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Develop your beer palate
By Roger Mittag
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When it comes to tasting beer, there is still a lot to learn. So many people have told me that they don’t have a very good palate and that they couldn’t possibly smell and taste the wonderfully subtle characteristics of beer. Nonsense, I say! My colleague, Mr. Beaumont, once told me that the palate requires training and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. I couldn’t agree more!
Let’s start at the beginning … way back. When we are born, we come equipped with a tremendous ability to sense things – touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste. It’s a clean slate upon arrival into the world and our environment starts to develop our palates right from the get go. Our tongue as we’ve been told has four taste buds – sweet, salty, sour (acidic) and bitter. Traditional tasting concepts indicate that sweet is at the tip of the tongue while bitter is at the back and salty and sour are along the sides. More recent scientific research has actually shown that bitter glands are all over the tongue as are the other sensations. The larger bumps on your tongue are actually the bitter taste buds. They are larger because it takes a much longer time to transmit the bitterness from the receptors through the nerve pathways to the brain.
We’ve also come to learn the tongue has the ability to detect umami (which can best be described as savoury) and fat (richness in foods). If we only had these six taste buds to rely on, our world would surely be less interesting. Lo and behold, the olfactory system; the intricate system that starts in our noses and opens up into our mouth via the soft palate. This is not just smelling ... it’s much more. Our olfactory system has the ability to conjure up vivid memories and allows us to perceive thousands of aromas.
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Many things come to affect our ability to develop our palates. A simple cold reduces the nose to a congested mess and along with it, the disappearance of aromatics. The same can be said of smoking but I’m sure some would deny that. Don’t forget allergies, environmental issues, cologne and perfume etc. and the list goes on and on.
So, you ask, “What can I do to start training my palate and learn how to taste beer more effectively?” The answer is not simple and requires some time and patience.
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- Stop and smell the roses (literally). First of all, roses have a soft and delicate aroma that may have some bearing on some beers. More importantly, don’t be in such a rush to eat, drink or experience life. We are starting to see a real movement to relax and enjoy life and with that comes the appreciation of food and beer.
- Open some of your spice jars. This is a great starting point since there is such a huge variety of characteristics that we call spicy. Get to know what different peppers smell like (black, red, Madagascar green etc.). Learn to appreciate the difference between cinnamon, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, cloves. By the way, if it’s been on your shelf for a year, toss it and get some fresher spices.
- Get thee to a bakery. Smelling fresh baking is akin to smelling great malty beer. Try to discern the difference between crusty white bread, darker bread like whole wheat, pumpernickel and rye.
- Spend some time in the coffee aisle in your local supermarket. Smell some of the different blends. See if you can define mocha, espresso, chocolate and vanilla. While you’re at it, try to understand the difference between caramel and toffee.
- Open your windows in the car. Seems like an odd request, but this will help you to take in the slight sweet smell of fresh cut grass or hay in the summer. You may also want to pick up a variety of herbs such as sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano and cilantro. This will help to understand the herbal and grassy characteristics of hops.
- Enjoy the fruit of your labours. Once again, learn to research your fruits. Check out the aroma of the skin and the flavour of the meat of the fruit. Close your eyes as your smell and eat. It will help to commit it to memory.
Cheers, Slainte and Prosit!
Roger Mittag is the Professor of Beer and can be found at www.thirstforknowledge.ca.
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