Some of my drinking buddies are qualifying as beer judges in order to assist in homebrewing competitions. It is probably a good idea for me to do this as well, maybe I can expand my vocabulary a bit when I am writing about beer.
There is a new book coming up that hopefully can help us along, too, Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher.
I haven’t seen anything but the promotional material over at amazon, so I cannot vouch for the quality as yet. The book is out in the US already, the British edition is due in a month or so. I think I will be ordering a copy. Anyone had a closer look?
There’s a good review at Appellation Beer, here.
We’ve got another of Randy Mosher’s books (Radical Brewing) which we turn to a lot for inspiration when we’re making beer at home.
Evaluating Beer, 1993, Brewers Publications, Boulder is quite good, and it includes much of the theory and many of the practical methods we’ve used in craft brewing (and industrial pils brewing as well.) Many well respected authors represented. I haven’t seen Mosher’s new book yet.
It is a book I would like to read, too. I feel that I have reached a wall when it comes to describing and finding tastes, etc in beers, and I am sure a book like this would help.
I’ve got it. It’s a nice primer – gets into a lot of the off flavors, what to look for, etc. I haven’t quite had the time to really dig in and read it cover to cover yet, but it’s a worthwhile purchase in my opinion.