This month’s meeting was generously hosted by Spacecat Brewing in Norwalk. We had a great turnout and enjoyed some excellent beers on tap (as well as some great pizza). The night kicked off with our first off-flavor evaluation, as we dosed a beer with diacetyl, to try alongside an untainted sample. Great conversation was had about the different aromas and flavors we picked up, from a buttery aroma, to a more muted overall drinking experience, with lots of flavors dulled by the diacetyl. And, as with most things, everyone had a different sensitivity! A very cool experience that everyone seemed to enjoy. More of these to come at future meetings!
The folks at Pinter.com sent along a demo unit of their beer making kit that we showed off at the club meeting. Pinter is an extract all-in-one unit that you ferment, naturally carbonate, and serve in the single unit. Kits come with liquid extract, yeast, and liquid hops that are designed to be added without oxygen ingress. We are clearly not the target audience for this, but it does represent a well thought out way to introduce new people into the hobby. We voted on trying out the Porter recipe and will judge the resulting beer next month at Hop and Vine in Stamford.
The theme of this meeting was sour beers, and we had two homebrews brought along for evaluation. Pierre brought a wonderful lambic and talked through his process, and how long it takes to make a traditional sour in comparison to the more common kettle sours we often see produced today. I brought a fruited sour featuring cherries, vanilla, and cinnamon – more on these beers (and the lone other entry!) below.
A big thanks to Spacecat for hosting! See you all next month at Hop and Vine – the theme is American Hoppy Beers, so bring along your homebrew to share!
Tasting Notes:
- Lambic (23D) – Pierre: Clove, floral, funkiness in aroma. Bitterness a little high for flavor. Very sessionable. 10/3/15/4/8 = 40
- Fruited Sour (29B – base: 28B) – Matt: Cherries and cinnamon. A little solvent on the aroma. Complex. Assertive adjuncts. A little acetic acid, but not too much. 8/3/14/4/8 = 37
- Czech Dark Lager (3D) – Santi: Not a complex aroma, light esters. Could be richer. Toasted bread, light chocolate, very light astringency. Light body. 8/2/14/3/7 = 35
