Our monthly meeting for March brought us to Pierre and Kim’s home in Trumbull. As always, there was plenty of amazing food, beers aplenty on tap, and lively conversations surrounding fermentation, equipment, and everything homebrewing.
Let’s start at the end of the night… jumping ahead to the end of the tasting portion, where Andy T. brought along some samples from a company working to create “umbrella” valves that work at different pressures, making a cheap alternative to currently expensive spunding valves that homebrewers use. The possibilities are really cool – as is the fact that they are using 3D printers to come up with the prototypes! Connect with Andy for more info – I know I’m excited to see how these work when they come to market.
As for the tasting portion of the night, this was a particularly spectacular evening. Everyone brought incredible beers – some of the best examples of styles many of us had enjoyed in quite some time, and beers that would clearly medal in competition. The scores may seem high, but they were all well deserved! There were some memorable quotes… and they’re included in the tasting notes below.
Tasting Notes:
- Roggenbier (27): Santi – cloudy, banana- clove. A little bubblegum. Very classic. Light spicy phenol. Rye doesn’t seem to show in the nose. Beautiful fermentation. Almost like juniper. Beautiful head, lasts. Cloudy hazy. Exactly as describe. Perfect color. Right down the middle of the flavor. Rye flavor is present. Toasty rye bread. Light caramel. Orange peel. Maybe a bit too much bubbblegum. Full marks mouthfeel. Lots of bubbles. Full mouthfeel. A wonderful example of the style.
10/3/17/5/8 – 43 - German Pils (5D): Santi – very delicate smell. More malt than hops. Crackery Pilsner. A little earthy on the hops instead of floral. A little herbal. Brilliant clarity, great color. Right firmly bitter finish. Crackery, dry, very clean. Super drinkable. Snappy. Would benefit from some more bubbles. Quite drinkable, very enjoyable. A summer day beer for sure.
7/3/16/4/8 – 38 – meant to be the bad beer of the night – over oxygenated the beer, and it had a sharp metallic quality… but it appears to have aged out. Could it be that the yeast was still in suspension when tried previously? This is a very good beer! - Belgian Wit (24A): Pat – lemon zest, coriander, floral aroma. Bitter orange. Seems to blend quite harmoniously. Very appealing, inviting. Fruity. Bread dough. Orange marmalade. Opens up with thermal enhancement. Full marks on appearance. Light. Hazy. Gorgeous. “Oh man that flavor.” Spicy fruity flavor. So much beautiful malt carrying through. Dries out nicely, beautiful bitterness on the finish. A few more bubbles and it might be absolutely perfect. Needs more, larger bubbles. It has everything but the bubbles. Just a phenomenal. Honey, spice.
12/3/20/3/9 – 47 – added spice tincture post-ferm - Flanders Red (Mulberry) (29A – base 23B): Andy T – “that’s a happy smell.” Berry – you can tell there’s fruit there. Otherwise, very classic Flanders red. Red currant. A touch of vinegar, very balanced. Light red copper, missing some head. No acetic at all, even when it felt like should have been there. Beautiful complex sourness. Cranberry tartness. All sourness in the tongue. Very tannic, but not astringent. Low carb, “yeah, that’s it.” It’s a beautiful beer – worth the wait. “It’s old enough to be drunk.” – Steve V.
12/2/18/5/9 – 46 - Brett American Porter (28A, base 20A): Paul H. – licorice. Young Brett, very light. Coffee. Light Cherry. Could use more porter and brett. Lots of light notes. Some roast. Beautiful brown with red highlights. Looks like a porter. Way more Porter in the flavor. Very drying finish, roasty, some astringency. Needs some age, time. Needs bubbles.
“I’m just thinking about whether it needs more bubbles.” – Paul
“Paul likes big bubbles and he cannot lie.” – Andy
7/3/14/4/6 – 34 - Sour Porter (28B – 20A): Pierre – lots of dark fruits, chocolate. Not roasty. Very pleasant. tart not sour. Very clear. Pretty. Lots of the same on the flavor. Tart finish. Refreshing, loaded with fruit. Wine like – could use a little more body, maybe more bubbles to carry that. Very drinkable. Chocolate just carries through.
10/3/17/4/8 – 42 – similar, but older version to Paul’s. This was a mixed fermentation beer, not just brett. - Belgian Tripel (26C): Santi – all the bubbles! Very spicy. Maybe a little sulfur/farmhouse that blew off. Complex phenolic. Impressions of something that makes you think of orange. Zest. A touch of coriander. Stunning. Want to give it four points for appearance. Lovely fermentation character. So light and dry. Good balance between the bitterness. Creamy effervescence. I don’t know what the alcohol content is, but it’s so easy to drink. A hint of warmth. Not boozy, just sneaky. That one defining character. I wouldn’t change a thing. Where would you knock points? What do you want different?
11/3(+1 pt from Pierre)/20/5/10 – 49 - Cider with Other Fruit (C2B): Pierre – Pear + apples. Maybe a little paint thinner. Apple skin. Creamy pear. Can tell it’s not pure apple. A little cloudy. Opalescent. Very tannic, expected from pears. Good balance between – apples more present, but creamy pear balances out. Some of the fruit flavors come across as unfermented, holds it back. Very drinkable.
8/5/19/8 – 40 - Cider (C1A): Steve – very inviting cider aromas. Lots of tannins. A little tobacco. A little touch of sulfur that blew off. Maybe could have more intensity. Clean and subtle. Lovely. A little cloudy. Beautiful color. Opalescent (there’s no such thing as too much). Very tannic. Not harsh. Not astringent. Tannins linger forever. A cider to drink by the pint. “If you had to shotgun a cider, it would be this cider.” – Santi. Do we want more acidity? Might impact the drinkability. Light bodied. Goes down. Paul doesn’t want more bubbles… the crowd is silenced. A cider for a hot day.
9/5/21/9 – 44 – just kegged, hasn’t had a chance to settle out.
“Do you intend to drink in quantity?” – Andy T
“That’s why it’s on tap.” – Steve - Beardsley 2024 (C1A): Steve – a little sulfur, takes a bit more time to blow off. A little funk? Smells like apples. Slightly cooked, almost apple sauce “Smells like Shelton” – Pat. Brilliant clarity. Beautiful appearance. The balance is really nice between the tannins and acidity. The apple is there. The sweetness carries it, but the finish isn’t overly sweet. “Difficult to fault it but we’re right bastards so we can do it.” – Andy T.
8/6/20/9 – 43 - Cider with Raspberry (C2B): Pat – blended with a commercial cider to bring back the sweetness – raspberry seeds, flesh. Raspberry dominates the apple. Tea-like. Raspberry Arnold Palmer.
