Without checking my ratings/reviews to back this up, I would guess that many of my all-time favorite beers, and many of my regular go-tos, are the ones that smell fantastic and the flavor either follows through on or exceeds what the aroma promises.
That is an awesome example. I really like that aircraft design analogy. That concept of if it looks right, it will fly right translates well here. I do agree that appearance can create an impression before you even get to aroma or taste. I have seen that firsthand in a service setting. There was a moment at Devil’s Creek in Collingswood, New Jersey where a pour was handled carelessly and spilled, and before even tasting it, the perception of the beer was already impacted. Nothing about the liquid itself had changed, but the experience around it had. So I can definitely see where appearance has a role in shaping expectation early on. How much weight it carries probably depends on the setting, but the influence is there.
As I was typing my response I was thinking about how it might be that there's a lot of letdown when the aroma sets a high expectation and the taste doesn't deliver. And on the flip side, when the aroma doesn't pop then a bright flavor is a pleasant surprise
Taste is the most important factor, with aroma being a close second. I may find it a bit disconcerting if the aroma doesn't match up with the flavor, but this is rare. All factors weigh in to some degree however.
Taste is probably the answer for me; however, I place a lot of emphasis on 'look' and 'feel'. 'Look' sets the tone for the experience and 'feel' punctuates that experience. When I picture a good AAL or BA Imperial Stout, I have two very distinct images. Likewise, I have two very distinct expectations for how each of those beers 'feels'.
You left out the one that’s most important: overall. I’d say look is probably the least important — hello Heady Topper, drink from the stein, etc. But a great tasting beer with a shitty mouthfeel? A great smelling beer that tastes just so-so? A beer needs the overall package working together.
I don’t care one little bit what a beer looks like though I find De Garre Tripel super pretty in its own glassware. TASTE, I drink beer for taste (also the booze but shhh). All are important to a degree varying to each and every advocates.
Anyone ever drain pour a beer because of its appearance? I doubt it. What about because of smell? I doubt that too. Even beers that smell off are beers we still take a sip of to see what's up. We've all tossed beers because it tastes bad. And that's because taste is the most important factor.
I don't drain pour often, but I have poured out a couple for excessive floaties. I've also dumped out things for texture. Aslin was notorious for having these slimy snot rockets at the bottom of some of their imperial stouts. Aslin fanboys would go nuts for it, but I found it utterly disgusting. Some other breweries have had reports of this appearing in their canned stouts and so I avoid these brands. Keep in mind, I like oysters, but something about those imperial stout loogies just make my stomach drop.
I'm thinking Guinness Draught is a great example of this, especially on tap. For me, the nose is a bit muted and flavor a bit simple. It's the feel that really makes it work so well.
Giovanni, I found this statement quite interesting. I have had a few beers that were 'inconsistent' between the aroma (i.e., sniffing the beer) and the flavor but for me that has been a distinct minority of the beers I have consumed. For me the vast majority of beers had 'consistency' between the aroma and the beer's flavors. Permit me to further discuss "taste". I have always found this terminology as regards the BA beer review process to be potentially confusing since technically there are only a limited number of tastes (e.g., bitter, salty, sweet, sour, umami). It seems to me that the more appropriate terms should be "flavor" and the vast majority of what we think of as flavor is not from "taste" but from our olfactory senses (i.e., orthonasal and retronasal). When we describe a beer as having a flavor of orange this is from our perception from our olfactory senses (with perhaps our brain and associated memories being the critical factor?). Cheers!
They were. It was a point of pride, "OH, I got the loogie this time!" They had some more appropriate name for it, might have been 'slug'. It always read like fan boys spinning it to be a point of pride rather than a detriment for the brand. Really turned me off from the brand and emphasized how important texture / feel is for a beer.
80% of the beers i drink are out of the can , but even if it is in a glass the look is irrelevant unless the Imperial Stout is green . I don't knock points for look. If it looks like beer its a 5. I dont understand rating based on look. Mouthfeel matters at times. Thick/ syrupy imperial stouts get knocked a few points cuz that shit is gross . Taste rules all to me.
Jack, I really appreciate you laying that out. I am in full agreement with you on the terminology and how that all works from a sensory standpoint. For the sake of a thread like this, I tend to stick with “taste” just because that is how most people are framing it, and I do not want to overload things more than they need to be. But you are absolutely right in how much of that is really coming from olfactory perception and how everything comes together as flavor. Between you and I, I could go down that road all day. It is a great point and definitely adds a deeper layer to what people are experiencing when they are drinking a beer. And thinking on your point about consistency, I think you are right that in most well made beers that alignment is there more often than not. I will also admit my own sensory, especially on the aroma side, is not as sharp as it was when I was more active in industry settings, so that likely plays into how I have experienced some of those disconnects over time.
