Our April meeting brought us to Ridgefield, CT and one of CT’s more hidden gems, Nod Hill Brewery. With an outstanding food truck and fantastic tap list, many arrived early to take advantage of some good conversation over sandwiches and beer before the meeting started. We had quite the turnout, too, with some new faces and some we haven’t seen in a very long time!
Tasting notes from the meeting are included below. We took a break in the middle of the tasting for an “educational interlude” where Andy T. led the group through a discussion about butyric acid including what can lead to its development, how to avoid creation of the compound in the first place, and the limited options for remediation (mostly through the use of brettanomyces to metabolize the compound into a more desirable flavor) should you find it present in your beer. It was an incredibly informative and engaging discussion, and I think we all learned a lot from the conversation! Some notes from the session are included here:
- Butyric Acid – it doesn’t smell or taste very nice. Vomit/rancid/cheese flavors and aromas. Not dangerous. Very beneficial – we have a lot of it in our gut… but not flavors/aromas you want in your beer.
- Human taste sensitivity – 2-10ppm… but aroma is much more sensitive (0.2ppm)
- Where does it come from? Raw food – glucose… bacteria converts to butytric acid (glucose + water) – source is from the grain!
- Water + grains gives you glucose and the bacteria are present… still active below 150F, and apparently they can still survive a boil of 90 minutes.
- Biggest risk is between mash and boil (TIME)… and a slightly lower risk between boil and fermentation – Time is the biggest factor.
- Adding CO2 increases activity of the bacteria.
- Reduce risk: grain – dry, cold, sealed. If you are doing a kettle sour or sour mash, lower the pH below 4, bacteria can’t work below that. Time – minimize time between mash/boil/start of fermentation – yeast outcompetes, takes up the glucose… alcohol produced hampers production… and lowers the pH.
- So what do you do if you have it? The longer you boil, the more you concentrate it. Brett – some strains will convert it into Ethyl Butyrate (pineapple).
Tasting Notes:
- Czech Pale Ale (3A): Matt J. – smells cold, very clean, meadow – grassy, in a good way. Herbal hops – more hoppy than malty. Light honey, lemon. Could be maltier. Lightly hazy – not quite brilliant. Bready comes through more on the flavor. More malt driven on the flavor. A little herbal-spicy hop character. Well carbonated, beautiful lacing. Maybe a little astringent. Very drinkable. Solid 7. Easily down a liter.
8/2/15/5/7 – 37 - American Pale Ale (18B): Jon/Joe/Ernie – guava, pear, grape. Very tropical. White grape. NZ vibes. A touch of fresh mint. Not getting a ton of malt, but could just be hiding behind the hops. Absolutely beautiful. Herbal flavor… thyme, mint… pine? Spruce? The malt needs to be brought up to support the hops. Whatever the source, it’s overpowering the balance. Clean, well fermented. A little more body, a little more carb.
10/3/11/3/6 – 33 – Spruce Tips and Cascade - Session WCIPA (21B): Pat S. – Orange rind/peel, pine resin, the aroma is almost chewy, light prune, maybe some green apple. Maybe too much going on in the malt… too much crystal for an American IPA. Stunningly beautiful beer. Right on the upper limit for color. Tastes like 1991. Bitter. Super bitter. Lingers forever. Gives some alcohol off that. Wouldn’t declare it as a session. Bitterness overpowers… would live well in a Red IPA. Lots of hop-plant flavor. A little harshness from the bitterness, missing some body – not quite smooth. Drinkable, needs some tweaks and would be better as a Red IPA.
9/3/13/3/6 – 34 – leftover expired extract cans… Cashmere/Columbus/Centennial/Chinook - Belgian Dubbel (26B): Pierre – missing some malt character. Some spicy/pepper. Yeast phenolic – good fermentation character. Needs everything to be turned up a bit, this is a little subtle. Gorgeous beer, maybe needs more bubbles. Hard to tell with these glasses. Coming across like a biere de garde. Needs more bubbles to carry it through. Sweet bready, light cherry. Needs more phenolic and esters, and some more deep malt character. Peppery. A really well brewed beer. As a BDG it would be higher. Could use at least 1 more bubble, but preferably quite a few. He should bring his bubbly friends. Delicious, drinkable, loving it… just not to style. Very sessionable.
7/3/13/4/7 – 31 (Pierre) – “it’s a fair assessment” – aiming for a quad or a dubbel… lots of tweaking… brewed for the Armada event. Way too much residual sweetness… blended with a Czech amber lager! 50/50 blend. - Belgian Tripel (26C): Pierre – strong phenol… but it’s so nice. Melon. Ripe banana, light clove. Baking. Inviting. A touch of earthy hops, a little apple estery. On the dark end. Maybe missing some head/effervesence. Too sweet. Lots of overripe banana. Needs to be drier. Some green banana too. More attenuated this would be spot on. Sweetness is really hurting it. No off flavors, but that’s what’s hurting it. A little thick/sweet. Some astringency. Needs more bubbles. Still quite drinkable. Needs to drop a bunch more points.
10/3/10/3/6 – 32 – shooting for a Belgian strong blonde, but classified it as this for the Armada comp - Irish Stout (15B): Matt J. – roasty, pale chocolate. Something vegetal. Dusty. Licorice. Light green pepper maybe? Something lightly solventy- like a water-based polyurethane. Brownies. Apple-y esters. More chocolate than coffee roast. Gorgeous appearance. Complex, dry… more roasty grain in the flavor, but still moderately low. Carrot? Coffee flavor kind of lingers. Light creaminess. Pretzel like bready quality. Toasted almond? Infinitely more complex than Guinness. Mouthfeel is fantastic. Carbonation is just right.
7/3/15/5/8 – 38 - Lambic with Roselle: Andy T. – smells beautiful. The barnyard-y notes are subtle and supporting, adding to the complexity. Light raspberry/fruits… vinegar… appearance is perfect. Flavor complexity is off the charts. Maybe a little something savory/meat-y… acidity is so wonderful. Sweet cherry, raspberry. Bone dry, a little tart, and so drinkable. What else would you want? Wonderful mouthfeel. Just exactly what you want from a beer with dinner.
12/3/18/5/10 – 48 – 9 years old, using Roselle (hibiscus) from Thailand.
