The nose knows

By Patrick Baggoley

Never has a taste of the Wig and Pen’s normally crisp, clean Kolsch elicited so many dramatic facial expressions. But that was before our club prez Darryl Barbour was let loose with a keg of Richard Watkins' popular Kemberry ale and a chemistry set. Richard was kind enough to donate the keg so club members, several of whom are about to sit the BJCP exam, could hone their palates to pick off flavours.

Seventeen club members, including some of the 12 due to sit the upcoming exam, packed into Dicko's shed a few weeks back, as Darryl spiked the beer with 24 different flavours from the Siebel Institute Sensory Kit.

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Was that you Duffbowl? Paul Haesler gets his first whiff of mercaptan.
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Preparing for the "sewer-like" mercaptan sample
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Each sample was mixed with one litre of beer and each taster had about 50mL to compare with our original undoctored sample. These flavours varied between from common faults such as acetaldehyde (green apples) and DMS (cooked corn/cooked vegetable) to the more pleasant vanilla (which can apparently be caused by some phenols or wild yeasts), almond/marzipan (produced by some yeast types and ingredients) and the rose-like Geraniol (produced by some hop varieties).
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Darryl Barbour mixes up a new concoction
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Of course, the more dreaded contamination-derived compounds such as butyric acid (rancid butter – bacterial contamination) and the sewer-like mercaptans produced the most colourful reactions among tasters. Darryl was quick to leave the room after serving up the mercaptan-spiked sample —one he described as being reminiscent of getting a ride with the Lanyon Area Taxi Service. (A word of warning, never get in a car with those guys). 'Fart' and 'butane' seemed to best describe the results of letting your beer sit in the sun too long, or apparently allowing yeast autolysis to set in.
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Chris "I'll drink anything" de la Rue helps himself to another beer
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The evening was a fascinating exercise in training taste and aroma perception — not least of all just to see how differently different tasters picked up the different flavours. Some picked up the difference most on the nose, while others picked up the same flavour more on the tongue.
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Dicko tries to slip Paulanski a roofie.
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Also interesting was how subtle some of these flavours can be — when mixed at the concentration suggested by the Siebel Institute of Technology they are supposedly several times stronger than generally found in beer. While the beer always tasted different from the original, it was often difficult to pin down exactly how. For me, this just served to demonstrate how finely tuned the palates some judges senses can be.
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Danger tasting: David Gilks pours a beer while sitting
perilously under the Hanging Bike of Death.
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Despite the near freezing temperatures (Canberra's maximum temperature for the day was 12-degrees, it wouldn't have come even close to double digits in Dicko's shed) it was a very informative night.
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Michael O'Rourke, left, tries to conjur up a better-tasting beer while
David Steele wonders if it'll taste better with his eyes shut.
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The 'bad' beer tasting was nicely followed with a few drinks from Dicko's Bar, and a taste of his home-made, shed-cured salami. Just the way to get rid of the taste and aroma of the Ethyl acetate (solvent-like esters, often caused during the yeast growth cycle).

As usual, a big thanks to Prez Darryl for passing on some of his great knowledge, Dicko for hosting, and Richard for donating the beer — we all appreciate your undoctored brews that little bit more now!