BJCP Has Come and Gone

Last Tuesday I finally say down for the three hours of mad scribbling and drinking known as the Beer Judge Certification Program Exam. It was about as hard as expected with questions like "Describe and explain the role of diastatic and proteolytic enzymes in the brewing process and how they affect the characteristics of the finished beer."

Short Answer: They break down proteins and convert starch to sugar while grains are mixed with hot water.

Fun stuff, naturally. A true test of beer geekery. The only questions I stumbled on were describing the substyle Classic American Pilsner and giving a commercial example of a straight, unblended lambic (there really aren't any).

After the three hours, Jason, the course instructor was generous enough to buy everyone a round at the bar, as we were back at the North Wales Iron Hill brewpub. I got a pint of the Bourbon Porter on nitro. Here's how it went:

3.75/5
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 4.5


Pours a dark, dark brown with a tan head. Tiny bubbles here, and drinks incredibly smooth. The aroma is of smooth bourbon and mellow chocolate grains. The flavor is a balance of the vanilla bourbon, oak, and the dark, cocoa and toffee flavors. While it's very easy to drink, I found the flavor a little too mild for this to be a great beer. The balance of bourbon and malt was there, but there wasn't enough of either flavor. That said, I'd still recommend this tasty treat.

I also had the pleasure of finding Green Flash West Coast IPA last night for a Friday evening of beer, pizza, and wings at Liberty St. Tavern. If you're ever in Allentown, aside from the smoking, it's got the best cheap pizza and beer selection in Eastern PA.

4.2/5
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | drink: 4.5


On-tap at Liberty St. Tavern.

Bottom line: big hops yet drinkable. This toes the line of being too hoppy, but doesn't cross. Maybe my pour was just had the CO2 turned down, but there was zero head and lacing on this pint. The aroma was of big juicy, reisinous grapefuit with floral notes. The flavor expands with more citrus rind that is a nice mix of rough and smooth hops. I can't say enough about the balance here. Not of the mix of hops and malt, but enough hops and too much. Reminds me of Masala Mama of Town Hall in Minneapolis.