Cherry/Sherry

Tasting session 25

Beer 1 Choices: American Pale Ale, Strong Bitter, Belgian Blond Ale, International Amber Lager

Beer 2 Choices: Belgian Dubbel, Doppelbock, American Amber Ale, American Barleywine

Beer 3 Choices: Doppelbock, English Barleywine, British Brown Ale, Wee Heavy

Beer 4 Choices: American Pale Ale, International Amber Lager, Helles Bock, Strong Bitter

Score: 4/4

Beer 1 things to look for:

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

Strong Bitter: fruity esters, UK malt/hop character

Belgian Blond Ale: spicy yeast phenols

International Amber Lager: clean yeast, neutral profile, thin body

Notes:

Aroma gave away a lot here: it was the dank, piney, citrusy smell of an American beer. A taste test confirmed these flavors, which eliminated all the other styles. The lack of fermentation character (clean yeast, no phenols or esters) further supported crossing out Strong Bitter and Belgian Blond. If it were an International Amber, I’d expect little to no American hop character, much more restrained bitterness, a thinner mouthfeel, and a less rich malt character.  

Beer 2 things to look for:

Belgian Dubbel: phenols, esters, high carbonation/attenuation

Doppelbock: clean yeast, deep and bready, round

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

American Barleywine: tons of hop/bitterness and sweetness

Notes:

Another aroma giveaway here: none of the phenolic/ester yeast character of a Belgian beer (eliminating Dubbel) and tons of aromatic American hops (eliminating Doppelbock). A quick taste test to determine bitterness was enough to differentiate between American Amber and American Barleywine. Not soon after putting this beer in my mouth, I was overwhelmed by assertive hop bitterness and mountains of malt sweetness. The intensity was extremely high, so I knew it had to be American Barleywine. 

Beer 3 things to look for:

Doppelbock: clean yeast, deep/bready/round

English Barleywine: booze/body, esters, UK malt/hops

British Brown Ale: esters, not bitter

Wee Heavy: cherry/sherry

 Notes:

A personal goal of mine for this exam is to get a better handle on Wee Heavy. It’s a style I often get confused with Doppelbock during blind tastings. The aroma had lots of dark dried fruit, which is usually my big clue for it being a Wee Heavy. British Brown and English Barleywine can also have these fruity notes, but I wasn’t picking up much UK malt or hop character. I went in for a taste test to confirm this. 

I tasted cherry, booze, and a lot of residual sweetness. If it were a British Brown, I’d expect much less body/sweetness. It also lacked the complexity of an English Barleywine, which I’d expect to have a more diverse array of esters and malt character. As for the classic Doppelbock/Wee Heavy showdown: the cherry/sherry/booziness was bold and not what I’d expect in a Doppelbock, which I experience as having less alcohol warmth, a focus on bready malt character, and lacking fruity esters. I went with Wee Heavy and was stoked to get it right. 

Beer 4 things to look for:

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

International Amber Lager, clean yeast, thin/neutral

Helles Bock (Maibock): Bock booze, German malt character

Strong Bitter: esters, UK malt/hops

 Notes:

This beer smelled British: toffee, orange marmalade, and biscuits. It lacked the American pine/grapefruit/cannabis hop character of an American Pale and the alcohol punch/body of a Helles Bock. While the body was on the thinner side which supports Intl Amber, I wouldn’t expect Intl Amber to have any of the fruity yeast character this sample had, so I went with Strong Bitter.