Learning how to properly describe beer takes patience, but the skills can be mastered.
Many who visit a web blog like Great Beer Now come here because they like beer. They like more than just the casual consumption of beer- they likely enjoy examining beer and identifying the distinguishing characteristics that make one beer different from another. One book that helps individuals learn to talk about beer and describe it like a professional is Tasting Beer: An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Beverage, a book by Randy Mosher
Tasting Beer is both an educational and demonstrative resource. Mosher describes the different types of beer that exist. He talks about the dozens of variations in ingredients and process that make one beer different from the rest. He guides the reader through the brewing process, explaining how the addition of a specific ingredient or the timing of the addition of an ingredient can affect the final product. He wants the reader to understand the complex world of brewing and how a small change here and an extra ingredient there can add up to a completely new brewing adventure.
Next comes the tasting. This book describes the different beer styles that exist and the countries of origin. Then, Mosher describes the flavor and aroma characteristics of each style, the availability of each style, the best food to drink with specific styles, and some recommendations of the best commercially available examples of each style. From this, the reader can learn how different ingredients
affect the finished product and how these flavors can be detected and properly described, as well as learning some of the best examples of each style, available at your local beverage store.
Tasting Beer is full of useful charts that graphically display different beer styles and what type of character they should have. It is loaded with educational material on different types of beer, as well as a brief history of beer. It helps the beer geek learn to describe beer like a professional and it helps expand your brewing knowledge. So, is there anything bad to said about Tasting Beer? Well, it didn’t come with free samples of each style, but other than that, this is an excellent book for the seasoned beer drinker as well as the novice who wants to learn more about beer and brewing.
Rating: 10 Cheers out of 10
Great Beer Blog post. I am going to bookmark and read more often. I love the Blog template, too.
I wondered what makes beer have a bitter taste? So brewing process will be one of the reason too why beer have different taste?
Robert Felder
To use fruits you would want to puree them in a bledenr first, then stir them into the wort after the HME. Mr. Beer recommends canned fruit in syrup for cider recipes. If you’re adding fruit to beer I think canned fruit in water would be fine, since you don’t want to increase ABV with more sugar, just impart the flavor of the fruit. I made a hard cider how-to video using added fruits. You can find it at their site. There is a link to the How-To Videos at the bottom of the main page.
Richard, where is the exact link? Can you share the exact link if you don’t mind.
Robert Felder