Beer Tasting: Appearance

Characteristics of Beer

• The characteristics of colour, clarity, and foam can reveal the type/brand and condition of beer.
• Colour is best determined by holding the beer at an angle against a white background.
• Descriptors used to indicate the colour of beer include SRM (Standard Reference Method), EBC (European Brewing Convention), and degrees Lovibond.
• Clarity depends on the presence or absence of suspended particles, such as yeast or proteins.
• Beers that are not completely bright are referred to as "hazy" or "cloudy".

Foam and Bubbles

• The term "chill haze" is used to describe the haze that may appear in all-malt beers when served very cold.
• Nucleation sites in beer glasses, such as imperfections or scratches, cause bubbles to rise rapidly from specific points at the bottom of a glass.
• The range of colours for foam, or "head", in beers is from pure white to dark cream.

Taste and Mouthfeel

• The interplay between mouth and nose involves the aspect of beer tasting known as "flavour".
• The five primary flavours that taste buds on the tongue can sense are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.
• Glutamate is an amino acid that enhances the umami flavour in food and drinks.
• The ability to taste beer is influenced by the sensitivity of the individual's taste buds.
• Beers that may become cloudy when served very cold are those that contain high levels of protein or starch.

Bitterness and Sensory Perception

• The numerical classification used to indicate the bitterness of most beers is the International Bitterness Unit (IBU) scale.
• The primary effect of bitterness in beer is described as a dry, puckering sensation.
• Sensory bitterness and the BU-value (Bitterness Unit) are directly related for beers described as "Moderately bitter".
• The human palate's ability to detect bitterness differences is questionable, as it can vary greatly between individuals.
• The term used to express the degree of bitterness for most beers is IBU (International Bitterness Unit).

Beer Styles and Characteristics

• Brewers have started competing to brew beers with more and more bitterness, some with BU values above 90, known as "Double" or "Triple" IPAs.
• Beers with a lot of residual sugar can be compared to a sweet, syrupy sensation.
• Beers that can leave your teeth feeling rough are those with high levels of tannins.
• The primary effect of high alcohol content in beer is a warming sensation.
• A soapy taste in beer can indicate contamination with sanitizers or cleaning agents.
• A metal taste in beer leaves a bitter, unpleasant sensation in the mouth.

Tasting and Evaluation

• Tannins in beer can be described in terms of mouthfeel as a drying, astringent sensation.
• The method that divides the tasting into appearance, flavour, body, mouthfeel, carbonation, and aftertaste is the "BJCP" (Beer Judge Certification Program) method.
• The main objective of discriminative tasting is to identify and describe the characteristics of a beer.
• In appreciative tasting, jury members evaluate beers based on their overall quality and character.
• The purpose of using tasting forms during the evaluation process is to provide a standardized and structured way to record and assess the characteristics of a beer.

Test your knowledge on the appearance tasting aspect of beer. Learn about how characteristics like color, clarity, and foam can reveal the type, condition, age, carbon dioxide amount, and quality of a beer.