored better. My one complaint about this style is that it has too much leeway. Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot Barleywine is one of the most anticipated seasonal beers. Collectors will purchase multiple bottle just so that they can age them in their beer cellars and compare one year to the next or just to see how they’ve aged over the years. Normally, you can’t really age beer as it generally tastes better fresh but barleywine’s are the exception. The alcohol acts as a preservative and it’s always interesting to see how the flavors change. While i really like this beer, there’s really not much separating this beer from the double IPA category which I feel this beer really belongs in. For whatever reason, I was expecting a more balanced beer and not something leaning heavily on the hop side of the scales. |
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