Stepping Up Your Sensory Game and

Becoming a Better Taster

By Kara Taylor

Analytical Laboratory Specialist

White Labs, Inc San Diego, CA

June 27, 2013

National Homebrewer’s Conference 2013

Philidelphia

Overview

Part I:

• Where White Labs fits in the sensory picture

• Purpose of becoming a better judge

• Assessing where you are in your sensory journey

• How you can get involved

Part II:

• Flavor Profile Method

• Exercises you can do at home

• Resources available

Why is a yeast person telling me how to

drink beer?

• Yeast is responsible for a majority of the flavor and

aroma in beer!

White Labs Sensory Lab

Better tasters means more data for you!

I.E- WLP565 Saison Yeast vs WLP566

Saison Yeast II

Quantitative data will allow us to distinctly

compare the two strains

Purpose of trained judge

Helps translate what the consumer perceives

Consumer

Harsh

Trained Judge

Why is it important to be a better taster?

#1 Reason: Your homebrew will be better

Key to improving your beer is to be able to recognize flavors, textures, and aromas, know how they’re formed, and what steps in the brewing process can/ need to be altered

• Educate others to promote GOOD BEER!

• Help fellow homebrewers

• More opportunities to judge

What are your goals for being a better

taster?

• Are you just getting started?

• Do you want to pass the BJCP exam? Cicerone?

• Do you want to get a job serving at a beer bar?

• Want to be more active in beer competitions?

• Educate others?

Recognize your strengths and

weaknesses

• Where can you improve?

• Off flavors, hop styles, malt varieties

• What aspects are you good at?

• Diacetyl, recognizing oxidation

• Are you able to recite all of the specs for a porter but

can’t pick one out in a line up of dark beers?

• What skills do I have that are beneficial to others?

Where/ How do I get involved?

Your club!

Save beers that have distinctly known off flavors-

Diacetyl, Acetaldehyde, wild yeast contamination, souring, under

attenuated

Siebel Training Kits

Aroxa Flavour Kits

Be a steward!

Start talking about food like you do about beer!

Beer Judge Certification Program

Aka BJCP

• Typically used in homebrew competitions

• Separate style guidelines from GABF

New Program:

Must pass online test in order to take the tasting portion

200 questions in 60 min

Pass/ Fail score online

$10 online portion

Advantages: Easy to complete online, tasting portion has to be proctored. All

volunteer based

Disadvantages: Largely focused on brewing materials, recipe development,

styles. Less about drinking/ tasting. Tests might not be given in your area

Check out the BJCP Beer Score Sheet

Lots of information

50 pt scale

Easy to print out online

to fake judge beers

Do this in a group

and see how close

you come to others!

Cicerone®

Certified Beer Server

Certified Cicerone

Master Cicerone

Focus more on beer in retail (bars/ restaurants), storage,

glassware, some history and knowledge of styles, off flavors

Written and tasting exam

Advantages: Less focused on materials (no recipe development)

More focused on style appropriateness and tasting

Disadvantages: Expensive and must complete program in order.

Testing only happens every so often in specific towns

Part II: Flavor Profile Method

5 Points:

1- Character Notes or Attributes

I.e- Floral, pineapple, resinous, catty

2- Intensities of the attributes

Slight to very strong

3- Order of the appearance of the attributes

4- Aftertaste

Measurement of all sensation remaining one minute after

swallowing

5- Amplitude

Overall impression or perception created by the aroma and

flavor; fullness and degree of blend

Sensoryscience.org

Notes, Intensities, and Order

Different concentrations of sugar, salt, bitter, sour

Must be able to identify them and identify intensities

4 Tastes in Beer

None Strong Slight Medium Extreme

Flavor Profile Wheel

Use standardized vocabulary!

Comments that are NOT useful:

• Tastes good

• I like it

• Smells like my grandmother’s couch

Comments that ARE useful:

• Grapefruit aroma

• Light honey aroma is acceptable/ pleasing

• Oxidized

Flavor Profile Wheel

What if I can’t figure out the right term for what smell my

grandmother’s couch is? WORD ASSOCIATION!

• Use off flavor kits

• Ask others

• Once you identify the compound- remember that your

grandmother’s couch is really “trans 2 non enol” aka

oxidation

Aroma is more taste than taste is taste

Flavor/ Taste is more related than you might think

• Chocolate exercise

Flavor is really how the sensory of the tongue and nose

blend together

In regards to sensory: Don’t judge flavor and aroma so

separately

Neglected resources

Become familiar with flavors and

aromas different types of malts

Master hop aroma

attributes of popular hops

Single hopped beers?

It’s not all about off flavors!

Series of exercises

Yeast!

Know your strains types Clean/ Neutral, Belgian, Hefeweizen, Lager

• distinct flavor attributes

• style appropriate strains

Flavor Wheel is a great resource!

Glassware choice is important!

No completely right/ wrong options

Typically in competitions you’re going to see plastic –

Cheaper, easier

Palate cleansing is really

important

• Saltines are usually provided

• Water is important to drink in between samples

Palate Fatigue

Good example to do at home-

Take 3 different solutions of sugar water. 1, 2, 3

Taste them in order of least sugary to most sugary

After tasting 3, go back to 1

Activities you can bring home

• Fake judging – Commercial beers use BJCP score sheet

• Ratings in BYO – Drink same beers , score them, see where

you stand

• Get a bunch of beers in a certain style, drink and talk about

them

• Hop and malt attributes- add water

• Comparison- 2 same, one different

• Organize a big brew- separate batches with a different

ingredient

Resources Available

Summary

• Determine your goals

• Check into what resources are available

through your local club and if there isn’t

anything, lead the way!

• Organize activities

• Drink more! – Get familiar with ingredients,

flavors, aromas

THANK YOU! kara@whitelabs.com