Beer School Week 11: Doctored Beers and the Test, I’m Procrastinating in Multiple Ways

Beer School has come to a close. If you’ve noticed that I skipped from Week 10 it’s because I didn’t go to Week 10. At the time, Sammy was preparing for her road trip while my back was acting up again so we didn’t go. In hindsight, it seemed like we missed a few interesting doctored beers.

The last week at Beer School was a bittersweet affair. The class initially started off with about 30+ people, by far one of the largest I’ve seen. 3 months later, there were 10 of us. Not sure if the last 10 were driven by a love of beer, the camaraderie of the class, or ritual/inertia. It didn’t matter as the people who were there are all good guys (Sammy was the last girl).

For the last class, John served us a few more doctored beers and we took a 1/4 length practice exam that lasted about 45 minutes. To doctor a beer, you simply pick up something lightly flavored (Miller Light) then add stuff to it to change the flavor, pour, serve, laugh inside if you’re the one doing the serving.

Here’s what I remember we had:

• Acetaldehyde – Budweiser from a tall can, a supposed hallmark of this brewery/beer is a slight presence of acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is an organic compound formed by plants naturally in their metabolism. It is widely believed that this compound is responsible for hangovers. Acetaldehyde is most commonly perceived as “green apples” (unripe), as well as grassy and/or acetic (vinegary/cidery). While I didn’t notice the “green apple” character, I did pick up a cidery note in the beer.
• Sweet – An overly sweet beer is a flaw. Beer, by it’s very nature, is a balancing act between sweet malt flavors and bitter hop flavors. To doctor the Miller Light, John added Splenda. No noticeable aroma but man, was this a sweet beer. Because Splenda is not real sugar, it didn’t taste sugar sweet. Had a weird character.
• Sherry – John added sherry to the beer. Sherry notes in the aroma and flavor are a result of oxidation. Out of all the oxidized characteristics, sherry is the “good” kind and is appropriate for barleywines and other aged beers. I had never had sherry before and the aroma reminded me of celery while the flavor was like walnuts, not the actual nut but the membrane within the nut that you have to pick out when you crack them yourself.
• Lightstruck – I didn’t even need to taste this beer to recognize this flaw.  A lightstruck beer is one that has been left in the sun. The sunlight reacts with the alpha acids in hops and the result is a skunky aroma. If you’ve ever had Heineken and noticed it’s been skunky in the aroma, it’s been lightstruck. This mostly happens with beers in clear and green bottles. Brown bottled beer offers the second most protection from this (canned beer the most protected) but eventually, even brown beers will get lightstruck. The example beer was Becks.
• Nuttiness – Appropriate in some beers but a flaw in most others, nuttiness was achieved by adding almond extract to Miller Light. We all thought the aroma was of Maraschino Cherries, the flavor was also fruity, but Larry eventually picked out it was almond. He was a big fan of Italian syrups and noticed it after some time.

After some discussion, we were handed a 1/4 length exam that we had 45 minutes to take. I didn’t finish all the questions and taking this test made me realize how rusty I am. The thing about the BJCP is that the test is very rigorous. It is brute force memorization and regurgitation. Once you actually become a judge, things are actually much easier as you are provided (or you bring your own) BJCP style guideline during each competition. I swear, I think it’s easier to become a real estate agent.

At the end of the test, John gave us test taking advice. He noted what judges are looking for in your answers and what to expect when you take the test. Hand cramps, expect hand cramps from all the writing you’ll have to be doing. Bring a watch or some sort of timer to gauge how long you are taking. Study, study, study. Take the practice exams. The goal of your first BJCP exam is to pass the damn thing. You can always retake the exam to improve your scores. The good thing about retaking the exam is that you don’t have to take the whole thing, you can choose what part (written or tasting) you would like to take. I will be taking the tasting portion again as, truth be told, I haven’t been studying.

To finish off the evening, a few folks brought in some homebrews that we got to taste. The guys from Suds or Duds brought in an IPA that had wonderful grapefruit/citrus aroma and was aggressively bitter. Another homebrewer brought in his Christmas beer which he spiced with mulling spices and had a little bit of apple juice in primary. It was a pretty good beer. While I’m not huge on mulling spices, the spice level in this beer was just right; enough to be noticeable but not enough to be overwhelming. Great job guys!

As I said in the beginning, now that Beer School is over, it’s kind of bittersweet. On one hand, it’s a lot of information to take in every class. We drank well over 100 beers during the 11 or so weeks the class was in session. You spend any extended amount of time devoted to something as regular as this and you get used to it, it becomes part of your routine and something to look forward to. On the other hand, some classes ran long and many a late night was had. These classes are not some drinkfest either, we have to consciously and deliberately evaluate these beers and discuss them. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this in the past but it can get mentally draining. Some days, all you want to do is just drink a beer and enjoy it for what it is without having to fill out a scoresheet or go beyond, “Man, this is one good beer!” for your description.

John usually hosts these classes once a year but I hear he might be expanding to twice a year, which is good. Even if you don’t want to be a judge, this class is a great way to sample a very wide variety of beers as well as how to appreciate them on levels outside of flavor. Chances are good that if John has another class, I’ll be attending. Maybe I’ll be helping pour the next time but I think I learned more this time around than the first time. Well, maybe not learned, but things definitely made much more sense.

Procrastination Finally on Tap at Russian River Brewing Company

Got a tweet from Rob at Pfiff! that RRBC has finally tapped Procrastination. I received confirmation in my email as well. For a while, I thought this was a late RRBC April Fool’s joke. In fact, it still could be, at which case you can color me a fool. It’s easy to do as I’m a huge mark.

A trademark of RRBC is the naming of their Belgian-style ales with the “tion” suffix. With this naming convention, you get cool names like Perdition, Damnation and Sanctification. The bad thing is that, unless you’re a regular at RRBC, you have no idea what kind of beer each of those are. The names have vague connections at best.

That being said, a running joke at the brewpub was to have “Procrastination, coming soon” on the chalkboard. I fell for it initally before I “got it”. Call me dense sometimes, or an April Fool. Either way wouldn’t be too far off.

Anyway, in time for the company’s 5th Anniversary (at the pub, 12 years overall) this weekend, Procrastination will be on tap. It is a Belgian-herb beer brewed with locally grown Sonoma County herbs. It weights in at 9.3% ABV and 72 IBUs. It will be available only at the Brewpub. RRBC is also having a huge party this weekend, April 4th. Unfortunately for us, RRBC is a good 1.5/2 hour drive away and we are triple booked anyway for Saturday. If anyone goes this weekend, let me know how it goes, I’d love to hear about it.