Beer Tasting - Rickards Red - (Irish Red Ale)

[GAM]

Good job (on doing this, not the sheet) I'm glad you took the time. I think even the "Judges" should be all over this.

Sandy

[AngeSponge]

I'll give this one a go.

Aroma (as appropriate for style) ___9__/12
Comment on malt, hops, esters, and other aromatics.

Sweet grain smell, Light caramel/toffee character as it warms, possibly light esters? like pear?, almost a musty scent, no hop aroma, no diacetyl.

Appearance (as appropriate for style) ___3___/ 3
Comment on color, clarity, and head (retention, color, and texture).

Brilliantly clear, bronze colour, bright white head dissipated very quickly but my glass was dirty, so I can't say for sure how the head would've held up. Zoops.

Flavor (as appropriate for style) ___11___/20
Comment on malt, hops, fermentation characteristics, balance, finish/aftertaste, and other flavor characteristics.

Could bring all flavours up more, slight caramel malt, light bitterness, no hop flavour, no really strong flavours. No estery flavour that I was getting on the aroma. Malt-balanced, medium-dry finish.

Mouthfeel (as appropriate for style) ____4__/ 5
Comment on body, carbonation, warmth, creaminess, astringency, and other palate sensations.

medium-light body, slight alcohol warmth but not harsh, moderate carbonation, no astringency.

Overall Impression ___5___/10
Comment on overall drinking pleasure associated with entry, give suggestions for improvement.

Generally within style parameters, but could use more aroma, flavour and body to make it more interesting, could try upping the grain bill or using more stewed malts for caramel effect. Ester aroma shouldn't be present, could try fermenting at a lower temperature or using a different yeast strain. Seems marketed to broad audience but quality suffers for it.

32/50

[GuingesRock]

Angeline, I think BJCP judges should stick to what they know most about. That's excellent, except for the brewing advice part. Write that as though you were writing it for Rickards and it would be very good. Rickards most likely have some of the highest qualified and knowledgeable brewers in the country, who know exactly how to program their machines for more body etc. They would be very interested in your sensory critique and whether their beer is to style, but not so much your suggestions on how to improve their brewing processes.

I get a few BJCP sheets back that have brewing advice on them. Very little of that is useful, because the judges have often made assumptions on my brewing process and then suggested ways to improve that assumed brewing process. There's a risk that it can come across as complete nonsense and detract from the whole sheet. The first fatal flaw in this was the initial assumption ...and assumptions are so often wrong.

Did you go to Mirella's beer and cheese talk? She was very impressive with her knowledge I thought, and I would imagine she is a fantastic judge, but she deferred any of my technical brewing questions to the experienced brewers in the room.



ps. Do you think the quality suffers because the beer is tailored for a broad audience, or is it rather poor for economic reasons. A compromise between quality, and cost of manufacture. I've often wondered about that.

[CartoonCod]

For better or worse part of the grading scheme of the BJCP exam is based on how complete the score sheet is, and suggestions on improvement is part of a complete score sheet in their minds. To score the most points on your exam then you need to include suggestions to improve the beer. But the suggestions don't have to be technical (ie: lower sparge pH), they can be as simple increase the malt flavour or complexity, or lower the bitterness for greater balance etc... Angeline, I think the comments that you made for improvement are within the range of what the judges are looking for when they score exams.

[GuingesRock]

^ Yes, that kind of advice would be perfect and very useful. I've had adjust your sparge PH advice, and I don't sparge.

[AngeSponge]

Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it!

Yeah, the feedback part of the evaluations is the part I'm having the hardest time with. I'm still a homebrewing newbie, so making suggestio on how to improve the product is tricky. I think it's worth 20% of the overall mark, so I've got to say something, it's just figuring out what to say. They say if you make a criticism then you should be able to give advice on how to fix it. Good advice on trying not to make assumptions, I'll try to keep that in mind.

Maybe it's an economical choice, I'm always leery of breweries who can afford ads, though, and their product isn't stellar. I wonder to increase the recipe how much it'd be more per case or can.

[derek]

Angeline, I think BJCP judges should stick to what they know most about.

I absolutely think they shouldn't. You'll never get to be a good judge that way. And really, it doesn't matter if I know anything about Rickard's Red (which I'll confess I've been drinking since Molson introduced it in about 1984—give or take a year. There was a time when it was the most interesting beer you could find in a Toronto bar...). Being a beer judge is about being able to recognize flavors and aromas, what's a flaw for a given style, and how to modify a brew to change various factors.

[Graham.C]

^ Yes, that kind of advice would be perfect and very useful. I've had adjust your sparge PH advice, and I don't sparge.

GuingesRock, perhaps the no-sparge was what the judge was tasting. I like no-sparge beers but from what I understand you are throwing off the mash chemistry, particularly by increasing the mashes buffering capacity against whatever water you are using. I'm just getting back into this stuff but it might have been a helpful comment in a bigger picture way. Then again I have gotten some really bad comments on score sheets that are next to worthless. Either way I think the BJCP encourages you to comment on how to improve the beer if you don't give it a perfect score. I.e not just what you liked/disliked but what you would change to bring it more to style.

[GuingesRock]

I think what is needed to improve it, what the beer needs to bring it in line with style etc. is perfect, and one of the most useful parts of the feedback, it's just the how to do it part that often doesn't make sense, because the judges were not there when you were brewing and have no idea of your process, that kind of advice is often based on assumptions and doesn't translate well on the receiving end. That's all I was trying to say.

Last night I was reading my file of judging sheets. It's very difficult to learn much when you have more than a few on a certain beer. They all contradict each other, they seem very subjective. One will say excellent example of the style, and the next will say it misses style and needs this and that. "Needs this and that" is very useful advice, don't get me wrong. What I tend to end up doing is looking for sheets that I agree with as support for what I thought about the beer. That's not really arrogance, but I don't know how else to make head or tail of them.

[Graham.C]

Yeah I hear you. That is the worst part about judging sheets and why many have stopped submitting to comps all together. It's also why we need more trained judges. The biggest part of the program is getting your taste buds and advice in line with everyone else. Lots of people who judge don't do that training, although the best advice I have gotten has come from brewers not judges.

[Jimmy]

Lots of people who judge don't do that training, although the best advice I have gotten has come from brewers not judges.

This.

Entering a comp is fun, but I'd take all judge feedback with a grain of salt. Sitting down with someone who you know has a trained palate, discussing the beer, comparing to a previous recipe/process you used is really the way to learn. Trying to decipher 5 score sheets that all conflict with one another (or match, only because they are sitting at a table together and discussed until their sheets matched) isn't really that useful when it comes to improving your beer.

[GuingesRock]

I think I would agree also, but at the same time I do find the sheets improve my beer. It may be an indirect effect.

The first time I sent a beer to a competition (approx. a year ago), I got a sheet back from Jeff Pinhey (National level judge) and it said "nice balance, very drinkable, well made" at the bottom. That's maybe the only thing I remember, but that was a turning point for me. The beer didn't place, but that encouragement was huge.

So I'd say, always try to encourage when you can.