We Took the BJCP Exam

So last Saturday we headed down to Plant Chicago to take the Beer Judge Certification test. We'd been part of a study group, which met around once a month since last December. The study class, led by National Judge/chemist Steve McKenna and organized by our homebrew club, HOPS!, was key. In the class you don't just just learn about beer styles, ingredients, processes, etc. - but you learn how to take the test. 3 hours may seem like a long time, but you need to cram *a lot* into those three hours. Many people don't even finish the test, so you need a strategy going in.

As part of the test is judging, we learned about identifying not only what's appropriate (or not) for a given style, but we also isolated off-flavors to help us identify them. This typically involved doctoring a bunch of Bud Light. This was kinda funny - here we were, supposed beer people, bringing cases of Bud Light to a beer meeting.

We also sampled classic examples of various styles, and each-other's homebrews.

The test itself consists of 9 essay questions, judging 4 beers, and filling out a scoresheet as if you were tasting a classic example. Part of what made the test so difficult is that it pulls from a large pool of possible questions. For example, there's an ingredients question. It might ask you about hops, or mashing, or malting, or water, or yeast. To get a good score on the question, you gotta know your stuff. If you get mashing, you need to talk about what happens during mashing - how the malt's enzymes convert starches to sugars, etc. - there's chemistry of some sort in every answer. To our dismay, we got malting - one of the longer and more difficult questions to answer.

It boils down to about 12 minutes an answer. Even with a watch, it's tough to manage your time. You'll be cruising along on a question when an administrator plops a beer down in front of you to judge. So you gotta stop what you're doing, get out a scoresheet, and judge. The admins can be tricky too - and give you a beer that perhaps is said to be one style, but would actually fit better into another style - and hopefully you can pick up on that.

Anyways...
When the three hours were up, my hand was killing me - I think Meg and I each wrote 20 pages or more. Even with all our prepping, our last couple answers were rushed and not stellar, but hey, we finished. After that, we hit the bars and got ripped like we just finished finals.

This is the last year the test will have this format. Starting next year, you'll need to pass an online, pre-test of sorts before you can even take the full test. The tasting and written portions will be held on separate days. This sounds like a good format, but I was also glad to kick it old school.

I went into the test just wanting to learn things to help me become a better brewer. I certainly got that, but also met some really cool people and got to know some folks in my homebrew club even better. And some of those elusive styles and off-flavors aren't so elusive anymore. Worth it? Totally. Major props to HOPS! - especially Mr. Corey and McKenna for devoting so much of their free time to organizing everything, and to the good folks at New Chicago Brewing for hosting the exam.

Cheers!

Goose Island Green Line Pale Ale

Thanks to our beer buddy, Colleen, we were able to attend the premier tapping of Goose Island's newest brew, Green Line Pale Ale, at Uncommon Ground Devon last night. The Green Line is a new "eco-friendly" beer as part of Goose's green initiative. So what makes a beer "green"? First of all, it's only kegged, which greatly reduces the waste factor. Second, it's only served in Chicago, which cuts down on the energy used for transportation and refrigeration. Also, the tap handles are made from trees killed in the suburbs by emerald ash borers.

As for the beer itself, head brewer Greg Hall described it as "a love child between 312 Urban Wheat and an IPA." For all you all-grain brewers out there, I found it very interesting that they only use one malt in the recipe (Briess Pale Ale malt). Overall, it's a lightly hopped, extremely quaffable session beer. (I easily drank 4 in an hour!) You'll definitely want to have one of these on a hot summer day. So be friendly to the environment - drink a Green Line.

Stone Arrogant Bastard

One of the beers we really miss not being able to get in IL is Stone Brewing Co.'s Arrogant Bastard. We've had the pleasure of having this on tap in other states, but grabbed a bottle for review on our trip to Wisconsin.

If you haven't read the label on this beer, check it out as it's rather funny. They flat out tell you that you won't like the beer. Well...I guess they were wrong!

Aroma: Malty, slight chocolate, subdued hops.

Appearance: Pours a deep amber with a thick, foamy off-white head.

Flavor: To quote Matt: "Awesome." There's a prominent Chinook hop flavor, which makes it pretty darn bitter. But it's also got some toasty malt to it. Basically, it's a very complex and potent beer.

Mouthfeel: Creamy and easily drinkable. Finish is a little "hot" and alcoholic.

This is definitely not a a beer for the lighthearted. But if you're brave and can find it, never pass up the chance to sample the bastard.

Review: Three Floyds Alpha Klaus

I love Three Floyds beer - it's that simple. There's something about the hoppiness of their beers that always makes me smile. That being said, Alpha Klaus, their Christmas Porter, is my favorite of their brews.

From the bottle: "Alpha Klaus is Alpha King's festive cousin. A big American Christmas Porter brewed with English chocolate malt, Mexican sugar and of course, tons of strange American hops."

Aroma: Very roasty, with a slight hint of chocolate and citrus hops.

Appearance: How much more black could it be? Moderate carbonation, topped with a thick, tan foam.

Flavor: An amazing blend of roasty chocolate malt and citrus hops, with a very bitter finish.

Mouthfeel: Very heavy and stout-like

This is indeed "Not Normal" as the bottle claims. If you're a fan of the sweet, malty holiday beers on the market, this may not be for you. Hop-heads - this is the holiday brew for you. Grab a few bottles, as the Alpha Klaus doesn't stay around for long.

Kiss the Lips IPA by Lake Louie Brewing

Another 'sconsin beer here, from Lake Louie Brewing. From the website: "KISS THE LIPS India Pale Ale: Old school version of an IPA. Still balanced; not a ‘one trick  pony’ pale. Named after the country song “It’s hard to kiss the lips at night that chew your ass out all day long.”

Appearance: Pours a cloudy golden yellow orange, nice foamy white head that clings to the glass.

Aroma: Malty, clean and crisp. Not much what I expect from an IPA.

Taste: This tastes like a balanced pale ale. It makes Meg think of a hoppy lager, which I can see. It's very clean and crisp - refreshing. Bit of lingering bitterness towards the end. This would be a great summer beer.

Mouthfeel: Bit of a malty and citrusy finish. I could really toss this back.

Overall, while this my fall within the style guidelines for an IPA, taste-wise I would put this more into the Pale Ale category. This would be great beer to serve with a meal, and would be my go-to lawnmower beer in the summer. As far as hoppy Wisconsin beers go, nobody's beat Ale Asylum yet.

Review: Capital Dark Lager

While in Wisconsin, we hit up the Capital Brewery, and picked up some beers to take home and try. Among them was this dark lager (5.4%) - from the bottle: "A German-style beer from a traditional Wisconsin lager brewery. Some things shouldn't change." 

Appearance: Pours a deep, dark brown with a good head. Wonderful lacing.

Aroma: The aroma really blossoms as it sits a couple minutes. Deep and malty, hints of raisin.

Flavor: Very malt forward beer with subtle hop balance. Raisin and plum fruitiness balance a pleasant bitterness. Lingering finish.

Mouthfeel: Clean, medium bodied beer. Goes down easy and before you know it, you're ready for the next sip.

We had the pleasure of meeting head brewer Kirby Nelson at Steve's Liqours, where he was promoting some winter beers and offering tastings. He's a fantastically nice fellow, and a Zappa fan (he names all their fermenters after Zappa songs - pics coming). Having studied with a German lager master, this beer definitely plays to Kirby's strong points. Highly recommended.

Half Acre Daisy Cutter

We're lucky to live in an area with access to delicious local beer. One of the new breweries in town, Half Acre, is my favorite new brewery, and Daisy Cutter Pale Ale is my favorite beer of the moment. (Apologies to those outside of the City of Chicago, as Half Acre doesn't distribute outside of the city. Guess you'll just have to come visit!) We picked up a bomber last weekend while visiting their new store* attached to the brewery.

Aroma: To quote Matt, "This is the best smelling beer ever!" I have to agree. Tons of floral and grassy hops. I could sniff this all day.

Appearance: Cloudy, golden-orange. One of the Half Acre employees simply refers to this beer as "orange juice."

Flavor: A flowery little hop bomb with a crisp, citrus finish.

Mouthfeel: Soft and smooth. Lightly coats your mouth.

We had a party with a keg of this back in September. There were approximately 40 people in attendance, and we had no problem killing it in one evening. It's an extremely easy drinking beer, and not too strong. Even the non-beer drinkers, and non-hop heads, were loving the Daisy Cutter. It just tied for 3rd place at the Chicago Beer Society's Fall Tasting. And most exciting is there's going to be a Daisy Cutter Hot Dog coming soon to Hot Doug's!! Needless to say, we'll be there.

Never pass up Daisy Cutter if you find it - this is a fantastic beer!

*They also have a nice selection of other local brews. We scored bombers of both Two Brothers Red Eye and Three Floyds Alpha Klaus. It was a good haul!

Sierra Nevada Porter

Now that the weather's changed, Matt and I are into brewing some darker beers. Next up on the brew schedule is a porter. I'm pretty stoked for this, as Anchor Porter was my favorite beer in college (well, besides High Life). As prep for brewing, we thought we should sample another porter, so Matt picked up a sixer of Sierra Nevada Porter.


Aroma: There is very little smell to this beer. I mainly get a clean, malty nose. Matt thought he could smell some spiciness.

Appearance: Dark and cloudy, but slightly opaque at the bottom of the pour. Topped off with a thick creamy head.

Flavor: Chocolaty roastiness, a clean finish with a slight hop flavor.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, but not too thick and heavy. (As a porter should be.)

Overall, this is a nice example of a classic porter. I still prefer Anchor as it's heavier - I like chewing my dark beers. As ususal, we're going for a hoppier version for our brew, and plan on dry-hopping with Chinook and tossing in some grains of paradise for spice. Should be perfect around March when we're totally sick of winter.

On Cask: Two Brothers Heavy Handed IPA

Smoke Daddy, a small Chicago BBQ/Bar joint, had a special tapping last Tuesday. They had scored a "pin" cask (5.4 gallons) of Heavy Handed IPA. Cask beer is also called "Real Ale" - because before the days of being able to force-carbonate beer with CO2, beer was naturally carbonated in the cask by adding some sugar to the still active yeast, and allowing the beer to undergo a secondary fermentation inside the cask. CO2 is released during fermentation, which was mostly trapped in the cask - thus carbonating the beer inside (this is a very simplified version of what really happens, it's similar to bottle-conditioned beer). Cask beer has a much different mouthfeel to it - it's creamier, and the flavors are more rounded, and tend to blend together. It's "soft" - for lack of a better word, and served warmer than typical beers. I find strong, hoppy beers to be especially good on cask because the flavors transform in very interesting ways.

Anyways, being cask beer fiends, Meg and I were sure to be there - here's a picture of the cute little pin-cask:

We landed a table, and promptly ordered 2 glasses.

Notice the creamy white foam on top - it's lovely and a sure sign of cask ale. The first taste - yummers. Smelled great too. The beer went well with our dinner (Smoke Daddy has awesome pulled pork sandwiches, and great sides like mac n' cheese, pork 'n beans, even the slaw is great. Our friends had a good looking veggie burger.) A Two Brothers rep was there, and provided us with samples of the bottled version or this beer (which is force-carbonated) - it was very interesting to compare the beers side-by-side, you can really see how the cask rounds the edges and blends the flavors.

I ordered a second beer, and sort of wished I didn't. Many IPAs use Caramel (or Crystal) malt. This is a a sweet malt that adds to the body and head-retention of the beer, as well as color and sweetness. IPAs use it to balance out the hop-blast. I don't like it much, and when I use it in my own brews, I like to barely notice it. On my second glass, all the sweetness seemed to start building up in my mouth, so I didn't taste much else. IPAs need to be all about the hops, and this beer left me wanting more hops and less sweetness.*

*As a general disclosure, I tend to prefer Two Brothers' darker beers, like their Northwind Imperial Stout (available November through February) and Red Eye porter (coming in February).

If you're interested in learning more about cask beers, here are some great resources:

• Warm, Flat, and Boring - British Beer The Truth About Cask Ale 
• Producing and Serving Homebrewed Cask Ales
• Ron and Sharon's Quest for Real Ale at Home

 Cheers!

Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head is known for outrageous brews. (See the current chicha he's brewing.) Typically, I find them to be strange for affect and not that palatable, with the exception of the Shelter Pale Ale and Aprihop on tap. However, I couldn't help but be curious about the Palo Santo Marron after reading this fantastic article from The New Yorker about extreme brews. Seriously, this beer is conditioned in a $140,000 Paraguayan wood tank!

When we review beers on this site, we'll use the BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) categories of Aroma, Appearance, Flavor, and Mouthfeel.

Aroma:
Sweet and slightly alcoholic

Appearance:
Dark, deep brown

Flavor:
I was really expecting to get a very strong woody flavor, but was pleasantly surprised to get a nice chocolate creaminess. The alcohol wasn't too present despite being 12% ABV. There's also a subtle hop finish. Overall, it has a very similar flavor to New Holland's Dragon's Milk Ale. (A good thing in my book.)

Mouthfeel:
Medium thickness and viscosity. Coats the mouth nicely, but doesn't leave your chest burning.

Overall, it's a surprisingly drinkable beer: creamy, hoppy, and packs a punch. Palo Santo ranks as one of my favorite Dogfish brews, though I wouldn't quaff it often. If you find a single bottle, definitely give it a try with a friend.