Meeting at Mara’s

Wherein: we play with Chance, and Andy C pranks us

Meetings at Mara’s house never disappoint. The food is always top-notch. There are always tasty beverages to share. And there is always a friendly dog to chill with.

This meeting certainly hit all those marks. (Chance is absolutely one of The Best Dogs.) It was also quite well-attended – almost crowded – in a sign that the pandemic really is over and we are back to full strength. There were members we rarely see (like Mike) and new members we hadn’t met before (like New Mike). And everyone brought great homebrew.

Things were going great until Andy (Andy C, not Andy T or New Andy – we really need to do something about these names) pranked us. He snuck in a ringer, a commercial beer considered the exemplar for its BJCP style, and we judged it as a homebrew. We didn’t hammer it, but we didn’t love it either. Gave it a 38. Gordon Strong had given it a 46.

Are we bad judges? Overly harsh? Should we have scored it higher, seeing as it is consider the style’s definitional representative? Maybe. Post-meeting discussion allowed as how we could have maybe bumped that score up to 40. But we had our reasons for not scoring it any higher than that. And we are sticking to them.

Andy promises to do this to us again. We’ll see what happens.

Everyone forgot to take pictures. And we forgot to pass the hat again. Obviously, we’re still not back to pre-pandemic habits. We’ll get there.

Tasting notes:

  • Munich Helles, Matt J: A little DMS, a little butter. Spicy hops and honey. Very dry. Could be a little clearer, maltier, bubblier. Turns out that it’s only 2 weeks old. Needs more time in the cold. 7/2/12/4/5 = 30
  • APA, Sierra Nevada: Grapefruit and orange pith. Low malt. Astringent finish. Medium body and carb. The long harsh finish mars drinkability and is out of style. 10/3/13/5/7 = 38
  • Belgian Pale, Mike H: Spicy phenols dominate. Banana, molasses, honey. Under-carbed. Complex and interesting. He was trying out a new yeast from ECY. 6/2/13/3/6 = 30
  • Double IPA, Mara and Liam: TONS of dank hops, heaps of malt. Chewy. Malty-sweet up front with a long dry, bitter finish. A bit under-carbed. Would score VERY highly as an American Barleywine, but a bit too big and malty for an IPA. 9/3/11/3/6 = 32
  • English Barleywine, New Andy: Quite hot, with fusels. Clove, banana, ham, not enough malt. Spicy finish. Kveik yeast, fermented hot (85F). Stalled out at 15% abv, leaving it a bit raw. Not scored.
  • English Barleywine, Paul H: Bright and fresh. Lots of malt. Andy T likes it. A little cloudy. A bit of alcohol bite. Too hoppy and fresh for style but “has potential” if left to age 6 months. Was intended as an American Barleywine but isn’t quite hoppy enough. 11/2/17/5/8 = 43
  • Peanut Butter Stout, New Mike: Plenty of peanut butter and milk chocolate. A few phenols. Balanced flavors. Finish is a bit too bitter and harsh, almost ashy. Too much Black Patent malt; otherwise totally solid. Let it age. 8/3/10/3/5 = 29
  • Dry-hopped New World Cider, Caysey: Light amber, clear, petillant. Lemony hops in balance. Plenty of tannin. Complex, smooth, balanced. 6 years old – 2017 Beardsley blend. Hops added to clear sulfur. 6/8/18/7 = 39
  • Hydromel w/Smoky Tea, Paul H: Lots of smoke. Slightly hazy. Flavor is better balanced than aroma. Good acidity and tannin. Hint of residual sweetness. A bit thin. Needs more bubbles. 5/5/17/7 = 34
  • New World Cider, Steve: Pale and hazy. Fruity. Clean. Great acidity. Just enough tannin. Crisp, refreshing, drinkable. Yum. Juice from Cider Days. 5/8/20/8 = 41
  • English Cider, Steve: Peeled red apple and chamomile. Floral. Hazy. Absolutely delicious but much too fruity for style. Would score much better as a New World Cider. Another Cider Days blend, this one with red-fleshed apples and tannic varieties. Not scored.
  • No Category Cider, Andy T: Looks like honey. Pours like syrup. Smells like currants. Clear and fragrant. 100% Stop & Shop frozen concentrate. Airlock dried out and it oxidized. Nottingham and the yeast from a bottle of Arthur saison. 16% abv. Not scored but freaking delicious.
  • Iced Cider, Steve: Made from the drippings out of frozen juice. 15.2%. Not quite as smooth as Andy’s. More acidity. Still very nice. Not scored.
  • Kveik Lager, Patrick: Celery notes. Medium body. Sweet. Tastes a bit unfinished. Attempt at an African style. Low abv (4.0%) with honey and ginger added to keg. Interesting, but a little too sweet. Not scored.
  • Brett Saison, Patrick: 2nd runnings of a Double IPA, with maltodextrin added to feed the Brett. Saison yeast. Micro-oxidized. Not scored.