Beer Tasting - Rickards Red - (Irish Red Ale)

[GuingesRock]

As a spin off from here: http://www.brewnosers.org/forums/viewto ... 838#p98838" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and some recommendations from Chris Chalmers.

I moved to here so you have to log in to access this thread.

Mark

Pick a beer and we can start. Others can join in as they feel if they want.

Sandy

My pick is RIckards Red. Everyone should be able to get some of that.

The idea is to look at it, taste it, make notes and report back. We can learn as a group hopefully under the guidance of the more experienced beer tasters and judges.

Someone else can pick the next beer.

[GAM]

Saturday afternoon work for you?

Sandy

[GuingesRock]

I was thinking people can taste the beer and report back on this thread whenever they can/want to. We could have a new beer every week maybe ...Every Monday and wrap up each beer Sunday Evening.

[GAM]

Sounde good.

Sandy

[GuingesRock]

If you think of a better way Sandy feel free to change it around.

From the other thread.......

If you want to pursue this, I'd suggest starting (or continuing) by tasting your next beer. Don't just drink it, taste it. It might help to take notes on it. Think about the Aroma, the Appearance, the Flavour, the Mouthfeel, whatever else you'd like to note. No wrong answers, just think and/or write about each part of the beer. Write for yourself, don't do it to show us. Because it IS for you, not anyone else. Don't worry about using the "proper" terms, just use the words that come to mind when you smell or taste or feel the beer.

[GAM]

Works for me.

http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

9D. Irish Red Ale

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/SCP_BeerScoreSheet.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sandy

[GuingesRock]

http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

9D. Irish Red Ale

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/SCP_BeerScoreSheet.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sandy

Great! We can learn each class as we go along too. So with each beer pick we need a commercial beer name and the class it is supposed to represent.

We could also from time to time, taste commercial beers with known faults. Diacetyl springs to mind.

[GuingesRock]

Sandy, would it be better to have a new thread for each beer with the name and style # in the title of the thread. That way it could be open ended and as new people joined the forum or had a chance to taste the beer they could add to the thread and learn from it. Also anyone could start a new thread with a beer and its style # at any time. These threads could go in a sub-section of club discussions - events, named Brewnosers BeerSchool - Tasting (or something like that).

[GAM]

That sounds like a good idea.

Sandy

[CartoonCod]

Can you buy singles of Rickards Red? It might be practical to choose beers that you can buy singles of. I say this because it is especially useful to describe beers that you don't like to figure out and understand what you don't like about them. Also, just my 2 cents, but it might be useful to follow a theme for a few beers: malty, roasty, hopy, light, flawed etc... Or even sections from the BJCP guidlines.

One thing thats helped me out quite a bit is buying a beer from the list of bjcp comercial examples for a particular style then writing about the beer and then checking what the guidlines say about the style. Its not perfect because no beer follows every description from the guidlines but it puts you in the right ballpark.

[GAM]

I just found single cans. I may get a 6er and see if I can detect differences between the two. Then maybe on tap.

Sandy

[GuingesRock]

Good point Adam. I wouldn't like to have to buy a six pack of something that wasn't great. I think I'd need to get at least 2 each time. One for initial tasting and then one to try again after reading comments.

[Jimmy]

You guys should try and setup a google hangout or something to do these. Deciding on a time that works for everyone might be difficult, but doing it live with others might help.

[GuingesRock]

Irish Red Ale from here: http://www.bjcp.org/docs/StylePresentation.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GuingesRock]

You guys should try and setup a google hangout or something to do these. Deciding on a time that works for everyone might be difficult, but doing it live with others might help.

That's a really good idea, especially if there was someone experienced who would be able to teach, or "take a class"

I also think, it might be good, for me at least, to try it on my own, then go back and taste the beer again after reading comments from other tasters.

I changed the name of this thread to a beer name. Hopefully there will be other threads for different beers as time goes on. I was thinking we could use this beer thread as a trial run and change up as required and as people come up with suggestions for how it should work.

Jimmy, Could we have a sub-forum for beer tasting please, or should we just start a new thread in this section for each beer?

Thanks

[Keith]

As long as my schedule matches I'm in.

[GuingesRock]

Keith, The idea of the thread for each beer is you can taste the beer and report on it whenever you want, next year if you want to. Then you compare your thoughts to the other reports in the thread. Not sure if we can have a section for these beer tasting threads yet. Waiting to hear back from Jimmy.

[Jimmy]

I'm thinking maybe see how it goes at first. If there's enough interest then we can make a separate forum for it - but as of right now we're only up to 17 posts in this thread. If it does pick up, it would make sense to have it in its own forum so it's not cluttering up the events forum.

[GuingesRock]

That makes sense. I think we should have a new thread for each beer though. Is there a way to do that? Where should the beer threads go, if there are any, and as you say it might not catch on.

[Jimmy]

I'd keep them in here. I'll move them to their own forum if the trend carries on.

[GuingesRock]

Thanks Jimmy. I got a can yesterday. I'll sit down with a pencil and a glass of the stuff and post my notes some time in the next few days. It will be completely amateur for sure. It's a beer that I can drink if there is nothing better. I think there are many drinking places where it is the best beer they have, but that's not saying a lot.

[GAM]

Aroma (as appropriate for style) ___10__/12
Comment on malt, hops, esters, and other aromatics
No hop odor light malt / roast malt

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

Flavor (as appropriate for style) ___13___/20
Comment on malt, hops, fermentation characteristics, balance, finish/aftertaste, and other flavor characteristics
Little hop present, light roast, sweet finish, metalic after taste

Mouthfeel (as appropriate for style) ____3__/ 5
Comment on body, carbonation, warmth, creaminess, astringency, and other palate sensations
Light to medium mouth feel, highly carbinated

Overall Impression ___7___/10
Comment on overall drinking pleasure associated with entry, give suggestions for improvement
Not exciting, drinkable and fits 9d. Can flavor was a draw back. I will try a bottle.

36/50
Sandy

[GuingesRock]

Aroma (as appropriate for style) ___10__/12
Comment on malt, hops, esters, and other aromatics.

Interesting aroma. Smells beery. Reminds me of good times I’ve had outside in the summer drinking this one at the pub by the river in Bridgewater. I like the aroma. It’s unique. I’m stuck here and don’t know how to describe the aroma.

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

Red but brilliant gold when the sun shines through it. Off white head. Clear.

Flavor (as appropriate for style) ___10___/20
Comment on malt, hops, fermentation characteristics, balance, finish/aftertaste, and other flavor characteristics.

This is where the beer lets me down after appearance and aroma. It has a slightly sour taste like very watered down malt vinegar. Not much else going on for me, but I can taste alcohol which helps a lot. I don’t think the taste is to style.

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

Light mouthfeel. Slightly peppery. I do detect a slight alcohol warmth.

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

Great appearance and nice aroma. Disappointing taste but you can taste the alcohol which helps.

32/50

Food Pairing Suggestion: Fish & Chips

[GAM]

Yes you did.

Thats a lot closer than I thought any of us would get.

Did you read the style profile while tasting? I did.

Sandy

[GuingesRock]

Yes