Siebel Institute Sensory Analysis Kit

Beer Used: MGD64
Date Started: 1/13/2010
Date Finished: 1/25/2010

1) Acetaldehyde

Aroma: green apples not of the granny smith variety; the fleshy meat of green apples

2) Acetic

Aroma: pretty intense vinegar though not 100proof; formaldehyde-esque; sour/rotten/turned apples

3) Almond

Aroma: caramelized almonds, candied almonds; that caramel layer on the top of flan

4) Butric

Aroma: rotten garbage at the dump; old sweaty gym bag; disgusting fly-infested rotten orange skins

5) Diacetyl

Aroma: butterscotch, stale Werther’s Originals; buttery like buttered popcorn of the artificial variety; butterscotch first with butter underneath

6) D.M.S. – dimethyl monosulfide

Aroma: creamed corn, cooked corn on the cob; steamed squash and zucchini; butternut squash cooked

7) Earthy

Aroma: dirt and earth of the black variety, subtle; raw wood freshly sliced with essence of sawdust in the air; dry dirt, dry earth

8) Mercopton

Aroma: stopped up drain, shower or sink; puddle of old water; dirty drains

9) Ethyl Acetate

Aroma: dissolvents; intense peach/apricot skins, fermented; nail polish remover, floor cleaner

10) Ethyl Hexanoate

Aroma: Washington and green apples, more meat than skin, pulpy; touch of apple stem and seeds, rooty

11) Spicy

Aroma: more allspice than clove, hits up front; clove faint underneath; hefeweizenish; reminiscent of holiday beer spices, especially the allspice

12) Metallic

Aroma: tinny, tinfoil, aluminum; all soft tin metals; metal drill bits and tools; tin is most prominent

13) Geranial

Aroma: floral and flower; petals soft to the touch, not dried but fresh; no notable pollen esters; rose and geranium

14) Indole

Aroma: dry grass; baled hay, straw; horse blankets, dry and not too funked; mostly straw, hay, and barn dust

15) Isoamyl Acetate

Aroma: banana cream; faint pear esters after ripe bananas; banana pudding, banana bread doughy and moist

16) Grainy

Aroma: white bread crust; nutty; grains first then nuts, nutty bread; soft whole grains with husks on top of crust

17) Isovaleric

Aroma: old cheese, crumbly and a little moldy; sweaty socks, dirty laundry; dead green grass

18) Lactic

Aroma: curdled milk; old cottage cheese; sour cream

19) Caprylic

Aroma: soapy, intense soap aroma; killed the head, could hear it sizzle away; rank old soap on rank old rope; old goats on a rope; horribly intense

20) Papery

Aroma: stacks of paper; cardboard; manila folders

21) Vanilla

Aroma: rich vanilla notes; vanilla bean, vanilla cream; vanilla ice cream and extract

22) Bitter

Aroma: hop petals, whole hop cones; dry hop petals, dry bitter and abrasive; green

23) Infection

Aroma: soured; almost vinegary, turned vinegar; very piercing

24) Hefeweizen

Aroma: estery with bananas, banana cream, and subtle clove notes

* * * * * *

So… $180 and 24 samples later, I must conclude that the Sensory Analysis Kit from the Siebel Institute of Technology and World Brewing Academy was worth every penny spent and every moment dedicated to the further development of my beer tasting repertoire. My only complaint with the kit is the information pamphlets lacked any indication as to whether the sample characteristics were good, bad, or neither in relation to beer in general and styles specifically. Being a beer geek in the beer industry, it boggles my mind that very few of my fellow beer professionals utilize this immensely informative and simple to use educational tool. You don’t have to be a brewer to appreciate the wealth of knowledge and experience the kit offers. Get some fellow beer friends together and have a fun day of it. All you need is a pitcher, a twelve-pack of characterless mass-produced light lager, the kit, and you are good to go. I’m not sure where my next educational foray with Siebel will take me, but I’m sure it will be well worth it.

(an original written work by Kristyn Lier. plagiarism is not tolerated)