Practice is the best of all instructors

Today I attended my first session of sensory training at work. We lined up ten samples of a pale ale spiked with various sensory elements that can be found in beer (both good and bad aromas and flavors) along with a reference sample (#11).

Here are the ten sensory elements I learned today:

1. Isovaleric Acid: aroma, stinky cheese, can be caused from improper storage of hops or by bacterial infection.
2. Diacetyl: aroma/flavor, buttery and butterscotch, can be caused from yeast or from dirty draft lines.
3. Chlorophenol: aroma, Band-Aid or disinfectant, can be caused from water.
4. Geraniol: aroma, rose-like and fruity.
5. Earthy: aroma/flavor, damp soil, freshly dug soil, can be caused from water.
6. Almond: aroma/flavor, bitter almonds and Marizpan, can be caused by aging of beer.
7. Phenolic: aroma/flavor, spicy, herbal, clove.
8. Catty: aroma/ flavor, tom cat urine, can be caused from certain hop varieties.
9. Isoamyl Acetate: aroma, Laffy Taffy Banana, fruity.
10. Onion: aroma, garlic and onion, can be caused from hops.

Beer sensory analysis is similar to winetasting sensory analysis. Eight years of working in the wine industry with many tastings and classes may have helped me today. There are some differences in descriptors ie: earthy in beer is damp soil and earthy in wine is more like tobacco, leather and barnyard. Unlike winetasting where you spit out the sample after swirling it in your mouth, in beer tasting you have to swallow the sample in order for it to register on your flavor receptors at the back of your mouth.

At the end of the session, there was a blind tasting test where we had to identify the ten samples and what was wrong with them. I scored 10/10. Not too bad for my first time, eh? I have never smelled or tasted beer quite like this before.

Hopefully, I will continue to expand my beer tasting skills and knowledge of craft beer. That takes time and commitment. As Pubililius Syrus (Roman author, 1st Century B.C.) once said, "Practice is the best of all instructors."