Most of our club meetings follow a standard playbook: After a bit of social time, we get serious about judging homebrews, blind, against BJCP guidelines. We may have a short educational presentation; we may have more social time later. But the bulk of most meetings is devoted to evaluating homebrews and to honing our skills as judges.
Occasionally, however, circumstances dictate a change of pace. Our June meeting was one where we deviated from the template.
To some extent, this was due to location. Our host this month was Berlinetta Brewing in Bridgeport. We love Berlinetta. It is central in the club’s geography. The beer is great. So is the pizza. And they are always happy to host us. The one small downside is that it can be quite loud, and that can make it difficult to judge and discuss the way we normally do. (A very small price to pay for being able to have our meetings in such a wonderful location.)
This meeting was also slightly non-standard because we needed to evaluate whether several beers were good enough to forward to the Big Brew Day Club Competition. Since all Big Brew Day beers were made to one of the same 3 recipes, this was not about whether the recipe conformed to a given BJCP style. It was about whether we thought the batch would stand up against others brewed to the same recipe. We also knew who brewed what, so attempts at anonymity would be pointless.
The two beers in question were an Imperial Stout brewed by Andy C and a Pre-Prohibition Porter brewed by your humble narrator. The Stout needed more carbonation and the Porter was too roasty for style. But both were deemed “good enough” and the club chose to move ahead with entering the competition.
Similarly, we tasted an “Alt-Alt” brewed by your humble narrator for a different competition. The recipe was determined by lottery among base malts, specialty malts, bittering hops, and aroma hops. I decided that the chosen ingredients might make something similar to an Altbier despite the grains having North American origin. Although somewhat lacking in Altbier character, it was also deemed “good enough” to move on in competition.
Next up was an Irish Red from Mike D made with all Red-X malt. While close to style, there was an undertone which reminded us of short-boil extract beers. Quite drinkable, though.
Pierre served a Saison with Brett which showed some green olive notes. A bit off. And Mara poured a Hazy IPA with a distinct “rubber tire” aroma which might be due to the Cellar Science “Hazy” yeast, something no one else had used yet.
Jim L then poured what might have been the best homebrew of the evening (although Andy’s Imperial Stout was extremely good), a perfectly balanced Munich Dunkel. Somewhat nutty, with a hint of sulfur and a very dry finish. Extremely drinkable.
The last non-Berlinetta beer of the night was a Paulaner Hefe-Weizen, also poured by Jim. Floral and doughy, with a bit of sweetness up front and a dry finish, it had very little of the estery/phenolic character associated with the style. Still, quite flavorful and very drinkable.