Strong n' Bitter

Tasting session 7

Beer 1 Choices: American Strong Ale, English Barleywine, Doppelbock, American Amber Ale

Beer 2 Choices: Irish Red Ale, American Amber Ale, International Amber Lager, Best Bitter

Score: 2/2

Beer 1 things to look for:

American Strong Ale: crazy bitter, prominent malt

English Barleywine: fruity esters, boozieness

Doppelbock: clean yeast, German malt profile, not bitter

American Amber Ale: clean yeast, US hops, caramely malt

Notes:

There were some big distiguishers in this answer set, so I was hopeful this would be less of a challenge than my last taste test. Aroma didn’t give it all away, but after swallowing a sip and waiting 45 seconds, my palate became overtaken by bitterness (hop bitterness can build up over time). With that, I eliminated Doppelbock.

English Barleywines usually aren’t balanced toward bitterness, but the beer did seem pretty heavy in body/alcohol, so I hemmed and hawed. It seemed too big and too bitter for an American Amber, so I eliminated that. After another taste test, however, I realized this beer was just way too bitter to be an English Barleywine, so American Strong Ale it was. [Note: if it were American Strong Ale vs American Barleywine, that would have been very hard to discern, and American Barleywine is super bitter and has a strong malt character.] 

Beer 2 things to look for:

Irish Red Ale: clean yeast, light body

American Amber Ale: clean yeast, bitterness

International Amber Lager: clean yeast, maybe a little bitterness

Best Bitter: yeast esters, UK hop/malt character

Notes:

When I first saw the sample, I giggled. It was gold in color, not amber or red. It’s not uncommon for Best Bitters to creep into amber territory, but I wouldn’t expect an Irish Red or American Amber to be that pale. Intl Amber maybe, but it was still worth going through my checklist. Upon first whiff, it smelled British to me- that delicious biscuity/orangey aroma. Tasting confirmed this and the yeast character eliminated the other styles as possibilities. 

Side note: when I poured the rest of the beer from the bottle into a glass to enjoy after the taste test, I was shocked to see that it looked noticably darker in the glass that I poured it in. Volume and/or the drinking vessel seem to have some impact on the color’s appearance. How/if/why this works is above my pay grade, but it was a good lesson in not leaning too much into appearance for these exercises and always double-checking with a full sensory evaluation.