E- beer tasting!!

[Old Jake]

I hear lots of people talking about adding extra hops to their kit beers but what I really need someone to explain is what exactly is a "hoppy" taste.

Descriptions such as "malty" and "bitter" are also fairly common on this site but I've always struggled with putting them all into context. (I also struggle with telling colours apart!! Apparently it's a bloke thing!!)

Anyway, how does one describe the above tastes and what commercial beers are available for me to try? We could have some sort of E-tasting session and see how people tastes vary!

Ideally some of the bottled ales would be ideal as I can then re-cycle the bottles for my next kit!

By the way i'm currently brewing a Woodfords Great Eastern Ale so how would that be described?

Cheers

OJ

[PieOPah]

Erm, quite difficult to describe the description of a taste....

[Andy]

I mate of mine was asking me the same at the Farnham Beerex last week. I just supped some of his beer and pronounced "hoppy" or "malty" for each one

Educating the masses, and I didn't charge

[bitter_dave]

Educating the masses, and I didn't charge

.. you got some free beer

Tasteing and describing beers is highly subjective, but I'll have a go and suggest a hoppy beer is one in which hop flavour and bitterness are a prominent feature, with the flavour of the malt providing the backdrop. I guess tim taylor landlord could be described in this way.

A malty beer is one where the flavour of the malt is a prominent, and the hops add an edge. For example, I guess Black Sheep could be described as a malty beer. Perhaps XXXB from Batemans? Not sure about that one.

Of course most beers perhaps sit between this though, and I look forward to having my attempt at a definition ripped to shreds

[PieOPah]

Tasteing and describing beers is highly subjective, but I'll have a go and suggest a hoppy beer is one in which hop flavour and bitterness are a prominent feature, with the flavour of the malt providing the backdrop. I guess tim taylor landlord could be described in this way.

A malty beer is one where the flavour of the malt is a prominent, and the hops add an edge. For example, I guess Black Sheep could be described as a malty beer. Perhaps XXXB from Batemans? Not sure about that one.

Of course most beers perhaps sit between this though, and I look forward to having my attempt at a definition ripped to shreds

And that is where the difficulty lies. You are describing a Malty beer as tasting Malty and a Hoppy beer as tasting Hoppy.

This is akin to describing the colour red to a blind man as red looking.....

The only real way I could go to describing a Malty flavour is to say eat some powdered horlicks.

Hops perhaps taste the same as the smell of freshly cut grass (but that is probably an umatured beer.....)

[Old Jake]

Thanks, I knew this would be a tough one!

The only way is to do it is to list various beers with a description of their taste and then I need to try them to see if I can distinguish! It'll also give me an excuse to build up my collection of beer bottles for my next brew!!

cheers

OJ

[mysterio]

Post a few of the beers you try and we'll try and help you with what flavours you're getting.

'Malty' usually means a range of flavours like biscuity, toasted, bready, cereal-like, going up to chocolatey, roasty etc. Don't confuse maltiness with sweetness.

'Hoppy' can mean two distinct things, both derived from the use of hops. I use it to mean hop flavour and aroma. Depending on which hops are used the usual descriptors are floral, citrusy, fruity, perfume-like, grassy. A hoppy beer may or may not also be bitter. It's hard to describe what bitter means but i'm sure you already know, it's a sensation down the middle to the back of the tongue that you get from the likes of unsweetened black coffee or dark chocolate.

[oxford brewer]

Its a real tough job to describe the tastes in drinks,someone might say that a certain beer has a strong citrusy hop aroma followed by a bitter coffee-ish after taste and another may say that it has a slight bitter taste and no nose.
Different things alter peoples taste buds(smoking,spicy foods etc) so its hard to nail down the tastes.For what its worth i will either think the beer tastes ok or it doesnt but its all down to personal choice!
There are beers you will want to drink again and others that you will avoid if possible (anything served as smooth comes to mind )

[DRB]

I like the smooth beers worthy,brains tastes nice to me .

[james_m_r]

We could have some sort of E-tasting session and see how people tastes vary!

Good idea that oj. Something that I would be keen to partake in if you can pull it off.