Skunky Brew

Tasting session 23

Beer 1 Choices: American Porter, Imperial Stout, Foreign Extra Stout, English Porter 

Beer 2 Choices: International Dark Lager, Munich Dunkel, Schwarzbier, Doppelbock

Beer 3 Choices: American Wheat Beer, Weizenbock, Saison, Belgian Tripel

Beer 4 Choices: Irish Red Ale, International Amber Lager, American Amber Ale, Best Bitter

Score: 3/4

Beer 1 things to look for:

American Porter: clean yeast, roast, US hops/bitterness

Imperial Stout: booze

Foreign Extra Stout: roast, not hop-forward

English Porter: fruity yeast esters, UK malt/hop character

Notes:

After swirling and sniffing, I wasn’t detecting enough booze for it to be an Imperial Stout, and a taste test confirmed the lack of alcohol warmth. I also wasn’t detecting much yeast character (esters/phenols) and the malt flavor was too far into the realm of roasted/burnt, so I eliminated English Porter. The sample tasted very roasty, with most of the bitterness coming from the malt and not the hops (like how coffee is bitter). If it were an American Porter, I’d expect it to be a little less burnt in the malt department with noticeable American hop character (pine/cannabis/grapefruit). Since there was also some diacetyl (buttery flavor left behind by yeast and common in some UK styles), I was convinced it had to be Foreign Extra Stout. [Note: For this tasting, I accidentally labeled the sample as “Irish Extra Stout”, which is a different style- it’s essentially a slightly lower ABV version of Foreign Extra.]

Beer 2 things to look for:

International Dark Lager: neutral profile, no roast

Munich Dunkel: Maillard richness, no roast

Schwarzbier: roast

Doppelbock: booze, clean yeast, no roast

Notes:

I didn’t detect any roasty aromas/flavors, so Schwarzbier was eliminated first. The body was light/thin and there was no detectable alcohol, so next I eliminated Doppelbock. So what’s the best way to differentiate an International Dark Lager from a Dunkel? The BJCP guidelines we need to follow for the exam have a style comparison section, and they say that International Dark Lager has “less flavor and richness than Munich Dunkel”. So the same basic flavor profile and balance, but one is bolder? While this seems like a subjective differentiation, I think it’s a good way to think about it. 

Dunkels are light beers- they have bread crust/toasty/Maillard browning qualities, but they don’t come across as very sweet or heavy. They are light bodied, not very bitter, and not chocolatey/roasty/burnt. If a Munich Dunkel was a loaf of brown bread from the local bakery, International Dark Lagers are brown bread loaves from the supermarket. The same idea, just different intensities of flavor. This lack of flavor depth and thin/watery mouthfeel encouraged me to select International Dark Lager. 

Beer 3 things to look for:

American Wheat Beer: clean yeast, US hops/bitterness, orange? spice?

Weizenbock: Weizen yeast, Bock booze

Saison: phenols, esters, bitter, high attenuation/carbonation

Belgian Tripel: like Saison + booze

 Notes:

This one was a toughy! It smelled Belgian- lots of fruity esters and spicy phenols. This eliminated American Wheat, but the yeast in Weizenbocks can have banana and clove aromas/flavors, so I needed to go in for a taste test. In addition to banana/clove, I was also getting pepper, coriander, orange, and other fruity notes. This diversity of phenols and esters, along with the light body, convinced me it was Belgian- so Weizenbock was out. 

Saison vs Tripel is a tough one. Both beers usually have fruity esters, spicy phenols, little residual sweetness, a good amount of bitterness, and nice carbonation. Compared to Saisons, I’d expect Tripels to be fuller in mouthfeel/body, have some presence of alcohol, and contain higher levels of fruity ester character. The sample was very bitter with a light body, so I was leaning toward Saison. 

The classic example section of our style guidelines makes things a little confusing. The BJCP lists 6 examples of traditional Saisons- all 6.5% ABV or lower, but also lists Boulevard’s Tank 7, which is an 8.5% beer with lots of American hop character, notable alcohol presence, and a different balance than traditional Wallonian style Saisons. So whenever I do a tasting and Saison is one of the choices, I have to remind myself to “test for Tank 7”, since its flavor profile is so different from typical Saison. I really thought this was Tank 7 because it was very bitter and alcohol-forward, so I went with Saison, which was wrong.

I’ve had Fin du Monde before and I remember it being much more clove-forward than this, so I’m tempted to grab another bottle and see if this was an old bottle/handling issue or if I’m just off-base. This bottle was a twist off, which I thought had completely gone away after cans became so popular. Beers sealed with twist-off crowns are much more prone to oxygen ingress, which negatively impact beer flavor. I’m curious if that happened here- or maybe I’m just tripping. Gotta find a fresh bottle and find out! 

Note: I dig Tank 7. It’s a delicious beer, but it’s confusing to me why it’s in the guidelines for this exam, yet doesn’t follow the flavor/aroma description that the guidelines provide. Boulevard Brewery even says it’s a “distinctly American twist on a classic Belgian-style”.

Beer 4 things to look for:

Irish Red Ale: esters, light body, not bitter

International Amber Lager: neutral profile, possible bitterness

American Amber Ale: clean yeast, US hops/bitterness, caramel

Best Bitter: fruity esters, UK malt/hop presence

 Notes:

I didn’t detect any UK malt/hop aroma or flavor, so could eliminate Best Bitter. To back that up, there was very little bitterness. The lack of bitterness also helped to eliminate American Amber, which I’d expect to express a noticeable amount of bitterness and American hop character. The body was also quite thin, so I felt confident narrowing it down to Irish Red vs Intl Amber. 

This comparison was a lot like Sample 2- comparing beers with a similar balance (in this case malt forward, not hoppy, and light in body), with Irish Red being the richer/deeper/more complex version. There are some other caveats, but to me, nothing different enough to decide between in a blind taste setting like this. I chose Intl Amber because the body was very thin and the malt character was pretty subdued/lacking in richness.

I also detected skunkiness when first sniffing. I’ve never seen an Irish Red packaged in a green bottle, but had plenty of international lagers that were. Packaging in green bottles is the main culprit of skunked beers as blue light exposure creates a reaction with hop material that causes the skunky aroma. Skunkiness wasn’t enough to hang my hat on since there could very well be skunky Irish Reds I don’t know about, but it was something in the back of my mind that encouraged me to pick Intl Amber Lager.