Being a scientist is hard hard work, with long nightly hours of sampling, testing, annotating and...nah I'm not fooling anyone, am I?
After our sticky-sweet encounters with French beers, the Beer Geeks ventured into more hoppy territories.
From left to right: Taras Boulba, a trio of single hop beers, and a duo of (still label-less) homebrewed beers by yours truly.
Taras Boulba is a typical product of Brasseries de la Senne: bitter, pungent and a bit of character. Not all Geeks were smitten with this one, and it brought home the point that bitterness in beer is a bit of an acquired taste. While I personally like the bitterhoppy presence of the Taras Boulba (a lot in fact), I have to admit that I'm becoming a bit of a hop-head, and hence not always as sensitive to large doses of bitter. I think I was the only one who really liked the Taras Boulba, and perhaps, given its in)your-face bitterness, we should have started with something else instead.
Turns out the beer is brexed using only Saaz hops, which is pretty impressive, given how bitter it is. Not much aroma, and focusing mostly on alpha-acidic bitterness, and with 4.5%ABV, a more than worthy substitute for boring old lager/pils.
Next up were a trio of single hop beers, conceived by Mikkeler and brewed by de Proefbrouwerij for Delhaize supermarkets. A fine incentive from the latter, and perfectly fitting for our "boys and science" approach to tasting beer. The idea behind this annually recurring (but alas also annually identical) series is to brew three different beers, following the exact same recipe, with hop variety being the only variable. This way, it's possible to compare not only the flavour of the hops, but also the bittering qualities, contribution to mouthfeel, color, head retention etc.
First of the series was the East Kent Goldings, a nice gentle hop, imparting little bitterness and (alas) also not very much aroma. A nice and gentle nose though, well-balanced and slightly earthy. Definitely more of an aroma-hop, requiring quite a bit of skill to pull of in a single hop beer. This being a technical brew, it was a bit underwhelming: a bit of a hoppy start, but quickly petering out into a blandish malty base. East Kent Goldings can achieve pretty impressive beers, but this brew didn't really illustrate that. I think it would really shine when applied as a dry-hop.
Next up was the ubiquitous Cascade, the workhorse USA hop which kicked off the craft brewery revolution. Immediately on the nose, you get that full whack grapefruit/pineapple/citrus scent which so dominates many american IPAs. Remarkably, the hops also emphasise the intrinsic sweetness of the malt base, bringing with it a sort of caramel/spun-sugar smell which wonderfully complements the bitterness: Cascade is decidedly more bitter than East Kent Goldings, and tastes very much like it smells: citrusy, grapefruity, slightly pineappley. A wonderful hop, all-purpose due to its relative bittering potential and aromatic qualities. The single hop reminded me of the Muskteers' Troubadour Magma, as well as the Brewdog's Hardcore IPA.
The last of the trio was the well-praised Nelson Sauvin, a New Zealand hop which reportedly imparts a grape flavour to the beer. I did pick up grapes in the nose, but not as dominantly as I'd expected. Perhaps our senses were getting numb, but this one came across like a toned-down version of the Cascade we'd just had. Slowly and shyly, it released only few its secrets, and I can imagine this would not be an easy hop to brew with. Funnily enough, this one was the most bitter of the three single hops, but to me, it was very smooth and balanced, more so than the Cascade. Definitely a hop I want to taste in a "true" brew.
Lastly, I brought out two of my little tigers: the Kohaku Regular/classic/still-to-be-decided-what-I'm-gonna-call-this as well as the ginger-infused Kiai version.
Fitting, only because of the use of the not-too-common Pacific Jade hops in it. Everyone seemed to like it, but I couldn't tell if this was due to the lateness of the hour, or the Geeks just being their polite selves. For me, the hops didn't stand out as much as they did when sampled on a clean palate, but then again, Kohaku is supposed to be thirst-quencher, rather than a potent slug of hop-juice. But it made me contemplate future versions and incarnations of the tiger, which might turn out to be entirely more ballsy.
This second installment of Beer Geek Night was good fun, and we had some nice hoppy encounters. Overall, I guess I expected more from the trio, of which only the Cascade really stood out for me.
Not sure what we're going to do next time, but I'm pretty sure it'll involve beer :)
Until then,
Greetz
Jo
After our sticky-sweet encounters with French beers, the Beer Geeks ventured into more hoppy territories.
 |
| Some beers were harmed during this Beer Geek Night. |
Taras Boulba is a typical product of Brasseries de la Senne: bitter, pungent and a bit of character. Not all Geeks were smitten with this one, and it brought home the point that bitterness in beer is a bit of an acquired taste. While I personally like the bitterhoppy presence of the Taras Boulba (a lot in fact), I have to admit that I'm becoming a bit of a hop-head, and hence not always as sensitive to large doses of bitter. I think I was the only one who really liked the Taras Boulba, and perhaps, given its in)your-face bitterness, we should have started with something else instead.
 |
| Good Flemish fun and family values on the label |
Next up were a trio of single hop beers, conceived by Mikkeler and brewed by de Proefbrouwerij for Delhaize supermarkets. A fine incentive from the latter, and perfectly fitting for our "boys and science" approach to tasting beer. The idea behind this annually recurring (but alas also annually identical) series is to brew three different beers, following the exact same recipe, with hop variety being the only variable. This way, it's possible to compare not only the flavour of the hops, but also the bittering qualities, contribution to mouthfeel, color, head retention etc.
First of the series was the East Kent Goldings, a nice gentle hop, imparting little bitterness and (alas) also not very much aroma. A nice and gentle nose though, well-balanced and slightly earthy. Definitely more of an aroma-hop, requiring quite a bit of skill to pull of in a single hop beer. This being a technical brew, it was a bit underwhelming: a bit of a hoppy start, but quickly petering out into a blandish malty base. East Kent Goldings can achieve pretty impressive beers, but this brew didn't really illustrate that. I think it would really shine when applied as a dry-hop.
Next up was the ubiquitous Cascade, the workhorse USA hop which kicked off the craft brewery revolution. Immediately on the nose, you get that full whack grapefruit/pineapple/citrus scent which so dominates many american IPAs. Remarkably, the hops also emphasise the intrinsic sweetness of the malt base, bringing with it a sort of caramel/spun-sugar smell which wonderfully complements the bitterness: Cascade is decidedly more bitter than East Kent Goldings, and tastes very much like it smells: citrusy, grapefruity, slightly pineappley. A wonderful hop, all-purpose due to its relative bittering potential and aromatic qualities. The single hop reminded me of the Muskteers' Troubadour Magma, as well as the Brewdog's Hardcore IPA.
The last of the trio was the well-praised Nelson Sauvin, a New Zealand hop which reportedly imparts a grape flavour to the beer. I did pick up grapes in the nose, but not as dominantly as I'd expected. Perhaps our senses were getting numb, but this one came across like a toned-down version of the Cascade we'd just had. Slowly and shyly, it released only few its secrets, and I can imagine this would not be an easy hop to brew with. Funnily enough, this one was the most bitter of the three single hops, but to me, it was very smooth and balanced, more so than the Cascade. Definitely a hop I want to taste in a "true" brew.
Lastly, I brought out two of my little tigers: the Kohaku Regular/classic/still-to-be-decided-what-I'm-gonna-call-this as well as the ginger-infused Kiai version.
Fitting, only because of the use of the not-too-common Pacific Jade hops in it. Everyone seemed to like it, but I couldn't tell if this was due to the lateness of the hour, or the Geeks just being their polite selves. For me, the hops didn't stand out as much as they did when sampled on a clean palate, but then again, Kohaku is supposed to be thirst-quencher, rather than a potent slug of hop-juice. But it made me contemplate future versions and incarnations of the tiger, which might turn out to be entirely more ballsy.
This second installment of Beer Geek Night was good fun, and we had some nice hoppy encounters. Overall, I guess I expected more from the trio, of which only the Cascade really stood out for me.
Not sure what we're going to do next time, but I'm pretty sure it'll involve beer :)
Until then,
Greetz
Jo
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