💡 I can taste the difference! 💡

This past weekend, I led a beer tasting. We had 6 beers, opening with a heffeweizen, followed by a side-by-side tasting of a pale ale + imperial IPA, then an altbier, closing with another side-by-side of a schwarzbier and a porter. Each person had their favorites along the way, but the side-by-side experience was a hit.

IPA Side-by-Side

Our first side-by-side tasting was of two pale ales. The first beer was RiNo APA from EPiC brewing. This beer has lots of late hop additions and is a great example of hop flavor and aroma. The body is dryer and lighter than the second tasting, Revengeful Spirit IIPA from Stone Brewing. As an Imperial IPA and clocking in at 8.1% ABV (2.3% higher than RiNo), this beer is “more aggressive” and “pack[ed] it with extra hops” making it another hoppy beer, but in a totally different way

American and India:

A Pale Ale experience

So what did we learn drinking these two side-by-side? The first lesson is demonstrating the three expressions of hops: bitterness, flavor, and aroma. To those who’ve never brewed, seen whole cone hops in person, or may not even know what hops actually are, “hops” is just a word they know is associated with “beer.” Think of McLovin from Superbad. To explain what hops are, how they contain both oils and resin that provide flavor, and how this flavor develops in the boil, is all much easier when you can illustrate the two different expressions.

This real world experience tied one’s tastebuds to terms that often get thrown about. In addition, these two beers are also a great example to share about lightness & heaviness of beer body as a concept is generally unrelated to lightness & darkness of beers. In fact, Xingu Black Beer was the least alcoholic of the 6 we tasted (4.6% ABV). Speaking of Xingu…

Cola or Coffee?

Smooth drinking cola or tongue coating tannin

“Two of the Most Similar Looking Beers…”

In our final side-by-side, we tasted Xingu, a Brazilian made schwarzbier, and Einstok Icelandic Toasted Porter. Xingu has a semi-sweet note with a touch of roastyness, but also has notes of cola and caramel. These are contrasted with the jet black roast-forward aroma and taste of Einstok (full disclosure, this is one of my favorites!), augmented with coffee. While Xingu finishes softly and smoothly, Einstok has a tannic bitterness that lingers.

Most people see a dark beer and they say “it tastes like Guinness.” Demonstrating how these beers are different, and pairing them with some snacks, especially the fresh cherries, helped show the variety of seemingly similar beer styles.

So what did we learn?

By doing side-by-side tastings along with instruction and explanation, nuanced concepts stick more easily. Metaphors, such as roasted malt as analogous to food coloring (2 drops of yellow food coloring may have minimal effect, but 2 drops of purple may have a huge effect; a few oz of Munich malt may have minimal effect on color, but a few oz of roasted malt completely changes the color) are much more effective when people are tasting, observing, or experiencing a real-world example. Plus 2 beers is always better than one!