The 6th session is a second in succession of sessions for The Road to Cicerone ® German Beer Styles study aid. Due to Covid-19 and the resulting social distancing, the session be run remotely, hosted on Zoom. Participants must have a phone or a laptop with a web-camera and internet access to participate. Beer sample list will be provided after the attendees RSVP as going on the Facebook event page. You have to order the beer 2-3 business days before the event to make sure that it will arrive on time. I am not affiliated bottle shop stores on the sample list. Please order the beer only from the provided links – we must have samples from the same shop/batch/expiration dates. Zoom invitation link will be provided by Facebook Messenger directly before the start time. The activity list is as follows: Activity 4a: Fermentation Flavors Activity 10b: Dunkel vs. Schwarzbier Comparison Tasting Activity 12a: Bock Comparison Tasting Bonus Activity: How to Taste Beer
Notes for participants:
Please download Zoom software prior to the activity. Test it and make sure it works on your phone/computer.
Print out the required activity sheets that will be provided beforehand and have pen or a pencil to take notes.
Please be on time, if you’re not there we will start without you.
Don’t drink coffee or other strong flavored beverages one hour before before the event.
Please don’t wear perfume or other strongly scented beauty products (hand cream etc).
アクティビティリスト Activity 2a: Malt Tasting Worksheet Activity 2b: Malt Flavors in Beer Activity 3a: German and Czech Hop Flavors Bonus Activity: How to Taste Beer
The 5th session is a first in succession of sessions for The Road to Cicerone ® German Beer Styles study aid. Due to Covid-19 and the resulting social distancing, the session be run remotely, hosted on Zoom. Participants must have a phone or a laptop with a web-camera and internet access to participate. Beer sample list will be provided after the attendees RSVP as going on the Facebook event page. You have to order the beer 2-3 business days before the event to make sure that it will arrive on time. I am not affiliated bottle shop stores on the sample list. Please order the beer only from the provided links – we must have samples from the same shop/batch/expiration dates. Zoom invitation link will be provided by Facebook Messenger directly before the start time. The activity list is as follows: Activity 2a: Malt Tasting Worksheet Activity 2b: Malt Flavors in Beer Activity 3a: German and Czech Hop Flavors Bonus Activity: How to Taste Beer
Notes for participants:
Please download Zoom software prior to the activity. Test it and make sure it works on your phone/computer.
Print out the required activity sheets that will be provided beforehand and have pen or a pencil to take notes.
Please be on time, if you’re not there we will start without you.
Don’t drink coffee or other strong flavored beverages one hour before before the event.
Please don’t wear perfume or other strongly scented beauty products (hand cream etc).
Currently, the activity is limited to 5 people including myself due to limited amount of samples. However, if more people will be interested in attendance, more samples can be procured. Therefore, please RSVP as soon as possible. The participation cost is as follows: beer sample cost of 8000yen (tentative) and 2000yen for food/beer credit. Monday menu has 3 types of Imazato’s critically acclaimed hamburger. The sample will be split between the attendees. Example: for 4 attendees sample cost is 2000 yen and 2000 yen for food/drink will sum up to 4000 yen, for 5 attendees the cost will be 3,600 and so forth. The activity list is as follows: Activity 13a: Wee Heavy Style Contrast Tasting Activity 13b: Scottish Ale Grist Activity 14a: Strong Ale Comparison Tasting Activity 14b: Barleywine Comparison Tasting Bonus Activity: How to Taste Beer
Notes for participants:
Please be on time, if you’re not there we will start without you.
If you cancel, please message me or/and write a post on the event page. Do so at your earliest convenience.
Please bring a pen or a pencil to write tasting notes.
Don’t drink coffee or other strong flavored beverages one hour before before the event.
Please don’t wear perfume or other strongly scented beauty products (hand cream etc).
If the event is full contact me directly for the cancellation stand-by list.
アクティビティリスト Activity 10a: Brown Beer Comparison Tasting Activity 11a: IPA Comparison Tasting (ブライトテイスティング) Activity 12a: Pale Ale Comparison Tasting Bonus Activity: How to Taste Beer
Currently, the activity is limited to 4 people including myself due to limited amount of samples. However, if more people will be interested in attendance, more samples can be procured. Therefore, please RSVP as soon as possible. The participation cost is as follows: beer sample cost of 5000yen (tentative) and 2000yen for a one Imazato’s critically acclaimed hamburger and 1 pint of kegged beer. The sample will be split between the attendees. Example: for 3 attendees sample cost is 1700 yen and 2000 yen for food/drink will sum up to 3700 yen, for 4 attendees the cost will be 3,300 and so forth. The activity list is as follows: Activity 10a: Brown Beer Comparison Tasting Activity 11a: IPA Comparison Tasting (blind tasting) Activity 12b: Pale Ale Comparison Tasting Bonus Activity: How to Taste Beer
Notes for participants:
Please be on time, if you’re not there we will start without you.
If you cancel, please message me or/and write a post on the event page. Do so at your earliest convenience.
Please bring a pen or a pencil to write tasting notes.
Don’t drink coffee or other strong flavored beverages one hour before before the event.
Please don’t wear perfume or other strongly scented beauty products (hand cream etc).
If the event is full contact me directly for the cancellation stand-by list.
Currently, the activity is limited to 4 people including myself due to limited amount of samples. However, if more people will be interested in attendance, more samples can be procured. Therefore, please RSVP as soon as possible. Beer sample cost of 8000yen (tentative) will be split between the attendees. If there are changes I will let you know. Since Lingua have kindly allowed us to use their space, after the event, please order food and drinks to support them. The activity list is as follows: Activity 7a: The Effect of Carbonation on Beer Flavor Activity 8a: Porter Cocktail Tasting Activity 8b: Porter Comparison Tasting Activity 9a: Stout Comparison Tasting Activity 9b: Irish Stout vs. American Porter Activity 9c: Imperial Stout vs. Baltic Porter
Notes for participants:
Please be on time, if you’re not there we will start without you.
If you cancel, please message me or/and write a post on the event page. Do so at your earliest convenience.
Please bring a pen or a pencil to write tasting notes.
Don’t drink coffee or other strong flavored beverages one hour before before the event.
Please don’t wear perfume or other strongly scented beauty products (hand cream etc).
If the event is full contact me directly for the cancellation stand-by list.
Date: February 6th , 2020, 8:30PM-10:30PM Venue: Lingua World Cafe
English below the event summary in Japanese.
ブリティッシュとアイリッシュ・シセロン教科書の勉強活動その1。
英語のみです。ビールサンプルの量が限られている為、参加者4人です。
勉強アクティビティリスト Activity 1c: Malt Flavors in Beer Activity 2a: Malt vs. Adjunct Activity 3a: English vs. American Hop Flavors and Aromas Activity 4a: Fermentation Flavors Activity 4b: Diacetyl Comparison Activity 7a: The Effect of Carbonation on Beer Flavor
Due to limited amount of beer samples the event is limited to 4 people including myself. The activity list is as follows: Activity 1c: Malt Flavors in Beer Activity 2a: Malt vs. Adjunct Activity 3a: English vs. American Hop Flavors and Aromas Activity 4a: Fermentation Flavors Activity 4b: Diacetyl Comparison Activity 7a: The Effect of Carbonation on Beer Flavor
Since Lingua have kindly allowed us to use their space, after the event, please order food and drinks to support them.
Notes for participants:
Please be on time, if you’re not there we will start without you.
If you cancel, please message me or/and write a post on the event page. Do so at your earliest convenience.
Please bring a pen or a pencil to write tasting notes.
Don’t drink coffee or other strong flavored beverages one hour before before the event.
Please don’t wear perfume or other strongly scented beauty products (hand cream etc).
If the event is full contact me directly for the cancellation stand-by list.
The day before my Birthday, the friend casually texted me saying he might have a surprise “if it comes out right”, and asked if I will be home around dinner time the following day. His inquiry seemed rather ambiguous, so I dismissed it as a common courtesy. I was quite surprised when he, his wife and daughter appeared at my doorstep with a cake box. After a short visit and many thanks on my part they left and I had the Kiev – a Soviet classic hazelnut flavored cake with an offensive amount of butter, sugar and a rich nutty chewy filling all to myself. Finding such a cake under a glass of a Japanese pâtisserie is impossible. As a consequence, my friend’s wife, an experienced home baker, made one from scratch!
Being a beer connoisseur, I immediately started thinking about beers that could work well with the cake flavors and took upon myself the mission to do as many beer and cake pairings as I can. Here are my tasting notes:
I Found My Thrill is a Danish wild ale aged for 30 months in French Oak Foeders on locally grown Blueberries. This deep burgundy colored, refreshing and highly effervescent light-bodied ale with plain yogurt sourness, delicate blueberry and oak flavors has a whiff of a rustic Danish barn to it. Buttery sweetness of the Kiev is contrasted by a tangy blueberry yogurt and lightly puckering oak tannins. The carbonation lifts the buttery fats from the palate making you ready for more cake.
Salvator pours mahogany with a lightly tan head. Rich biscuit, caramel and toffee aromas with some floral notes on the nose. Similar malt forward nutty and biscuit flavors are barely balanced by high and clean floral bitterness. The body is medium and smooth. The finish is brief with biscuit like malts and clean bitterness. The Kiev is showcasing the Salvator’s bitterness and slightly overpowers the beers flavors. The hazelnuts somewhat complement beer’s nutty and biscuit flavors, while the bitterness is contrasted by cake’s sugar and carbonation is scrubs the palate.
Different kinds of nut flavors in the beer worked well with Kiev’s hazelnut and intense dark roasted coffee flavors of big and high ABV beers wonderfully demonstrated the cutting power of the bitter coffee with sweet desserts.
Kuri Kuro pours an opaque very dark brown with a fluffy tan head and has a cocoa nibs, nuttiness and sweet caramel bouquet with butterscotch notes. The dark chocolate, coffee, chestnut, caramel and toffee malt flavors are dominating. There is a light stale note, but its not unappealing. The body is medium to full and oily. When I had the ale fresh, there was an alcohol-like roughness in the finish, but after cellaring it for a year, the roughness has mellowed out – aging it was a good decision. Similar yet different chestnut and hazelnut flavors work well together. The lightly sweet beer accentuates the buttery hazelnut like sweetness, while the cake makes the coffee like and cola nut like beer nuttiness stand out. Light to medium carbonation is cleansing the palate of the slick butter leaving a long and lightly warming hazelnut buzz. A great pair!
The Shalow Grave pours a dark brown with mahogany tint and a fluffy tan head. It has aromas of nuttiness, cola and French roast espresso. Burnt toast, caramel, butterscotch and nutty flavors play on the palate. Smooth, chewy and silky medium to full body makes it quite drinkable. The Porter has a brief finish of dry roasted coffee, caramel and nuts. The French roast espresso contrasts with Kiev’s buttery hazelnut sweetness. The low carbonation and the sturdy body of the beer makes the pairing very satisfying – you can’t stop the teaspoon of cake followed by a sip of beer repetition.
The Cocoa Shake pours an opaque very dark brown with a dark tan head. It has a rich Swiss milk chocolate bar and vanilla ice-cream like aroma with notes of soy-sauce. The flavors are similar with the addition of vanilla, caramel and toffee. The body is silky and full and the carbonation is low to none. The finish is very long warm and drying, full of dark chocolate and roasted coffee. Intensity-wise, both the Kiev and the Shake are similar. The cake’s hazelnut buttery sweetness is contrasted by a dark chocolate, cocoa powder and roasted coffee. Beer’s vanilla complements the buttery Kiev sweetness and the high ABV cuts the cake butter. Both the cake and the beer are desserts which could be had on their own. Having both together is an intense experience and is quite a treat.
Dark brown with a fleeting tan head, this milk stout has aromas of cocoa, chocolate, cola and Resee’s cups. Ritch cocoa, dark chocolate, Resee’s and nutty roasted malts dominate the palate. Silky smooth and slick medium to full body has normal carbonation and a cappuccino-like dry roasted coffee finish. Hazelnut and peanut flavors work well together and if you have the cake first, there is a smooth transition from former to latter. Bitter roasted coffee and dark chocolate contrast the buttery cake sweetness and the palate is refreshed by carbonation. A great pair.
The Espresso Totalitarian has a very fluffy dark tan head and pours an opaque black. It has aromas of nuttiness, caramel syrup, cappuccino foam, clean noble hop floral spiciness with a charred campfire-like note. The nutty, chocolate, cola like malts transition to a medium roast espresso flavor. Body is full and carbonation is normal. The bitterness is assertive. Warming and drying, French roast espresso bitterness with soy sauce like notes persists in the finish. Kiev’s buttery sweetness is cut by Totalitarian’s extreme bitterness which is coming from roasted coffee and hops combined. This is a great example why bitter coffee works well with sweet desserts – the cutting, or the extreme contrast of flavors, is very exhilarating and pleasurable.
A drinkable, full bodied, smooth and lightly oily Baltic Porter pours a very dark brown with a tan head. It has aromas of nuttiness, cola, dark chocolate and espresso. Both dark and milk chocolate flavors are followed by a dry and warming chocolate and espresso finish with a campfire like note. Intensity-wise the cake and the porter are quite similar. Buttery and sweet hazelnut is complemented by the dark bitter dark chocolate and roasted coffee of the beer and a unique mocha-like flavor is created. Excellent.
Aromas of dark chocolate, French roast coffee, caramel with charred charcoal-like notes, bitter espresso, cacao powder and dark chocolate-like flavors, smooth and silky smooth body make this very dark brown with tints of ruby porter yet another good pairing. Carbonation is low to medium and bitterness is medium to high to which the roasted malts contribute. Finish is brisk with cappuccino and dark chocolate and has a very dry and roasty note. The cake accentuates the roasted acidic bitter espresso and brings forth Porter’s caramel and toffee like notes. The contrast between the buttery sweet hazelnut and the bitter coffee is quite enjoyable. Interestingly, when the cake is gone, the beer by itself becomes quite bitter, so, you need to time your eating and drinking to finish at the same time.
Dark Star has a very creamy cappuccino and milk chocolate bouquet with a light roasty notes. A rich coffee-like malts and oatmeal flavors of this very dark brown Imperial Stout are balanced by a high to assertive clean bitterness. Its body is medium to full and silky with oats. Coffee flavors in the finish are brief, however a warming and dry roasted note remains. Cappuccino and oatmeal make hazelnut to take the spotlight and linger on the palate. The bitter and drying coffee is contrasted by the cake’s sweetness. Its flavors pass gently into hazelnut, which makes the beer’s caramel-like notes shine trough. Similarly to Smog City’s Coffee Porter, when the cake is gone, the roasty note in the finish becomes assertive.
Conclusion
The most memorable pairings were Kuri Kuro, Peanut Butter Milk Stout, Beer Geek Cocoa Shake and Espresso Totalitarian. Different kinds of nut flavors in the beer worked well with Kiev’s hazelnut and intense dark roasted coffee flavors of big and high ABV beers wonderfully demonstrated the cutting power of the bitter coffee with sweet desserts. The least favorable pairings were I Found My Thrill and Salvator. Although there was a contrast between the dry and tart blueberry yogurt of the Danish ale and the sweet buttery hazelnut, intensity-wise it was a mismatch. A lightly flavored shortcake with fresh berries could have been more fitting. Doppelbock’s mildly sweet biscuit and caramel flavors were overpowered by Kiev’s richness. The lager contrasted the cake with hop bitterness and scrubbed the buttery palate with carbonation, but nothing more. If anything could be learned from this experiment is that beer and cake can create wonderful pairings and at least, the staple pairing of vanilla ice-cream and stout, separately or as a ice-cream float in the beer, should be tried by everyone.
The seminar will include guided tasting of 7 beer samples spiked with off-flavor food grade chemicals. Off-Flavor list:
Acetic
Chlorophenol
H2S
Isovaleric
Lactic
Mercaptan
Metallic
The tasting will take 60 to 90 minutes. I will play the webinar on my laptop. It’s narrated by Bill Simpson, Cara Technology Limited. I will teach you the tasting caveats, guide you and answer questions. I have off flavor spikes to serve 12 people – about 1 fl. oz a sample. You will be given a color printed handout explaining each off-flavor. Then we will have lunch. The participation cost is 4500yen, of which 2000yen is Imazato’s Tonkatsu sandwich/drinks credit. If you spend over 2000yen, you will have to pay extra. Please note, if you don’t order pizza/drinks – this credit can’t be returned. There might be a change in the menu from Tonkatsu sandwiches to Hamburgers or Pizza. If there will be a change I will notify you. Cafe Imazato kindly agreed to use the venue as an event place and they’re opening up on Saturday morning just for us.
Notes for participants:
Please be on time, if you’re not there we will start without you.
If you cancel, please message me or/and write a post on the event page. Do so at your earliest convenience.
Please bring a pen or a pencil to write tasting notes.
Don’t drink coffee or other strong flavored beverages one hour before before the event.
Please don’t wear perfume or other strongly scented beauty products (hand cream etc).
If the event is full contact me directly for the cancellation stand-by list.
The registration is going to work on first to RSVP as attending first served basis.
The seminar will include guided tasting of 6 beer samples spiked with off-flavor food grade chemicals. Off-Flavor list:
DMS
Diacetyl
Acetaldehyde
Trans-2-Nonenal
Lightstruck (3MBT)
Infection (Acetic Acid+Diacetyl)
The tasting will take 60 to 90 minutes. I will play the webinar on my laptop. It’s narrated by Ray Daniels, the founder of the Cicerone Certification Program. I will teach you the tasting caveats, guide you and answer questions. I have off flavor spikes to serve 12 people – about 1 fl. oz a sample. You will be given a color printed handout explaining each off-flavor. Then we will have lunch. The participation cost is 4500yen, of which 2000yen is Imazato’s pizza/drinks credit. If you spend over 2000yen, you will have to pay extra. Please note, if you don’t order pizza/drinks – this credit can’t be returned. Craft Cafe Imazato kindly agreed to use the venue as an event space and they’re opening up on Saturday morning just for us.
Notes for participants:
Please be on time, if you’re not there we will start without you.
If you cancel, please message me or/and write a post on the event page. Do so at your earliest convenience.
Please bring a pen or a pencil to write tasting notes.
Don’t drink coffee or other strong flavored beverages one hour before before the event.
Please don’t wear perfume or other strongly scented beauty products (hand cream etc).
If the event is full contact me directly for the cancellation stand-by list.
The registration is going to work on first to RSVP as attending first served basis. For event time, location and registration please use the below Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/359521918023035/
Last summer I had a unique opportunity to get my hands on old craft beer. A restaurant close to a factory I frequent on business trips to mainland China not only stored their beers at room temperature, they also had very old beer that was likley ordered when they have opened up couple of years ago and they haven’t replenished their supply since. This sort of thing isn’t uncommon in China. Presented with this opportunity, I couldn’t resist the urge to bring a few old beers to Japan and do a side by side tasting with a fresh beer of the same kind. Ballast Point and Sierra Nevada are easy to find in Japan, so getting relatively fresh beers in a good condition wasn’t a problem. Finally, my father-in-law kept a case of Sapporo Ebisu cans in a room temperature for nearly a year. So, I have added the Sapporo beer to the comparison tasting. Here are my tasting notes and thoughts.
1. Sierra Nevada – Nooner Pilsner
Tasting date: April 8th, 2018
Newer beer packaged date: February 1st, 2018
Older beer packaged date: October 27th, 2015
3 month old vs. 2 year 5 month old beer
The newer beer pours a very light gold and is slightly lighter than the 2015 “vintage”. Lemony, grassy damp and fresh aroma is present. The body is light to medium. Lemony and grassy hop flavor is highlighted by carbonated zing with a pilsner malt beady and cracker-like background. Slightly above average attenuation gets a nice and dry lingering lemony orange-like bitter finish. The older beer pours a copper gold with light cloudiness. Sweet malty cookie-like aroma, initial lightly sour volatile compounds and some Saazer hops on the nose. The sweetness in the flavor is similar to limoncello liqueur. There is big a presence of a Trans-2-Nonenal chemical compound which results in a cardboard-like flavor. Body is medium and lightly warming. Carbonation is lower than normal. Bitterness is low. A grassy, heavy with T2N cardboard astringency that reminds of you a bitter grapefruit rind is lingering in the finish. There is a hint of cherry and warming in the finish that isn’t present in the newer beer.
3 months old beer
Lighter by at least 1 SRM
2 years 5 months old beer
Lightly hazy appearance
Packaged on February 1st, 2018
Packaged on October 27th, 2015
2. Ballast Point – Sculpin IPA
Tasting date: May 8th, 2018
Newer beer packaged date: November 6th, 2017
Older beer packaged date: November 23rd, 2015
6 month old vs. 2 year 5 month old beer
The newer beer is clear and slightly darker in appearance when compared to the old beer which is hazy. The newer beer had a nice head retention while the older beer’s head dissipated right away. Aromas of the old beer are of a sweet cookie and toasted bread. There is a Sherry-like oxidation note and a very big amount of a dry cardboard (T2N) off-flavor. There’s also a soapy note. The new beer has a big aroma of citrus, tropical fruit and pine needles. It has a bold citrus flavor, a moderate to high bitterness and a medium body with a typical 2.5 volumes of carbonation. The finish is long and citrus-like. The two and a half year old beer’s hop flavors have significantly degraded. With no citrus like flavor, the cloying sweetness without much flavor character is dominating. The astringent bitterness lingers with high alcohol warming aftertaste and a little sherry-like oxidation note.
6 months old beer
Clear color with nice head retention. Citrus and tropical fruit aromas and flavors. Moderate to high bitterness. Carbonation is normal.
2 years 5 months old beer
Aroma and flavor of wet cardboard. Degradation of hop flavors, malt sweetness is more pronounced, a cherry note, no head retention, astringency and warming in the finish.
Appearance
A light haziness in the older beer while the newer beer appears crystal clear. The haze makes the older beer appear paler.
Head Retention
The newer beer has good head retention while the older beer’s head instantly dissipates.
Older beer
Until recently, Ballast Point had used the Julian day of the year as a part of their packaging day code.
Newer beer
Older beer code 15 327 means 327th day of 2015 which is November 23rd, 2015.
3. Sapporo – Premium Ebisu
Tasting date: May 5th, 2018
Newer beer packaged date: Early March, 2018
Older beer packaged date: Early May, 2017
2 month old vs. 1 year old beer
The older beer has no head and a light haze probably due to suspended proteins which came out of solution. There is less carbonation and the color is slightly darker than the fresh brew. The big Dortmunder Export style floral perfume-like Saazer hop aroma and white bread like malt background nose is greatly diminished and are mostly replaced by a sweet sherry and paper-like oxidation aromas. The fresh brew has a medium bitterness of around 30 IBUs and a clean and persisting finish with a lingering bready malt background. The older brew’s malt sweetness is prominent. The cardboard-like T2N flavor is quite apparent. There is some alcoholic warmth in the finish and a lightly puckering tannin astringency.
Older beer can on the left
Sapporo beer’s best by date is 8 months after the packaging date.
Apparent Haze
The older beer has an apparent haze which is possibly due to proteins coming out of solution.
Older Beer Can
All Sapporo beer undergoes a low temperature pasteurization to stop all yeast activity.
Newer Beer Can
According to a reliable source, pasteurization temperatures are + 50° to 60°C.
While the older beers weren’t completely unpalatable, the hop aroma and flavor degradation, hazy appearance, low head retention, malty sweetness and papery T2N oxidation off-flavor were quite apparent. This reminds me of the following rule: “In a study conducted by one of the large breweries on flavor loss in bottled and canned products resulted in the 3-30-300 Rule. The same flavor loss results from beer being stored in your car’s trunk for three days at 90°F (32°C) as beer being stored at room temp (72°F or 22°C) for 30 days and beer being stored at 38°F (3°C) for 300 days.”¹ Most beers are meant to be consumed as quickly as possible after packaging and stored at 3°C. Sadly, this doesn’t happen all if not most of the time. It was interesting to do these comparative tastings and confirm what’s written in beer textbooks about oxidation. If you stumble upon old beer you’re more than welcome to do the same.
Notes:
www.craftbeer.com, “Craft Beer Retailer
Temperature Cheat Sheet”, presented by Brewers Association. Viewed on February 6th, 2019. https://www.craftbeer.com/attachments/0005/0196/beertemperature.pdf