Mould's Beer Blog

This is a post in a long running series where I take a look into each category of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).  Scroll to the bottom for links to other categories I have covered. The BJCP divides stouts into 6 sub-categories: Dry Stout (13A) Sweet Stout (13B) Oatmeal Stout (13C) Foreign Extra Stout (13D) American Stout (13E) Russian Imperial Stout (13F) It should be fairly simple to pick out a dry stout and Russian imperial stout in a tasting, but it may not be so easy for the other 4 sub-categories of stout.  Just take a look at what the BJCP gives as to what their "overall impression" is for each of these styles.  Dry Stout:   "A very dark, roasty, bitter, creamy ale." Sweet Stout:   "A very dark, sweet, full bodied, slightly roasty ale.  Often tastes like sweetened espresso." Oatmeal Stout:   "A very dark, full bodied, roasty, malty ale with a complementary oatmeal flavor." Foreign Extra Stout:   "...

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by.  This is a post in a series of posts I am doing entitled "Exploring the BJCP," which highlights the different sections of the Beer Judge Certification Program, in no particular order.  Today, we look at Category 12C: Baltic Porters!   Here is the link to the BJCP page on Category 12C .  Enjoy! Category 12 in the BJCP are porters, and they are divided into 3 subcategories: 12A: Brown Porter 12B: Robust Porter 12C: Baltic Porter The history of the baltic porter starts in the late 1700s, when numerous British brewers would ship stronger versions of their porter to the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. View Larger Map Over time, the Baltic countries began brewing their own strong porters.  This was sparked by brewers from Russia and England moving into the Baltic regions and starting new breweries.  Once lagering became popular, Baltic porters began to be brewed with the bottom fermenting yeast, which so...

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by.  This is a post in a series of posts I am doing entitled "Exploring the BJCP," which highlights the different sections of the Beer Judge Certification Program, in no particular order.  Today, we look at Category 12B: Robust Porters!   Here is the link to the BJCP page on Category 12B .  Enjoy! Category 12 in the BJCP are porters, and they are divided into 3 subcategories: 12A: Brown Porter 12B: Robust Porter 12C: Baltic Porter Robust porters tend to have more of a burnt malt flavor in the aroma and flavor, and will usually have a greater degree of roastiness than brown porters.  They will be darker in color than brown porters, some robust porters even being close to black.  American versions of the robust porter may have more hop character than English versions.  Typically you will see the % ABV of robust porters in the 4.8 - 6.5% range. In the commercial examples of the robust porter, all are from Ame...

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by.  This is a post in a series of posts I am doing entitled "Exploring the BJCP," which highlights the different sections of the Beer Judge Certification Program, in no particular order.  Today, we look at Category 12A: Brown Porters!   Here is the link to the BJCP page on Category 12A .  Enjoy! Category 12 in the BJCP are porters, and they are divided into 3 subcategories: 12A: Brown Porter 12B: Robust Porter 12C: Baltic Porter In America, the robust porter is the most common of the porter style available.  The robust porter generally displays strong roasted flavor, along with touches of bitter coffee and/or milk or dark chocolate.  Less common in America is the more subtle brown porter .  From the brown porter you can expect a beer that is somewhere between a brown ale and a robust porter.  Brown porters tend to be fairly smooth beers, with a subtle roasted character.  There may also be some sweetn...

This is the first article in a new series of posts, where I will periodically choose a section from the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style guidelines , write about the style, and then drink and publish my tasting notes from some of the commercial examples given by the BJCP.  Now, I'm not sure if I will ever actually take the exam to become a beer judge, but I think this will be a fun exercise to learn more about beer! Fair warning, I will not be doing the sections of the BJCP style guidelines in any sort of order.  Whichever kinds of beer I am craving is what I will be writing about! Strong Scotch Ales (also known as Wee Heavy) comprise sub-category 9E in the BJCP style guidelines.  They range between 6.5% and 10.0% ABV, and have a light copper to dark brown appearance.  Obviously, strong scotch ales are all about showcasing the malt.  While studying this style, I found it quite interesting that the brewers ferment out the wort at cooler temp...