Creamed

Tasting session 32

Beer 1 Choices: Belgian Tripel, Saison, Belgian Blond Ale, Weissbier

Beer 2 Choices: American Brown Ale, International Amber Lager, Strong Bitter, American Amber Ale

Beer 3 Choices: Cream Ale, Kölsch, Munich Helles, German Pils

Beer 4 Choices: Belgian Dubbel, Old Ale, English Barleywine, American Barleywine

Score: 3/4

Beer 1 things to look for:

Belgian Tripel: booze/heavier body, high attenuation, esters

Saison: bitterness prominent, phenols, esters, Tank 7?

Belgian Blond Ale: peppery phenols, alcohol presence, banana, heavier body

Weissbier: Weizen yeast (clove+banana)

Notes:

There wasn’t much detectable bitterness on the palate, so I eliminated Saison first. I’d expect there to be some noticeable hop bitterness in the Blond and Tripel, so I was suspecting it was a Weissbier. The aroma was very banana/clove forward, and even though Tripels can have these yeast flavors, the body was too thin and there was no alcohol warmth, so Tripel was eliminated next. 

I often confuse the aroma of Belgian Blonds with Weissbiers. Leffe Blond, the Belgian Blond Ale I have access to where I live, is very banana and clove forward. The distinctions that separate it from Weissbiers for me are alcohol presence, hop presence, and other spices like pepper in addition to clove. Since I didn’t detect these things, I went with Weissbier.

Beer 2 things to look for:

American Brown Ale: clean yeast, US hops/bitterness, chocolate

International Amber Lager: clean yeast, thinner body, possible bitterness

Strong Bitter: yeast esters, UK malt/hops, bitterness

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

Notes:

There weren’t any esters or British character (orange marmalade, biscuit, woodsy hops, brown bread), so I eliminated Strong Bitter first. The profile was caramel forward, and I didn’t detect anything bordering on chocolate, so I eliminated American Brown next. Caramel and bitterness were present, shared characteristics of the remaining choices, so I left this one to come back to.

When I returned to the sample, I didn’t have any immediate “a-ha” moments. I swirled the sample and noticed the foam bubbles were all very tiny and the head dissipated quickly. This was a clue it may be an Intl Amber, as they’re sometimes made with adjuncts like corn/rice that contribute to poor foam/head retention. The flavor was nice though; not as bold or deep in maltiness or hop flavor as an American Amber, but the levels were high enough that I had trouble distinguishing. I don’t always detect US hop aroma/flavor in American Ambers, so I went with Intl Amber based upon the quality of the foam. 

Beer 3 things to look for:

Cream Ale: not bitter, thin body, US lager-esque

Kölsch: bitterness, possible esters

Munich Helles: not bitter, round/full malt

German Pils: bitter, round/full malt, more bitter than Kölsch

 Notes:

This was a hard one for me, but I was at least happy that I narrowed it down to Cream Ale vs Kölsch. I was picking up some fruity notes in the aroma, but nothing super strong. Kölsch is known to have esters, but some examples have more than others, and imported versions almost always have low levels. Our guidelines state that Cream Ale can have a clean fermentation profile or low levels of fruity esters- so that wasn’t very helpful. 

I got rid of Helles and Pils because the body of this beer was so thin and highly carbonated- not much roundness or softness on the palate. The aroma was also very similar to an American Lager, which should have been a clue that this was a Cream Ale. A second and more important clue should have been bitterness. It was low in this sample, and that should have triggered me to pick Kölsch, which usually has medium/medium high bitterness. However, this sample reminded me of Gaffel Kölsch, one that I had been tasting to get more familiar with, so I went with Kölsch. 

Beer 4 things to look for:

Belgian Dubbel: phenols, high attenuation

Old Ale: less bitter English Barleywine, roast?

English Barleywine: less bitter American Barleywine, esters, UK malt/hops

American Barleywine: all the bitterness, all the malt, booziness/body/sweetness

 Notes:

There were a lot of giveaways here, mainly the color. It was pitch black and much darker than the other styles tend to get. This beer was complex and delicious. The body was medium high with lower carbonation, so I knew it wasn’t Belgian and I could eliminate Dubbel. There also wasn’t much detectable bitterness, which would for sure be in the American Barelywine, so that was next to go. 

Our guidelines state that at the upper ABV range for Old Ales, there is overlap in character with English Barleywines. However, there was noticeable acidity and roast in the sample, two characteristics that sealed the deal for Old Ale. This beer was so good; strange and intoxicating with flavors reminiscent of spumoni ice cream, molasses, fresh tobacco, licorice, and roasted walnuts.