Beer Appreciation

[kocken42]

Hi AHB's

I'm currently studying a Bch. Science in winemaking and grapegrowing and as part of the course, the university has integrated a brewing unit. As part of the unit we did a sensory evaluation class where we tasted about 28 different beers, from the common international beers (Grolsch, Corona) all the way through to beers like Chimay. We tried a good majority of styles aswell, obviously restricted to what the bottle shop stocked (a pretty good bottleshop I must say).

Anyways, I have learnt that 85% of beer produced in Australia is produced by the big boys...and I dare say even if those big boys are producing a range of beers (dark ales, stouts) most people are still going the Aussie dry's and bitters.

During the sensory evaluation class, I noticed many people greatly enjoying beers (and enjoying the style) they had never tried before such as amber ales, dark ales, stouts, porters... everything. After the class and a few weeks later, talking to my class mates a few have reported of buying these 'new' styles of beer rather than just getting a carton of T.E.D's.

This got me to thinking...I think all Australians should enrol themselves in a beer appreciation class. There is a massive world of beer out there and most Aussies are closed minded, single style drinkers...but they are missing out. To be honest I have been a single style, light lager drinker for years...until I went to London and stumbled upon the 11th Annual Kingston beer festival...man I could really go a pump bitter beer right now! The beers on display were all excellent and really opened my mind.

Knowledge is power...beer knowledge is just freakin' awesome.

 

[Lecterfan]

I quite agree. Also, it doesn't hurt beer drinkers to learn a thing or two about wine. I don't think you necassarily have to like wine, but understanding the different areas of the palate etc is achieved much more easily (and at a more reasonable price) with a variety of Aussie wines than it is with a variety of beers (unless your local bottle-o has a great price and has looked after the imported beer as best they could).

Nice post, the course sounds great...you are certainly in the right area for it.

Although I used to love Bootleg Brewerys slogan "An oasis of beer in a desert of wine".

 

[mwd]

Nice Course to get on MLP

Now I wonder if you could get one of the B ig Boys to sponsor you at Uni for a BSc in drinking.

Got to blame Paul Hogan for the popularity of Fosters in the Western World.

 

[Shed101]

Couldn't agree more MLP. (especially about murdering a cask beer )

There may not be courses as such, but there is a growing number of events that are serving the purpose, and it's having a very powerful effect!

I moved to Oz five years ago from Blighty, and to be frank, I was quite worried about the possibility of getting a decent pint here.

In those five years the 'scene' has changed dramatically, there's more and better breweries, pubs, bottleshops.
Even the idea of food and beer going together has caught on - something I never saw back home!

And because the big boys have seen the impact, they've got their subsidiary brands.

It's reminiscent of Whitbread in the early '90s in the UK - they snapped up a load of great names - Boddington's, Castle Eden, Flowers, did some wicked adverts put widgets in cans and sold casks (and, heaven forbid, kegs) in pubs.

Some people rave about British beers, but the fact is the vast majority of what's brewed is pap, and the real stuff nearly sunk below without a trace several times.

A lot of people don't get any further than the James Squires and Matilda Bay, and venture into the many IMHO more exciting options, but at least it supports the development of the smaller breweries.

Speak to many of the people in the business of making the stuff and they'll tell you that a lot of the demand is coming from the younger drinkers - 20-35 year olds, who demand more than fizzy cold tins. The best thing is, the craft beer revolution in Australia is happening the Australian way - it's taking the best elements from every tradition, having a play around and daring to be bold.

Now, if only I could find a pub in this country that would dare to serve an ale at the correct temperature h34r:

 

[Newbiebrewer]

That should be a mandatory unit for all microbiology students, to examine the effects of different yeast in a beer. I know I would actually bother doing some microbiology if that was a unit :icon_chickcheers:

 

[Dave70]

Hi AHB's

I'm currently studying a Bch. Science in winemaking and grapegrowing and as part of the course, the university has integrated a brewing unit. As part of the unit we did a sensory evaluation class where we tasted about 28 different beers, from the common international beers (Grolsch, Corona) all the way through to beers like Chimay. We tried a good majority of styles aswell, obviously restricted to what the bottle shop stocked (a pretty good bottleshop I must say).

Just curious.

Did you spit or swallow?

 

[kocken42]

Just curious.

Did you spit or swallow?

As all beer tasters know, beer MUST be swallowed to appreciate the bitterness of the beer at the back of the throat. Sensible students generally swallowed the first little gulp, and spat out any remaining swigs. By the end of the 28 beers I can safely say that most people were fairly tipsy...with a few galah's getting a bit rowdy. It didn't help that the class started at 9am. The teacher is a great guy though and made sure that we all walked to town (Uni in Margaret River is a good life!) for lunch rather than driving. We are also quite adapted to tasting as we have had several wine tastings and wine sensory evaluation units over the past few years, and have even had up to 120 tastings in a 4 hour sitting....but you dont HAVE to swallow wine...apparently.

 

[outbreak]

Little Creatures Bright Ale was my gateway drug.... The International Beer store has been feeding my habit ever since.

I have noticed a lot of my friends being more open minded about their beer choices. They wont drink TEDs or similar anymore, they mainly drink coopers, LCPA, James Squire etc.. My room mate has turned into an Ale drinker since trying my beers and drinking what I've been buying, now he wont touch the premium aussie lagers.

I think you are right, a little bit of education and the chance to try something different usually results in someone coming to a realisation that there is better beer out there. This is why I think brewers like Little Creatures are great for the industry, they are a fairly large company that produces great beer which can open someones eyes to the greater brewing world.

 

[Dave70]

As all beer tasters know, beer MUST be swallowed to appreciate the bitterness of the beer at the back of the throat. Sensible students generally swallowed the first little gulp, and spat out any remaining swigs. By the end of the 28 beers I can safely say that most people were fairly tipsy...with a few galah's getting a bit rowdy. It didn't help that the class started at 9am. The teacher is a great guy though and made sure that we all walked to town (Uni in Margaret River is a good life!) for lunch rather than driving. We are also quite adapted to tasting as we have had several wine tastings and wine sensory evaluation units over the past few years, and have even had up to 120 tastings in a 4 hour sitting....but you dont HAVE to swallow wine...apparently.

HA HA!!

Superb!
Nothing quite like the old AM beer buzz.

 

[HeavyNova]

Can't agree with you more MLP!

I recently visited the Generous Squire in Perth (since I've meaning to go there for ages, plus I quite like Jame Squire beer) for a bit of a birthday shindig. The following weekend I was informed of what a terrible place it was by one the guests (obviously grateful to be invited?). He said he couldn't believe how disgusting all the beer was and thought it was pretty low that they were flogging 'off beer' for a cheaper price.

I told him that the IPA was on special and it wasn't 'off', that's just how it is. I then said that it didn't surprise me that he didn't like it as it is much more 'full on' than what he would be used to. I then mentioned something about the general Austaralian population preferring lagers over ales. He said, "I don't like lagers either" then took a swig of his Corona. I said "but Corona is a lager" he didn't believe me so I just left it alone.

ZERO knowledge of beer. But what bugged me more was the that he didn't even want to learn anything about it!

P.S. Corona is the only beer he drinks.

 

[kocken42]

Can't agree with you more MLP!

I recently visited the Generous Squire in Perth (since I've meaning to go there for ages, plus I quite like Jame Squire beer) for a bit of a birthday shindig. The following weekend I was informed of what a terrible place it was by one the guests (obviously grateful to be invited?). He said he couldn't believe how disgusting all the beer was and thought it was pretty low that they were flogging 'off beer' for a cheaper price.

I told him that the IPA was on special and it wasn't 'off', that's just how it is. I then said that it didn't surprise me that he didn't like it as it is much more 'full on' than what he would be used to. I then mentioned something about the general Austaralian population preferring lagers over ales. He said, "I don't like lagers either" then took a swig of his Corona. I said "but Corona is a lager" he didn't believe me so I just left it alone.

ZERO knowledge of beer. But what bugged me more was the that he didn't even want to learn anything about it!

P.S. Corona is the only beer he drinks.

...there's just no helping some people. I had a person trying to tell me the reason why Corona has a skunky smell is because water sanitation in Mexico is really poor and the smell is ACTUAL urine...the sad thing is she was dead serious. If you even think about that statement for a second *One of the biggest beer producing companies in the world uses water with urine in it! Hmmm...that doesn't sound right!* I couldn't help but correct them telling them about the smell coming from it being light-stuck and the hops used etc. and it's part of the style. I can admit that Corona is a great beer for it's style (not hard seeing as it practically invented the style) and that certain beers are perfect for certain situations, but when people aren't open to trying 'different' beers, they are ill-educated. Your 'guest' would fail in a country with thicker culture. It's just as bad as the few cub's I see walk into Little Creatures brewhaus and order a bourbon and cola...sheesh.

 

[Mercs Own]

I held two beer dinners a couple of weeks ago at a resturant serving up beers that most people who attended the dinners had never heard of. As always there were a couple of women who attended that told me up front they dont really like beer. By the end of the evening they did. By paring the dishes with the beer (and using the beer in the dish) people really started to think about the flavours and all their percived and long held beliefs about beer dropped away and they were free to actually appreciate what they had in front of them. Some blokes also said they wouldnt normally drink such and such a beer but again when they started to really think about what was in the glass in front of them they actually liked it.

education, opportunity and giving them really good beer - with flavour - helps

 

[Muggus]

Great stuff MLP.

I too am studying winemaking (part of a viticulture course in the Hunter), but unfortunately we don't have any subjects relating to beer...not that I was really expecting it.
The idea of brewing a batch of beer has been thrown around in the class though, just to give the students an idea of how it's done.

I do find it interesting to hear people talk about how they walk into the Dan Murphys and are somewhat daunted by foreign beers because they have "stuff written in other languages" on the bottle, or they can't pronounce the name of it, therefore will never buy it.
I think alot of people might actually need to be shown what these expensive, exotic beers with wierd names and what not actually taste like, because alot of people would like them but are just not willing to take the plunge on their own.

 

[bconnery]

I held two beer dinners a couple of weeks ago at a resturant serving up beers that most people who attended the dinners had never heard of. As always there were a couple of women who attended that told me up front they dont really like beer. By the end of the evening they did. By paring the dishes with the beer (and using the beer in the dish) people really started to think about the flavours and all their percived and long held beliefs about beer dropped away and they were free to actually appreciate what they had in front of them. Some blokes also said they wouldnt normally drink such and such a beer but again when they started to really think about what was in the glass in front of them they actually liked it.

education, opportunity and giving them really good beer - with flavour - helps

My wife, who already likes beer, attended a women and beer night a while back with some friends. The food pairing really help the people she took get over the 'don't like beer' idea.

On a similar topic, a friend of mine was visiting the Mount Tamborine Brewery a while back and was sat at a table next to a group of tourists visiting the mountain. The men were long time mainstream beer drinkers, and the women hadn't really liked beer.

After a few samplers of Belgian Blonde, Dubbel, IPA and the like one of the women remarked to my friend that they would have drunk beer if they'd known it could taste like this...

 

[bkmad]

My girlfriend never drank beer and then we moved to Manchester for 3 years. The first beer I bought for her that she drank the lot was a fruli - belgian strawberry beer, then she progressed onto kriek (all on tap at the local). After a few months of drinking these, I bought her a becks on a hot day and she scoffed a pint pretty quick. The real life changer for her though was when I was drinking a stout and said 'here try this'. She absolutely loves stouts and porters now. Before this though she never liked beer at all. All it took was introducing her to a few different beers from the vb/new that she had tried before and decided she didn't like beer. Just goes to show, there's a beer for everyone's taste.

As an aside, I saw this article in the paper yesterday http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/restau...0830-13y67.html
She orders a "low carb, quite light" beer - why not just order water. Anyway at least she seems happy with the budvar she gets.