Beer is a perishable food product. There are many ways that beer can become contaminated before it arrives at your business, or it can just get too old. It is important to be able to identify “off” flavors so you know when to get the customer a replacement.

Dust bottle by Geoffrey Gallaway on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Although rare, it is possible for beer to become contaminated or damaged before it arrives. Loose seal, inconsistent transportation environment, or poor storage are some ways beer can become damaged or spoiled.

This section helps identify some common off flavors in beer.

The reading material for this section was found in:

RealBeer.com. When your beer really stinks. Beer Break Vol. 1, No. 16. http://www.realbeer.com. Accessed October 3, 2015.

MoreBeer!. “Off” Flavors In Beer; Their Causes & How To Avoid Them. http://www.morebeer.com. Accessed October 3, 2015.

Oxidation

Oxidation means that oxygen has gotten into the beer and made a bad reaction. It can happen during the brewing process, or it can happen later due to poorly sealed packaging.

Oxidation is identified by these aromas and flavors:

• Stale
• Old, wet cardboard
• Paper
• Pineapple
• Rotten vegetables
• Sherry

Oxidation can also make beer bitter or harsh. And it can create aromas and flavors like wax or lipstick.

Skunky/Light-struck

When light hits the hops in beer, it creates the same chemical in a skunk’s spray.

The reaction happens stronger in light colored beers.

Clear glass and green glass provide almost no protection from light. Amber colored bottles do provide excellent protection, but even amber colored bottles should be stored away from light.

Skunkiness in beer shows up mostly in the aroma.

Skunked beer is identified by these aromas:

• Skunk
• Must
• Burned rubber
• Cat musk

Dirty draft lines

Recall from lesson 6 “Draft systems” that draft lines must be properly maintained. A perishable food product is traveling through those lines. Make sure the draft lines and other parts of the draft system are cleaned at regular intervals.

Two common signs of dirty draft lines are aromas and flavors of:

• Butter
• Vinegar

Buttery

In the last lesson we talked about the buttery flavor of diacetyl, made by yeast. Diacetyl is usually considered a flaw in lagers, while small amounts are often desired in ales.

Diacetyl can also appear as a contaminant in beer, and especially in dirty draft lines.

Diacetyl is identified in beer by these aromas and flavors:

• Butter
• Rancid butter
• Butterscotch

Diacetyl can also cause a slick mouthfeel.

Vinegar

If the beer has an astringent or sour/acidic flavor that tastes tart or like vinegar, it is likely contaminated by bacteria or wild yeast.

Lambic beers are an exception.

“Lambic style beers,” it says in the MoreBeer! article, “are beers that have been purposely exposed to specific types of wild yeast and bacteria to create the unmistakable cidery and sour flavors they are known for.”

Conclusion

So this is a little bit about how to identify off flavors in beer.

By properly storing your beer products and developing a keen ability to identify off flavors, you have the improved ability to always provide the best beer service to your customers.

So that’s it for Part III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation.

Now we’ll go into Part IV. Beer Ingredients and Brewing Processes.

Flashcards for this section

Based on the reading materials mentioned and my notes above, here are my flashcards for this section.

What is oxidation in beer?

Oxidation is what happens when oxygen gets into beer and makes a bad reaction.

6 aromas and flavors of oxidation in beer

1. Stale
2. Old, wet cardboard
3. Paper
4. Pineapple
5. Rotten vegetables
6. Sherry

Also: bitter, harsh, wax, lipstick

What is “skunked” or light-struck beer?

Beer becomes “skunked” when light hits the hops and creates the same chemical as in a skunk’s spray.

4 aromas of skunked beer

1. Skunk
2. Must
3. Burned rubber
4. Cat musk

2 flavors from dirty draft lines

1. Butter
2. Vinegar

3 aromas and flavors of diacetyl contamination in beer

1. Butter
2. Rancid butter
3. Butterscotch

Also: slick mouthfeel

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The aromas and flavors in beer come from its ingredients. It’s not only the ingredients, but how they’re prepared and used in the recipe. This section discusses the three (4) main components of beer and what aromas and flavors they produce.

Beer Actor by Alan Levine on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

The 4 main components of beer are: water, malt, hops, and yeast.

Even water—or more specifically the minerals in water—impart aromas and flavors to beer.

In this section of the Certified Beer Server syllabus, we’re concentrating only on the last 3 ingredients:

1. Malt
2. Hops
3. Yeast

The reading material for this section was found in Tasting Beer.

Malt and grain flavors

Yeasts need sugar to make alcohol. Brewers get sugar from grains.

Barley is by far the most common grain used in beer. Barley has been used in beer for thousands of years. It has a lot of starch that can be converted to sugar, and its shells serve as filters.

To make the sugars accessible for brewing, the grain must be “malted.”

Malting is the process of wetting the gain enough so that it germinates and starts to sprout, but then heating the grain to kill it before it starts to grow into a plant. When the grain senses the moisture, it knows it’s time to sprout. So it turns those starches into sugar as food for the growing process.

Barley / Gerste I by Christian Schnettelker on flickr (CC BY 2.0) http://www.manoftaste.de was modified from its original state.

Grains can impart a huge variety of flavor and aroma in beer depending on how much moisture and heat is used in the malting process. Some are lightly toasted while other are toasted very dark.

The basic types of malt are:

• Base malts – The majority of the “grain bill” used in most types of beer, even dark beers.
• Kilned or Color malts – Used in smaller amounts, up to 20 percent of the grain bill.
• Crystal or Caramel malts – A special “stewing” process results in a glassy, crunchy texture. It provides fat, raisin, or other dried fruit aromas.
• Roasted malts and grains – Used up to 10 percent of the grain bill. Provides aromas and flavors of coffee, chocolate and other roasted foods.

Within each of the basic types shown above, there are different kinds of malts.

Adjunct grains are alternative grains. “In today’s beers,” writes Mosher, “adjuncts are about texture more than flavor. All tend to be less assertive in aroma than barley malt.”

For example, “wheat, oats, and rye all add creamy texture and great head retention to beers… Corn and rice always thin out a beer.”

Examples of adjunct grains:

• Wheat
• Oats
• Rye
• Corn
• Rice

So that’s a little about how grains and malt affect the aroma, flavor and texture of beer.

Here are some specifics to remember from the Certified Beer Server syllabus. Notice how the aromas and flavors range from doughy on one end of the spectrum all the way to roasted and burnt as the beer style gets darker.

Pale beer: uncooked flour, bread dough

Golden beer: white bread, wheat bread, water cracker

Light amber beer: bread crust, biscuit, graham cracker

Amber beer: toast, caramel, pie crust

Brown beer: nuts, toffee, chocolate, dark/dried fruit

Black beer: roast, burnt, coffee

Hops

Hops are in the nettle family and are related to marijuana. Hops have been used in beer since about a thousand years ago.

The only part of the hop plant that is used in beer is the cone. According to Mosher, brewers often incorrectly call them “flowers.”

Bitterness, flavor and aroma effects

Whereas the malt in beer provides the fermentable sugar and some sweet flavor to the beer, hops balance that sweetness with bitterness. Hops can add other flavors and even aromas to beer.

Recall that smell accounts for as much as 90-95 percent of the sense of taste. So brewers can use the varied aromas from hops to do some pretty interesting things.

Traditional regional hop traits

Mosher says there are more than a hundred varieties of hops. They all have their own attributes. You might not consider yourself much of an apple connoisseur, but probably you could easily notice a difference from Red Delicious to Gala and Pink Lady. It’s similar with hops.

Certain hops grow best, and most will best display their key characteristics, when grown in the region where they originated.

American hops are known for their pine, citrus, resin, tropical fruit, and catty notes.

English hops provide notes of “spicy to fruity, with a healthy dose of fresh green grassiness,” says Mosher. They can also provide earthy, herbal, or woodsy notes.

German and Czech hops provide “herbal, sometimes almost minty” notes, says Mosher. They can also provide spicy, floral, perfumy, or peppery notes.

Fermentation

Ale versus lagers flavors

It is said that

Brewers make wort, yeast makes beer. [Tweet This]

Yeast are little bugs that are found all around, on most surfaces in the world. They make bread rise and they turn sugary liquid into beer—or wine, or cider, or…

As the yeast float around in wort, they burp carbon dioxide (CO²) and piss (or puke) alcohol. (For more on yeast, see Beer ingredients and brewing processes.)

God gave us yeast, and yeast gives us beer. [Tweet This]

There are 2 main types of yeast for fermenting beer:

• Lager yeast
• Ale yeast

Other specialty yeasts and sometimes even bacteria are used to ferment beer. But lager yeast and ale yeast are the two main kinds.

Lager yeast works at very cold temperatures, around 40-45° F (4-7° C). Beers made with lagers yeasts “have a relatively clean, pure flavor without fruity or spicy aromatics,” says Mosher.

Ale yeast works at warmer temperatures, above 55° F (13° C). They “have loads going on, with fruity, spicy esters and higher alcohols and phenolic compounds, among others.”

These 2 yeast strains have been recently proven to be very closely related. However, the ale yeasts have much more variation, and it shows up in the wide variety of ale beers.

One important chemical produced by both types of yeast is called diacetyl. Diacetyl tastes like butter. At warmer temperatures, yeast reabsorb diacetyl and make it flavorless. So brewers raise temperatures of lagers during conditioning to eliminate the diacetyl flavors. This “diacetyl rest” is also sometimes used in ales.

Weissbier yeast flavor

Weissbier uses a very unique yeast. It “produces a clove aroma, along with banana and bubble-gum fruitiness.”

Other yeast and bacteria can contribute to beer flavor

Some different species of yeast and even bacteria are used for certain beer styles. The 4 fermenting buggies below have unique taste and aroma profiles.

Mosher describes them as “dreaded contaminants in most breweries; brewers bold enough to bring them under their roofs need to take extraordinary measures to prevent their escape and the fouling up of the whole place.”

Brettanomyces is a yeast that Mosher says might be endemic to oak wood (found no where else), but Wikipedia says in the wild it’s also found living on fruit skins.

Brett is used in lambics, some saisons, and English old ales. It “has barnyard or horsey aromas”

Pichia and Candida are yeasts that form films in beer. Chris White says pichia “makes beer that tastes something like sweaty socks.”

(Source: White, Chris and Jamil Zainasheff. Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation. Boulder, CO: Brewers Association, 2010. p 3. https://books.google.com. Accessed September 25, 2015.)

These have a role in lambics, but mostly they just cause spoilage. And it’s not only beer that they spoil, candida is the one responsible for yeast infections. Don’t worry, as Madeleine Davies says, just so you know, you can’t make beer with your vagina.

Lactobacillus and Pediococcus are bacteria that each produce lactic acid, which lowers the pH and makes beer sour. Mosher says it “can also create a lot of diacetyl (buttery) and goaty, sweat sock-reminiscent aromas.”

Lacto is used in beer styles like Goses and Berliner Weisses. “It’s a relatively clean taste for drinkers,” writes Kate Bernot in Draft Mag.

(Source: Bernot, Kate. “Yeast and bacteria 101: Brettanomyces, lactobacillus, pediococcus.” DRAFT Magazine, March 16, 2015. http://draftmag.com. Accessed September 25, 2015.)

Pedio is used in beer styles like Lambics and Flanders Red Ales.

Acetobacteria is a bacteria that produces acetic acid. As Billy Broas points out, acetic acid is “the key component in vinegar.”

(Source: Broas, Billy. “The Bugs that Sour Your Beer (And Why They’re Not All Bad).” Homebrew Academy, September 8, 2010. http://homebrewacademy.com. Accessed September 25, 2015.)

So aceto “adds vinegar or pickle aromas, but may also create a fair amount of ethyle acetate… fruity at low quantities, but in larger quantities it comes across as nail polish remover or solvent,” says Mosher.

Conclusion

So this is a little bit about how the major ingredients categories impart a range and variety of aromas and flavors in beer.

As you develop your palate, and concentrate on identifying specific aroma and flavor elements, you will be able to develop a vocabulary that helps you understand the beer more intimately.

A better understanding and more sophisticated vocabulary for beer will help you better communicate with your customer and know which beer she wants to enjoy.

In the next section, we’ll discuss some “off flavors” and how to identify a beer that has gone bad.

Flashcards for this section

Based on the reading materials mentioned and my notes above, here are my flashcards for this section.

3 main sources of aroma and flavor in beer

1. Malt and grain
2. Hops
3. Fermentation

(and water)

What is the most common grain used in beer?

Barley is the most common grain used in beer because its high starch content is readily converted to sugar and its shells serve as filters.

How are the starches in grain converted to sugar?

“Malting” converts the starches in grain to sugar.

The grain is wetted enough so that it germinates and starts to sprout. Then the grain is dried and heated to stop the process.

4 basic types of malt

1. Base malts
2. Kilned or colored malts
3. Crystal or caramel malts
4. Roasted malts or grains

What are adjunct grains?

Adjunct grains are grains other than barley.

They are used mainly for texture as opposed to flavor.

5 examples of adjunct grains

1. Wheat
2. Oats
3. Rye
4. Corn
5. Rice

Main flavors of pale beer

Uncooked flour, bread dough

Main flavors of golden beer

White bread, wheat bread, water cracker

Main flavors of light amber beer

Bread crust, biscuit, graham cracker

Main flavors of amber beer

Toast, caramel, pie crust

Main flavors of brown beer

Nuts, toffee, chocolate, dark/dried fruit

Main flavors of black beer

Roast, burnt, coffee

How many varieties of hops are there?

There are over a hundred varieties of hops.

Main flavors of American hops

Pine, citrus, resin, tropical fruit, cat

Main flavors of English hops

Spice, fruit, fresh green grassiness, “earth” (soil), herbs, woods

Main flavors of German and Czech hops

Herbs, mint, spice, flowers, perfume, pepper

2 main types of yeast for fermenting beer

1. Lager yeast
2. Ale yeast

Main flavors of lager yeast

Clean and pure, without fruity or spicey aromatics

Main flavors of ale yeast

Fruity, spicy esters and higher alcohol and phenolic compounds (cloves)

What is diacetyl?

Diacetyl is a chemical that tastes like butter.

Both lager yeasts and ale yeasts produce diacetyl. Brewers often use a “diacetyl rest” to get rid of it.

Main flavors of Weissbier yeast

Clove, banana, bubble-gum fruitiness

Other yeast and bacteria used in beer

Brettanomyces (yeast)

Pichia and Candida (yeasts)

Lactobacillus and Pediococcus (bacteria)

Acetobacteria (bacteria)

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By becoming more aware of your senses and then developing a vocabulary to articulate those senses, you can develop a deeper understanding of beer. When you are better able to tease out different aromas and flavors, and when you are able to articulate those senses into words, you can better understand why different characteristics are present in a beer, you can understand what a customer wants, and you can know when a beer has gone bad.

Homebrew tasting by James Brooks on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

“If you take the time to develop an approach and a vocabulary,” says Randy Mosher in Tasting Beer, “even casually tasted beers may reveal themselves in greater depth, meaning, and eventually, pleasure.”

This section explores the sense of taste and flavor. We talk a little bit about how our bodies feel these senses. And we talk about the different ways in which these senses are perceived. That is, the main flavors and smells in beer.

The reading material for this section was found in Tasting Beer, Great Beer Guide, and Beeradvocate “How To Taste Beer.”

  

How we perceive flavor

The senses can be weird things. Physical parts of the body—the taste buds on the tongue, or olfactory sensors in the nose, for example—perceive chemicals in our environment. Then the nervous system translates those senses in the brain.

Everybody is built slightly different, and everybody has had different experiences. So our senses affect us differently. One person might enjoy a particular flavor while another person despises it.

After clean sheets have been stored in the closet a while, they lose the odors of artificial detergents and burnt drier lint. Before making the bed, I press my face into the sheets and inhale deeply. To me it smells glorious, a scent that I call “fresh linen.”

Meanwhile, my girlfriend grimaces and turns away. She thinks it smells “musty.”

musty | ˈməstē | adj. having a stale, moldy, or damp smell. having a stale taste.

It’s not only the physical sensors that affect our senses. Our past experiences also play a part. For example, Mosher says that the sense of smell in particular takes “a detour through… the hypothalamus, seat of appetite, and fear; the hippocampus, regulator of memories; and the brain stem, which controls basic bodily functions like respiration.”

A beer with flavors and scents that bring up happy childhood memories of grandmother’s kitchen, for example, will likely sell well. “Even if your audience is not aware of the connection,” says Mosher.

Additionally, senses often work together. In fact, smell accounts for 90-95 percent of our sense of taste.

Aroma

There are 2 sets of sensors for smell. Although they both sense molecules in the air, they are separate and processed differently by the brain.

The first set of sensors, high in the nose, analyze aromas to categorize and identify them.

The second set is further back, in the channel that connects the nose and mouth, and even in the back of the mouth. This set processes less as aroma and more as flavor. It affects perceptions of preference and familiarity.

Michael Jackson explains in Great Beer Guide, “Tasters often express flavors in terms of ‘aroma metaphors’ that refer to other drinks and food.”

It’s ok to say that a beer has aromas of bananas and butterscotch, or grapefruit and flowers. That doesn’t mean that it was brewed with those ingredients, it’s the closest connection that our brain conjures up. As your senses are honed, characteristics of beer will be an indicator of ingredients or brewing process.

Taste

All that you learned in elementary school about the taste map of your tongue? Yeah, forget about that. That model was derived by some whackos in the 1800s.

It’s about time, because I always thought I was the odd one who’s tongue was broken. Anyway…

Turns out, says Mosher, “there is some slight localization of flavor on the tongue, but most of the tongue is sensitive to all six flavors.”

Although the whole tongue is covered in bumps, those are mostly mechanical. Only some of the bumps have taste buds.

On the front two-thirds of the tongue the taste buds, for the most part can detect all flavor categories.

Along the sides at the back of the tongue, the taste buds detect all flavor categories, but are especially sensitive to fat and sour.

On the back of the tongue, the taste buds detect all flavors, but are especially sensitive to bitter and fat.

Established tastes

Everybody is familiar with the primary flavors:

• Sweet
• Salty
• Sour
• Bitter
• Umami

There are some new flavors since when I learned this in elementary school:

• Fat

Plus some flavors less agreed-upon and still being studied:

• Acidic (related to sour)
• Carbonation
• Metallic

Sweet – Almost all beers have at least some sweetness. Usually it is balanced or even overshadowed by hops, roasted malt, or acidity.

Certain beer styles have more residual sugar and taste more sweet. e.g., Scotch ale, doppelbock, sweet stout.

Salty – Salt makes flavors richer and bigger. It’s not always in beer, but sometimes it plays a part as mineral-rich water or sometimes it’s even intentionally added.

Sour/Acid – Sour and acidity, as measured in pH, are closely related. Mosher says that the sour taste sensors detect hydrogen ions, just like pH meters do.

Normally beer is only moderately acidic. Sour Belgian beers more strongly feature sour/acidic flavors.

Acidity often indicates ripe fruit. So sour/acidic flavors are also important in fruit beers.

Bitter – Bitter is nature’s way of protecting us from eating poison. Mosher says that we have maybe up to 30 different kinds of bitter receptors, yet science believes that there’s only one bitter signal sent to the brain.

Meanwhile, many people claim to detect different flavors of bitterness. So “bitter” flavor is sort of a catchall for a variety of senses.

The bitter signal is more complex and takes longer to process. This can be evident when tasting bitter beer. “The first taste sensation is likely to be a mix of sweetness and acidity,” says Mosher, “but after a beat the bitterness kicks in and builds to a crescendo.”

Not only that, but “the bitterness takes longer to leave the palate as well, sometimes lingering for several minutes in especially assertive beers.”

Peculiarly, humans are the only species that do not automatically reject bitterness. Some people crave it, as evidenced by the indomitable popularity of IPA.

Umami – Umami was scientifically described in 1908 by Japanese chemist, Kikunae Ikeda (Wikipedia). The western world accepted its existence much more recently. Umami means “pleasant savory taste.” It is also described as “deliciousness.” It is a brothy or meaty taste present in fish, cured meats, soy sauce, mushrooms and a variety of vegetables like spinach, tomatoes, and celery.

In beer, Umami plays a role especially in aged beer, where it can be perceived as meatiness or taste like soy sauce.

Emerging tastes

Fat – The taste receptors for fat were discovered only in 2005. Beer is a fat-free product, so it’s not yet clear whether this flavor plays any role in beer other than pairing with food.

Carbonation – Carbonation usually comes from carbon dioxide (CO²) gas. Beer can be naturally carbonated from yeast, or force-carbonated from compressed CO².

Carbon dioxide in beer forms carbonic acid, which can increase sourness.

Also, a “bite” is perceived when bubbles form on the tongue.

(Source: Oliver, Garrett. The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford: The Oxford University Press, 2012. p. 134. https://books.google.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.)

Metallic – A metallic flavor in beer is usually a flaw. It can be caused by metals dissolving into the wort, or from poorly stored malts. Stainless steel does not impart a metallic flavor.

(Source: Palmer, John. How To Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Chapter 21.2. http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.)

Mouthfeel

Mouthfeel is a sensation more than a flavor. It’s how the beer feels in the mouth and can describe a range of sensations such as:

• Carbonation
• Viscosity (thickness/thinness)
• Cooling or burning (like mint or peppers)

Other sensations specifically associated with beer are:

• Crisp/dry
• Full palate
• Rich
• Oily

The Certified Beer Server Syllabus specifically focuses on two:

• Body
• Carbonation

Body – Body refers specifically to the firmness/thickness sensation of the liquid in your mouth. According to Michael Jackson, it can range “from thin to firm or syrupy.”

Beer foam comes from the unique protein structure in the beverage. The protein structure, says Randy is “very similar in structure to a thin sort of Jell-O.” This also makes for a fullness of palate.

Wheat and other grains like oats and rye have a protein structure that makes particularly great beer foam, and those beers also have a special sort of mouthfeel.

Carbonation – We already discussed how carbonation can add a sourness and a bite to beer.

Different kinds of beers have differing amounts of carbonation.

Some highly carbonated beers are:

• Belgian abbey
• Weissbier
• American light lager

Some lightly carbonated beers are:

• British cask ale (“real ale”)
• Barleywine
• Imperial stout

Beer evaluation

Now that we know what aromas and flavors to look for in beer, we can be on the lookout for those characteristics while we imbibe.

Components and evaluation

Appearance – As you approach the beer, take a look. What does it look like? What color is it? What shade of color? Is the liquid clear or hazy?

What does the foam look like? Is it thick or thin on top of the beer? Are the individual bubbles large or small?

Aroma – Next, smell the beer. Does it have much odor, or can you smell hardly anything? Is it sweet or pungent? Do you smell flowers or caramel?

Think of the words we learned above and try to identify whether any are present.

Taste – Finally, we can taste the beer. Is it sweet or bitter? Does it taste like grains or bread? Does it taste fruity or spicy? Does it bring any other flavors to mind?

Does your tongue pucker in certain areas and not in others?

Mouthfeel – With the beer still in your mouth, what does it feel like? Is it thin or thick? Watery or creamy? Cool or warm?

Aftertaste – After you swallow the beer, notice how long the flavors linger. Do the flavors disappear right away or do they last a while? What flavors do you taste?

Key evaluation techniques

As you try to evaluate a beer and get to know it’s attributes and character, there are some techniques that help to tease out the attributes and to build your skills.

Look – Hold your beer up to eye level so you can peer into the glass and see what it looks like. While tasting a variety of beers, hold them each up to a consistent background. A white background is best to see the true colors of the beer.

Do not hold the beer up to direct light, it will dilute its true color.

Swirl the glass lightly to observe head retention.

Smell – Holding the glass 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) away from your nose, swirl the glass, and smell with one or 2 short “distant sniffs.”

Swirl the glass, raise it close to your nose and smell with one or 2 “short sniffs.” First smell with the mouth closed. Then with the mouth open. Even take some breathes through your mouth and exhale through your nose.

Swirl the glass, raise it to your nose and smell with one “long sniff.”

Swirl the glass lightly to agitate the carbonation and release more aromas out of the beer. If you need to, you can use a “covered sniff.” Hold the palm of your hand over the top of the glass while you swirl to keep the aromas in the headspace. Then smell just as you take your hand away.

Try to limit the other odors in the room during this process.

Feel and taste – Sip the beer and let it fill all parts of the inside of your mouth and tongue.

Exhale while the beer in still in your mouth. Remember smell accounts for up to 95 percent of taste. Also, the beer will warm slightly in your mouth, which will change the flavors and aromas.

Flavor senses continue after swallowing, so keep paying attention.

Conclusion

Now we’re on our way to better understanding the beautiful beverage of beer.

Take your time with every beer that you drink. Even better—forego full glasses for tasting flights. Taste as many different beers as you can get your hands on and compare many different beers to each other.

Try 3 brown ales from 3 different breweries. Try 5 different beers styles from the same brewery. Try the same beer chilled and at room temperature.

If you want to learn about beer, drink beer. If you want to learn more about beer, drink more beer.

Cheers!

Next we’ll learn about how to identify the normal flavors of beer and their source, malt, hops, and yeast.

Flashcards for this section

Based on the reading materials mentioned and my notes above, here are my flashcards for this section.

Are taste and smell the same for everybody?

No, everybody senses differently.

The physical sensors in our body are not exactly the same for everybody. Additionally, senses are interpreted differently in the brain.

What tastes good to one person might taste horrible to someone else.

Are taste and smell independent from each other?

No. Smell accounts for 90-95% of our sense of taste.

Where in the body are the 2 sets of sensors for smell located?

1. High in the nose
2. In the channel that connects the nose and mouth, and in the back of the mouth

What are the tiny bumps on the tongue?

The tiny bumps on the tongue are not taste buds, they are for mechanical purposes.

Some of those tiny bumps have taste sensors on the sides.

True for false: The front of the tongue tastes only sweet and salty flavors.

False! Some parts of the tongue are slightly more sensitive to certain flavors, but most of the tongue is sensitive to all of the flavors.

What flavors are detected by the taste buds on the front 2/3 of the tongue?

The front 2/3 of the tongue is sensitive to all flavors.

What flavors are detected by the taste buds on the sides at the back of the tongue?

The sides at the back of the tongue are sensitive to all flavors, and are especially sensitive to fat and sour.

What flavors are detected by the taste buds on the back of the tongue?

The back of the tongue is sensitive to all flavors, and is especially sensitive to bitter and fat.

5 established flavors, one emerging flavor, and 2 less agreed-upon flavors

Established flavors:

1. Sweet
2. Salty
3. Sour (emerging flavor Acidic is similar)
4. Bitter
5. Umami

Emerging flavor: Fat

Less agreed-upon flavors:

1. Carbonic
2. Metallic

What is umami flavor?

Umami is pleasant savory taste or deliciousness.

It tastes brothy or meaty.

What is mouthfeel?

Mouthfeel is how the beer feels while it’s in the mouth.

e.g., carbonation, viscosity, cooling or burning

What is body in the mouthfeel?

Body is how firm or thick the liquid feels in your mouth.

It can range from thin to firm or syrupy.

What is the main thing that affects the body of a beer?

A unique protein structure in beer gives it the body.

This is also what causes beer foam.

How does carbonation affect mouthfeel?

Carbonation adds a sourness and a bite to beer.

3 highly carbonated beer styles

1. Belgian abbey
2. Weissbier
3. American light lager

3 lightly carbonated beer styles

1. British cask ale (“real ale”)
2. Barleywine
3. Imperial stout

5 components to beer evaluation

1. Appearance
2. Aroma
3. Taste
4. Mouthfeel
5. Aftertaste

3 techniques for beer evaluation

1. Look
2. Smell
3. Feel & taste

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The post 015. Taste and flavor appeared first on Beer Exam School.

Light Reading by Martin on flickr (CC BY 2.0)

After that tough section on all those beer styles, I was finally able to distill it down to flashcards for all of the beer styles in the Certified Beer Server Syllabus.

If you want to go back and read all the stats and info for each and every beer style, knock yourself out. But the flashcards make it so much easier.

Now we gotta get back in the saddle and keep studying through the last few sections. I’ll keep publishing my study notes along the way.

I hope you’re finding the notes on this site helpful. Send me an email and let me know. And if you have questions about any of the materials, leave comments below any of the sections. I’ll try to answer any questions I can, or maybe we’ll hear the answer from someone else who’s reading along.

So let’s look at the reading list for part 3.

The first step is to get my study materials together

This time I kind of did it backwards. I was too eager and dug into the syllabus forgetting about the “free study links” at the Cicerone website.

Then I got stuck in some parts of my studies and I had to go back and find more study material. So here are the materials that I’ll need to study for the Certified Beer Server, Part III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation.

Feel free to get anything that you think you’ll need to pass the exam. Or just check out my free study notes throughout this site.

Reading list for Certified Beer Server, Part III. Beer Flavor and Evaluation

• Mosher, Randy. Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink. North Adams, Massachusetts: Story Publishing, LLC, 2009. Print.
  The parts about “sensory evaluation” are helpful and interesting, and there’s a little bit from “brewing and the vocabulary of beer flavor” that’s pertinent to this section.
• Wikipedia. “Flavor.” http://en.wikipedia.org. Accessed August 28, 2015.
  Check out the first 2 sections, the introduction and about “flavorants or flavorings.”
• Beeradvocate. “How To Taste Beer.” http://www.beeradvocate.com. Accessed August 28, 2015.
  A short guide of techniques for beer evaluation.
• Real Beer. “When your beer really stinks.” http://www.realbeer.com. Accessed August 28, 2015.
  A short piece about “skunky” beer.
• MoreBeer! “‘Off’ Flavors In Beer; Their Causes & How To Avoid Them.” http://www.morebeer.com. Accessed August 28, 2015.
  This is an awesome resource about off flavors in beer. It’s kind of advanced, but it’s especially good if you want to advance your knowledge.

I also used these resources:

• Cicerone® Certification Program. “Certified Beer Server Syllabus.” http://cicerone.org. June 1, 2013. PDF. Accessed October 9, 2014.
  The syllabus was the main guide for my notes about “evaluation techniques.”
• Jackson, Michael. Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2000. Print.
  The short section at the back was helpful: Lexicon of Flavors & Aromas.
• White, Chris and Jamil Zainasheff. Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation. Boulder, CO: Brewers Association, 2010. p 3. https://books.google.com accessed September 25, 2015.
• Oliver, Garrett. The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford: The Oxford University Press, 2012. p. 134. https://books.google.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.
• Palmer, John. How to Brew: Everything You Need To Know To Brew Beer Right The First Time. Boulder, CO: Brewers Publications, 2006. Chapter 21.2. http://www.howtobrew.com. Accessed August 21, 2015.

So we need only a few resources to study for the Certified Beer Server syllabus, Part III: Beer Flavor and Evaluation.

But those resources are loaded with information. The hard part is discerning and pulling out only what we must know for this section.

Sign up to study with me

We’re almost done now. There are just 3 parts in this section, and one part in each of the next 2 sections.

It has taken me way too long to do this. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken on this whole website thing along with studying to pass this exam.

But hey, you get the benefit of using all of my study notes! I’m buying the books, digging through the materials, writing it all up in easy format, and I’m sharing my flashcards, too. Now it’s all in one place, easy for you to learn from.

So keep studying along with me and we’ll pass this exam together!

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Now we’re going to go deep into the character of a beer to understand its inner being.

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The post 014. Reading list for Certified Beer Server (part 3) appeared first on Beer Exam School.