Rate Craft Brew

We have all had our share of some great craft beers but have you ever stopped to think what exactly you love about your favorite beer? Is it the aroma? Or the way your palate feels afterward? Once you start recognizing some of the flavors that you enjoy, you'll realize that your palate has a love for certain types of hops and malts. I use this generic tasting form to help me categorize the beer into 4 categories (Aroma, Appearance, Flavor and Palate).

Each category is broken down in an easy and simple way, giving you some tasting notes to keep in mind. The sub categories are a great way to describe some of the aroma or appearance characteristics. Note that the sub categories are not weighted with a score of their own as the overall category score is subject to your preference.  Just because a beer has hints of grapefruit in the aroma doesn't mean that is necessarily a good thing, some of you might not want your beer to smell that way.

Most of my reviews will come from a bottle and this is where the fun starts. I try to leave myself some good head while pouring, as it is something to rate. After that I breathe in the beer with a few deep sniffs and try to decipher which aromas travel through. Then I take a good look at the body of the beer, tilting the glass back and forth to check the carbonation and color. As the beer flows in my mouth I try and let it hit every taste bud and capture the full flavor of the beer. I do that once or twice more to try and accurately describe what my palate has gone through and then its time to enjoy the rest of the beer.

When you start to do this in a group you'll fine that everyone rates their beer differently. A great example of this is the first time I rated a beer I was with my good friend Mike and my lovely wife, Kristine. Both of whom have a taste for Belgians. The first beer we tried was Mother Earth Brew Company's Kismet. A great IPA full of Nelson NZ hops, which I LOVE. Needless to say, they were not fans of the beer and rate them as so. I on the other hand enjoyed it very much and it is a staple in the beers I usually get. But conversing with them during the tasting was extremely fun and so much so that they wanted to do it again. This is what I want to do with each of you in my Brew Club. Check it out. Last but not least, remember that behind every craft beer there is a hard working man/woman trying their best to give us the best beer possible. Please do not negate their hard work with negativity. Cheers!