Controversial Beer Opinions Thread

It’s called carbonation
Hand washed and dried by yours truly

 

FTFY

 

"According to Craft Beer's eye-opening story, you can tell what's really going on in there by the way bubbles behave in your glass. If they linger on the sides, especially in clusters, rather than floating straight to the top, they're clinging to a particle of something."

-from, http://www.foodrepublic.com/2014/06...probably-dirty-heres-an-easy-way-to-find-out/

I am not personally a member of the CGM, Clean Glass Mafia, but perhaps you never had a chance to find out the info in the linked article so passing it on. Cheers!

 

No. He has been in service to the family for many, many, many years.

I can’t be certain, as I would never stoop so low as to visit a brewery myself, but I believe he waits in the car while my driver waits in line.

 

Barley Wine, Barleywine... When I was young we called it Vin d’Orge.

 

Thanks for the info Dave .
I’m definitely not a part of the CGM , however I know how much effort I put into washing that particular glass, so I’m going to live with those particles I guess .
Besides the 15 abv will kill off most any germs anyhoo

The brew was quite enjoyable and I’ll probably rinse and repeat once again today .
Cheers !!

 

I disagree, your analysis sounds plausible (to many) but fails to take into account the way in which normal human sensory systems operate. There are quite clear scientific data supporting the conclusion that the key senses of taste and of smell, from which we derive a large part of our perceptions of flavor (there are other influences on perceived flavor) are the slowest to recover from intense stimulation and that such intense stimulation can create "carry forward" effects that conceal subtleties in the flavor profile of future samples.

Thus flights and bottle shares actually represent a near perfect environment for confounding and disguising flavors and aromas. This is why carefully conducted tasting panels used by sensory scientists actually use some fairly elaborate procedures (and often flavor neutral palate cleansers between each tasting) to prevent such biases from distorting the taster's ability to experience and describe the flavors of a particular beverage or food item being tasted in a way that is consistent with what the other panelists also report.

In addition those senses of taste and smell, along with the rest of our senses can be "fooled" in that certain sensory illusions can lead them to give us false reports of what we think we are experiencing.

So the bottom line is that Bottle Shares and Flights are quite possibly the worst possible conditions under which to develop an accurate assessment of one's sensory experience with a particular beer. They can certainly be enjoyed for what they are, a bit of a biased sensory snapshot of what might be there, and a reasonable amount of fun. But accurate flavor profile assessment situations they are not. This is particularly true when the taster is not a professional who has undergone focused and fairly rigorous training in sensory evaluation. So they may be a useful method for selection of a beverage to be experienced in greater depth, but they are not providing the full picture or even necessarily an accurate picture.

 

Whatever the “experts” do or don’t do in their legitimate dissections, I’m going to have to disagree.

I don’t think anyone is arguing that 12% ABV BA stouts or 10% ABV DIPAs should be consumed by the pint. I know there’s an occasional thread where someone was at a chain restaurant and got a full pint of BCBS in a frozen shaker glass and lololol, but personally speaking I can’t even remember the last time I saw a full pint of anything high octane. In NYC I’d say the norm is 5-8oz for that type of beer. It’s hardly as if bar/brewery owners have needed much persuasion to charge more per oz over recent years. So it’s really a non-issue, at least where I live - your wine glass nirvana is reality.

And as for a case in point. In my (and I think many peoples’) opinion, Other Half may do just fine when it comes to hazy hoppy beers, but have always been weak on the stout front. There was a release a few months ago where someone who’s opinion I trust posted in the OH thread that finally they’d made something great. Based on that I bought a bottle. And the first couple of mouthfuls I almost found myself agreeing. But by the time I’d had ~8oz I’d changed my mind to an extent, as drinking a bit more had exposed aspects of the beer that I wasn’t so fond of.

I know that these types of beers are not meant to be highly drinkable, or consumed glass after glass. But in my opinion you definitely need more than 1-4oz before you can form a proper opinion. If the standard sample size for reviewing was in that range, then the ratings for beers such as these would probably be even more over inflated than they already are.

And at the other end of the spectrum - things like helles/bitters - definitely require multiple pints

And as for the obesity comment - while I don’t disagree, it’s slightly snide/simplistic.

 

^^^ This.

 

If you use a towel to dry it, that could be the source of the particles.

 

"Excuse, would you mind if I took a snort of your thimble? I'd like to tick that on off."

 

Or if you used the same sponge that you cleaned the bacon pan that morning.

 

You've obviously never had a Kölsch.

 

I certainly thought about high ABV beers as I wrote that, but in the end my experiences even with them are that 1oz-2oz simply aren't enough to get a complete feel for the beer. And, ironically, it was shares/tasters that made me realize that -- after having a taster, for example, of Founders CBS and then a few weeks later having a 10oz pour of it, my perception of that beer was very different.

I agree that the "right" amount is subject to debate, and I think for some of those high octane beers 4oz-6oz may be sufficient, maybe, but your usual thimble-sized pour at a bottle share? Not enough.

And that's best case scenario in which we're talking about a high octane beer. A 7% IPA out of a pint can or an aged lambic (much less a real "session" beer like mild or as a 1oz -2oz pour? That's silly and 100% doesn't approximate a real drinking experience with the beer.

 

Not quite, but thanks for confirming the feedback loop that has led to the unfortunate proliferation of such superficial beers that say all they have to say in less than 6oz.

 

Most likely, however the wife insists on that one, so it will be that one
I have enough to worry about in life that I’m not going to battle with her over drying a glass or some particles/bubbles within ..
I can live with it , so the forum members will have to deal with it too
Cheers !!

 

All I'm saying is I can assess a beer properly without needed a big pour. By the time I am 8oz or more deep of something palate wrecking I couldn't confidently assess another beer. I also have no confidence that people that deep can properly assess the changes or flavors they think have stated to show themselves. To each their own but I assess with clear mind and fresher palate. More subtle beers will take more.

Thimble sized pours? You go to shitty bottle shares. IPAs are some of the most heavy handed east to assess beers available. You don't need much. I also said more subtle beers need more of a volume. "Real drinking experience" doesn't need to be taken into account to give a thoughtful and proper assessment of many beers.

Nothing wrong with beers like that. There are tons of other beers that don't. I'm not talking about those beers. I'm talking about a large amount of beer being brought to bottle shares and pumped out of many American taprooms.

 

I totally agree.

I have a friend who convinced me about his 8 oz. rule. He is an extreme ticker and made the rule that any beer he has less than 8 oz. doesn't count, because less than 8 oz. is never enough to get to know a beer.

I also agree a beer like a helles might take multiple pints to get to know what it's about.