i have gotten into the habit of exhaling through my nose after tasting a new-to-me beer, to engage the olfactory senses as well as the taste buds hidden up there. Usually, I get an expanded perception of the beer when I do this, helping me to fully apprecrate the flavor and aromas. I am drinking Anderson Valley's 128 Session Gose, and of course I did my exhale. Nothing. Or, next to nothing there. I normally get something worth noting, so this has me wondering something. Do you generally get something in the exhale with hoppier beers, and less with less-hoppy beers? Thanks for your thoughts. I'm studying for the Cicerone (and loving every minute of it!), and I want to make sure I'm getting the most out of each tasting.
I don't use the "exhale" deliberately. Rather I focus on the inhale (sniffing) and let the contents of the mouth engage the retronasal. But I would say that in general I think the hoppier beers may tend to have more aromatics, however, I've never put it to the test.
Hoppier beers have more volatile oils so yes they smell more intense That Gose (which I happen to like a lot) really doesn't kick you in the olfactory. It's got it going on with the salt/tart/blood orange mineral stuff. In fact I drank it straight from the can last time just to see if it was greatly different from the glass, Not surprisingly straight from the can was outstanding.
Never heard of exhaling to capture a beer's aroma. Going to have to try it someday. Must be something they teach in the Cicerone program.
Yes, yes, IMO it reveals more than the normal amount of residual aroma that rises into and out of the nose as you drink. Retrohaling cigars does the same. I pretty much always do it when drinking a beer or smoking a cigar.
I try to cycle my airflow. Slow inhale through nose, soft exhale through mouth. I also exhale through my nose after each drink to engage those retro-nerves passively via the swallowing of the liquid. Somethings just feel natural. But play around with it, see what works best for you. Smell sip let it sit smell again, consume. Short inhales, long inhales, "retrohaling", mouth exhales there is no right way or wrong way to smell beer/wine/food/cigars. Everyone has different capacities to smell and taste and there really is no wrong answers just finding the ability to describe what you are smelling/tasting is the biggest hurdle.
