Has a bright white head formed and does it hold?
Has the beer fizzed over the top of the glass and all over our computer keyboards?
Is the beer clear or hazy? Is it supposed to be clear or hazy?
Does it glow like an effervescent liquid beacon begging to be drank?
Is it: Yellow? Straw Coloured? Copper? Ruby? Orange? Dark as a bat at night? or any other subtle shade that appears on the full brewer’s spectrum of beery refraction?
The majority of hops used in most Pale Ales, Blondes, IPAs, Golden Ales and other lighter styles are known as aroma hops (as oppose to bittering hops), these do exactly what they say on the tin, imparting heaps of aroma and associated flavours to the beer, shaping a huge part of what the finished product will taste like. Often these aromas are associated with ‘brighter’ flavours such as Citrus, Tropical fruits, Fresh Cut Grass, or Bubblegum.
We taste it; first to match the aromas to the flavours. Second to assess the more subtle base flavours originating from the malt, yeast and bittering hops which present themselves with more clarity in the mouth than on the nose. And finally to make sure there are no faults or off flavours presenting that may otherwise de-rail a delicious beer.
They say brewing, like cookery is part science, part art, and part wondering how you did that and will you ever be able to do it again? There are so many factors in the brewing process that stop it being quite as simple as paint by numbers – put these hops in and it will taste like this, use these malts in these quantities and it will turn out thusly. With every new recipe there is a certain amount of crossing the fingers and hoping what you wanted to brew does indeed turn out exactly how you intended it to.
