My Tasting Ways – Overall Impressions

Since there was a little extra work involved with getting the yeast to start eating, any thoughts of transferring the (soon to be) beer to a secondary fermenter tonight will have to wait.  I am anxious to keep the process moving, but I am willing to be patient knowing what the payoff will be.  Bubble away my little beasties!

We are past the (more) complicated parts of “My Tasting Ways” and can move on to something is probably more simple, but that can be even more difficult to put into words.  Recording my overall impressions can incorporate other pieces of information about the beer (special ingredients, straying from style, etc.), but it really comes down to how much I enjoyed it and why.

I guess the most basic level of knowing how much you liked a beer (or not) is if you would drink it again or even better, if you would pay to drink it again.  Another fundamental question might be if you would drink more than one.  That is really what it boils down to, but wanting to have a better understanding of why I would have a beer again is the reason that I began to write all of this down.

For me the most influence to my overall impression of a beer is probably from the flavor and the mouthfeel.  Sure aroma is there as well, but an enticing aroma only gets me to the first sip.  It has to be a good experience from there to get me to crave that brew and think forever fondly of it!

My suggestion to anyone would be to at the very least make a note of the name of a beer if you drank it and really enjoyed it.  Even better would be to write a few things about it to help remember that experience.  You do not have to spend the time and effort to do a full blown evaluation (I will do my best to take care of those for you), but even a few general notes will be beneficial to your continued (and future) beer enjoyment.

The descriptions of my impressions are better now than they were in the beginning and I expect them to keep improving.  Was it the hop flavor I enjoyed most or was it the balance between the sweetness and the warmth?  Was it the deep roasted aroma or was it the hint of vanilla in the flavor and the smoothness?  Those are the answers that will help me get a grip on what I look for in a good beer.

Onward to continue my quest for the (my) perfect beer!