Wee Heavy / German Sours

Tasting session 12

Beer 1 Choices: Wee Heavy, Belgian Dark Strong Ale, Munich Dunkel, Doppelbock

Beer 2 Choices: Berliner Weisse, Gose, Witbier, Gueuze

Beer 3 Choices: Oatmeal Stout, English Porter, American Porter, Irish Stout

Score: 1/3

Beer 1 things to look for:

Wee Heavy: booze, fruity esters

Belgian Dark Strong Ale: booze, fruity esters, spicy phenols

Munich Dunkel: clean yeast

Doppelbock: clean yeast, malt focused, Bock strength

Notes:

I eliminated Dunkel because this sample was bigger in body and alcohol. I eliminated BDSA because it didn’t have the super dry and carbonated mouthfeel of a Belgian beer or yeast profile I’d expect. Back to my ol’ nemesis: Wee Heavy vs Doppelbock. This wasn’t finishing super boozy and was in fact quite smooth, so I picked Doppelbock as they’re lagers (which are often associated with being cleaner and smoother from the lagering process). However, I was dead wrong! I’ve never had the Traquair Wee Heavy, and it is less alcoholic than Skull Splitter, which I usually test with. That being said, I need to figure this out.

This is the style discrimination I have the hardest time with. I popped a Doppelbock to try them side by side and noticed when tasting them back to back that the Wee Heavy had a more noticeable vinous/boozy cherry vibe whereas the Doppelbock was more dark bread focused and lacked alcohol warming. Despite making that distinction, I proceeded to confuse the samples several times as my wife tested me more times that evening. 

A big reason I’m goofing on these styles is that dark and heavy beers aren’t what I typically reach for. I usually favor drinking beers that are dry and bitter or yeasty. I’m better at picking out distinctions between pale lighter beers, because that’s what I usually drink- so maybe it’s just a lack of practice and familiarity.

Beer 2 things to look for:

Berliner Weisse: lactic sourness

Gose: salt/coriander, lactic sourness

Witbier: orange/coriander

Gueuze: funk

Notes:

This beer was sour for sure, so Wit was out. It was a clean lactic sourness with no earthy or complex wild character, so I eliminated Gueuze. I didn’t detect any salt character, and that steered me away from Gose to the incorrect answer of Berliner Weisse. The only Gose and Berliner Weisse beers I’ve tried until now are American craft versions that incorporate fruit or additional flavoring of some kind (raspberry, melon, lime, etc.), so I was pretty unfamiliar. The American Goses I’ve had were noticeably more salty than the sample, but like most American craft styles, we took a European beer and turned it up to 10. 

After some reading, I learned that the salt (and coriander) in a traditional Gose should be restrained. What was very interesting was opening the spice cabinet and smelling coriander. Undeniably, there was a match; I just missed it. I cook with coriander often, so how did I miss this? My theory is that I associate coriander with Latin and Indian cuisine. I don’t associate it with lactic sourness or beer. I’m used to smelling and tasting it in curry or shrimp tacos. Out of my usual context, my brain couldn’t compute and I didn’t recognize that the coriander in the beer was coriander. Through doing this spice smelling exercise, I’m hoping I’ll be able to pick it out in the future.

Beer 3 things to look for:

Oatmeal Stout: fruity esters, smooth mouthfeel

English Porter: fruity esters

American Porter: clean yeast, US hop character/bitterness

Irish Stout: roast, little hop character

Notes:

This beer lacked the hop bitterness and aroma of an American beer, so I eliminated American Porter. This sample had a lot of fruity yeast character, so I eliminated Irish Stout. The reason that I picked Oatmeal Stout is that it tasted pretty bitter- not from hops but from darkly roasted malt (like how coffee is bitter). A big general distinction between stouts and porters is that the roasted malt character in stouts gets into coffee/burnt territory where porter stays roasty toasty, but never burnt. 

Looking back at the guidelines, I’m not positive that this is a safe way to decide between the two. Oatmeal Stouts are typically higher in IBU’s, but the perceived bitterness (bitter roast+smooth oats=less harsh) can make it seem a lot less bitter than it is. Going with my instinct, though, this sample was definitely too far into coffee/burnt territory to be a porter.