One hell of a gift: How to fully appreciate

[Zorco]

So my colleague returned from 3 weeks in California. He and my team love my beers which I share by the keg.

This morning I found on my desk a gift wrapped bottle and a letter. See attachment.

10 seconds of review on ratebeer in addition to the very interesting letter has me somewhat aware that this is a special one. Sure, sharing this bevvy with him is excellent enough but I think I'm going to miss (or not understand) some of this beer's qualities.

How would you go about a tasting of a world class beer? Has anyone had the Old Rasputin before?

Professionals talk about all these flavour components, but I think I'm seeing through fog with my untuned smell and taste senses.


I'd like to make an effort for this one, and hopefully get some skills that will make me a better brewer in the end.


I'd appreciate any advice.

http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/beers/barrel-aged-beers/barrel-aged-old-rasputin/


View attachment TheGift.pdf

 

[peteru]

I have not had Old Rasputin before, but from the description it is in the same category as some of the beers from the Black Damnation Project. I was lucky enough to sample 6 different beers from that line, both in Belgium and in Australia and I have a few tips.

* Glassware. I find that beers like this are best poured into a small white wine glass. Ideally one of the sampling glasses you get at wine festivals. Fill the glass to about 1/2 - 2/3 to give yourself enough room for head and sniffing. The closed shape of the wine glass will help to concentrate the aromas. The thin glass will give you better temperature control...

* Temperature. I suggest chilling the bottle fairly well, but only serve in small quantities into thin walled glasses. Go slow so that the contents have the opportunity to warm up and you can observe how the character of the beer changes with temperature. You can cup the glass with your hands to warm up the beer as you sip.

* Aroma. Use your nose. Sniff the beer before drinking. Hold the beer in your mouth and breathe out through your nose. Let the beer coat all of you mouth, swallow and then again breathe out through your nose. Generally, the first time you do this, you will get the biggest hit and this is where the beer will leave the greatest impression. If you just drink it down, you rob yourself of all the subtleties.

* Multiple passes. If you can, pour the first small glass and take a note of the temperature at which you considered the beer to be at it's best. The remainder of the bottle should stay reasonably cool due to thermal inertia, so once you have determined the optimal temperature / flavour profile, you can pour the rest and then enjoy it when it reaches the ideal temperature.

* Don't worry about the jargon and colourful language when describing the beer. At the end of the day, it's about your experience. Use whatever words come to your mind, even if it's just repeatedly saying "yum!"

Make sure you do this in a nice relaxed environment, you don't want to be rushing this because it's time to catch the bus or because you have to pick up the kids.

Enjoy!

 

[Dave70]

Only 38 IBUs? Well colour me surprised. I thought the BJCP guidelines called up for 50 - 70 for an RIS. Just goes to show.

Cant go past a brandy snifter for a big stout in my opinion. Whilst wearing comfortable flannelette pajamas and taking ones repose in a leather recliner.

 

[Benn]

Cigar optional or mandatory?

 

[Benn]

Not wanting to come across as all Connoisseur-ish here but is there a particular thing you can eat beforehand (I've heard Celery) to urgh "cleanse ones pallet" in readiness for beer appreciation?
Also, I can't taste beer properly in the morning, has to be in the arvo. Anything other than Froached Eggs & Bacon before 11:00am tastes *********.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Just shotgun it

 

[sponge]

Shotgunning a glass bottle.. I like it!

 

[dannymars]

?

 

[peteru]

I'm not sure I would bother eating anything in particular before tasting this, but not smoking anything would be a good start. If you do have trouble tasting stuff in the morning, you could have some chronic sinus issues - basically your head is all stuffy in the morning and it gets better during the day. If that is the case, then a hot shower and a good nose blow may help. But that's taking the prep for beer tasting to another level! ;-)

If you need to reset your palate, then a glass of warm water can do wonders. Again, unless you are on a sensory panel doing product evaluations, such shenanigans are overkill. The idea here is to enjoy a special beer and hopefully nice company, not to write a review for a bunch of beer snobs, right?

 

[Zorco]

A few years ago I attended a performance of Richard Tognetti playing with the ACO. On a few occasions my brain could not process the speed and detail of the music and until then I wasn't aware that I had a shortfall in my senses like this. My wife is a music teacher so she introduced me to Rostropovich and I started dialing in my listening skills.

Far from becoming pretentious or snobby, I'm quite well aware that in the scale of all there is, I know nothing. So this is a self betterment mission only.

Thank you peteru and Dave70 for the tips. Thin glass of a brandy esque style will be purchased for the occasion and of a fine crystal or so. I think palate cleansing is important and I drink a fair amount of coffee during the day...so a brush of the teeth/tongue an hour beforehand will happen.

I have gathered info on the Siebel sensory training kit and may take that up further down the track...... not for this occasion.

Really liked the tip on being attentive to flavour change over the temperature range. The specific heat of water is great so I'll be mindful not to pour too much into each glass. Two rounds is also going to happen....so 125ml in each pour - a smallish brandy glass to be chosen.

peteru is too polite to mention oral hygine so I'll bring that into using each point of his first post. Combined with a new set of flanjams to decrease my friction with the leatherware, this tasting will be educational, entertaining and top notch.

All trumped 10 fold by having a good beer with a mate.


Really great advice, So glad I asked.


Edit: Vocab
https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/palate-palette-pallet/

 

[peteru]

Enjoy it and let us know what you thought of it.

 

[Benn]

I like to watch...

 

[manticle]

Beer tasting should first and foremost be about you, putting into words the experiences and triggered memories you get when tasting.

Try and be honest, detailed and descriptive without saying what you think you're supposed to.

Different people have different thresholds, perceptions and associations.

Clean mouth but avoid toothpaste, coffee or smoking, have some water on hand, smell your own arm or hand to recalibrate olfactory and write down everything you think when smelling or tasting. There are no wrong answers.

Failing that, just pour, smell, sip, enjoy, repeat.

 

[manticle]

Also drink a few other beers of similar style on your own and write down what you think.
You don't need to show it to anyone.

 

[Zorco]

Cheers manticle!

Smelling arm or hand recalibration is new to me. Just tried it a few times now.

How does this work?

Edit:

Wrote down 'hairy' and 'salty'.... [emoji3]

 

[Zorco]

Third hit on a reddit thread:

prophetsavant• 377d, 21h
Exactly, beer people uncritically adopt coffee beans for smell and crackers/bread for flavor cleansing from perfume/wine respectively and neither makes sense. Perfume has no coffee aroma but beer may. Wine has no bread aroma but beer does etc.

I recommend water and smelling your sleeve.

I am BJCP Grandmaster judge for what that is worth (about $2 less than a cup of coffee).

-----------------

This is interesting.

Further digging: From someone who says they are a food chemistry geek.
----------------
both taste and smell are chemoreception involving chemical agonists and receptors on neurons. Main differences being the states of the agonists, one being in aqueous states and the other in gaseous state.

Your idea of "reset" can only be accomplished with knocking off the agonists from the receptors or internalizing the receptors bound to the agonists and recycling them which does happen over time.

But usually olfactory stimuli in gaseous state lasts shorter period than gustatory stimuli in aqueous state since not all of the gases are internalized but breathed out.

Think of wasabi burn that only last a few seconds to pepper burn that can last hours.

-----------

Smelling yourself could boot off agonists and replace them with the smell of .....you.....

Which your brain would be normalised to.

The reset. And the same for water for taste I expect.

Thank you manticle

 

[Zorco]

Also drink a few other beers of similar style on your own and write down what you think.
You don't need to show it to anyone.

Ok, Will do. Malt Traders here in the city will have options

 

[peteru]

My wife is a food technologist and has done a few professional sensory evaluation courses. She is also a super-taster. I've learned a few things from her. Depending on what you are evaluating, you tend to have different resets as mentioned above. For things like beer, ice cream and soups, you have to take into consideration not only the olfactory sensations, but also things such as mouthfeel, carbonation level and temperature. In these cases, the texture of the thing you use to reset your palate can have as much effect as the flavour and aroma of that thing. For example, a water cracker could affect your perception of mouthfeel and dryness on the next taste.

Toothpaste is not a good ingredient. Just about every toothpaste out there will use some sweetener, various flavours and in some cases things that stimulate salivation. There are toothpastes out there that claim to be effective for 12 hours or more, which would presumably mean that whatever residue they leave tends to stick around.

I still reckon that for beer tasting, the best thing to use is warm water - just above body temperature. It'll help with driving off any volatiles and is flavour neutral as well as a solvent for whatever may be in your mouth.

Having said all of that, you are going to try and enjoy the beer with a friend, not grade the bottle and put it on a beer map. Part of the fun is seeing how well the beer matches with other flavours. I'd go as far as having some nice cheese, oatmeal crackers, maybe a pickle and perhaps even a piece of chocolate brownie on the table. See what magic you get by combining such flavours. Have fun with it and don't think too hard about "evaluating" the beer. The gift seems too special to be stuck in an analytical process - take pleasure!

 

[butisitart]

Cant go past a brandy snifter for a big stout in my opinion. Whilst wearing comfortable flannelette pajamas and taking ones repose in a leather recliner.

i might add, in winter, at something o'clock in the early hours, while watching richie porte flog his way around the countryside francais. bliss

 

[Zorco]

Toothpaste is not a good ingredient. Just about every toothpaste out there will use some sweetener, various flavours and in some cases things that stimulate salivation. There are toothpastes out there that claim to be effective for 12 hours or more, which would presumably mean that whatever residue they leave tends to stick around.

I agree. Toothpaste option demoted.

The gift seems too special to be stuck in an analytical process - take pleasure!

All this intellectual prep wont carry on into the tasting conversations. I'll be in the moment then.