97 Blog · Entry
How to Taste and Review Beer
There are lots of ideas out there about the right way to taste beers and write reviews. Different people have different styles, and different areas they emphasize. Well, here’s our (my) two cents on what’s involved. You can take it, leave it, or—even better—add your methods and ideas to the comments section below, so we can learn from you.
The parts of a beer review.
A lot of people agree that there are about 5 components of a beer review. Keep in mind that even though these components are well-established, a lot of what’s involved in the actual review is subjective. So:
Appearance
As you might expect, this is what the beer looks like.
One part of appearance is color, which is literally the color of the beer (Dark red? Light brown? Burnt Sienna? Blond?).
Another part of appearance is head (how much foam is on the beer, and what the foam looks like). Does the head have a thick, creamy look? Are the foam bubbles bigger and more watery? Does the head go away when you pour it from a bottle, or does it just sit there, all fat and happy? Among other the things, the head has to do with the beer’s carbonation—a sign of health or not-health. Some beers are supposed to have more or less carbonation, which is something you’d have to research on a per-beer basis.
Also note whether the beer looks cloudy or clear, dull or sparkly. The cloudiness of a beer is known to technical minds as turbidity, another measure of how healthy a beer is (sometimes cloudiness is good and sometimes it’s bad, ps. But floaties are always bad).
Smell
Smell and taste are tightly intertwined, which is why connoisseurs (except for Keith, who managed to become a beer lord without a sense of smell), get all hot and bothered about this topic. What the beer has more of (Malts? Hops?) will affect the smell. Drinking beers from a bottle kind of dulls the smell, so it’s a good idea to use a glass, a topic beyond the scope of this post.
One part of the smell is the aroma, which relates to how the beer was fermented and what malts and grains were used. Different malts and grains smell different (think of your favorite horse stable) and release different aromas that are more or less grainy, malty, nutty, etc.
Another part of the smell is bouquet, which is related to the hops used to make the beer. Different hops equal different smells—such as spicy, herbal, floral, etc. (hence, “bouquet”).
And finally, we have odor, which can also be called skunk-iness or stink-iness. Odor sucks, and is related to oxidation. If a beer’s skunky you can still drink it, but you might not like it that much, unless you are already drunk.
Taste
Also known as flavor, taste is where you can get creative. For instance, sometimes I feel like Stella Artois tastes like sparkly hay-pee. Use your imagination.
The flavor of a beer relates to the malt, hops, yeast, and water used to make it. All these factors combine to produce different types of flavors (for example: more hops and less sugar make a beer taste dry, sugar makes things taste fruity, and a certain kind of yeast will make a beer taste more or less like wine).
There is also an issue of balance to each flavor. Do you notice one taste that overpowers the other tastes? Is it really sweet or really bitter? Does it have a strong aftertaste that overshadows the actual taste?
Mouthfeel and Palate:
Mouthfeel is a measure of how heavy or light a beer us on your tongue (its body). Is it watery? Thick? Coarse? Does it stick to the sides of your mouth? Light, medium, and heavy bodied beers all have different amounts of sugars and types of proteins that make them the way they are.
Drinkability:
Again, this one subjective. Ask yourself if like the beer, or if you feel like you can drink more than one. Is it a little hard to handle or delicious?
Have some dang fun.
The most important part of reviewing and tasting beer is having fun and enjoying the drinking and thinking about it. This scenario need not involve your deep and entrenched knowledge of west-arabian hops (even though we definitely want to hear about your experiences with west-arabian hops), or being honked off that the beer you’re drinking doesn’t contain the organic version.
Our advice? Start by being awesome and figuring out what you like. After that you can get down to the hard science.
Next up: Other things (like glasses!) that affect a beer’s taste!
Kenny Meyers
This post was fantastic and deserves accolades.
Rob Hudson
Great post!
Nick Finck
Nice post! I would add to this that people have told me (myself being a total beer noob) that I should do a beer flight.. some places offer this. It’s a good way to see what you like without wasting a whole pint (or getting your buddies drunk before you are!).
Tiffani
Hey, thanks guys! Beer Flight sounds awesome, Nick. I’ll have to look into that…
:D
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