I'm often asked what beer I would recommend, my reply has always been "sorry I can't, all palates are different - taste them and make up your own mind." It doesn't sound that helpful a response but having spent many years travelling and supping all kinds of brews, a taster will get you past the problem I experienced of having a pint in front of you, bought with your own hard-earned cash and feeling upset as you really couldn't stomach finishing the beer.

You can help those still in a quandary by adding your own beer comments and there's guidance from CAMRA & Cask Marque along with some notes from Roger Protz (Good Beer Guide) below. Here is information on how beer and cider is actually brewed from WikiPedia. To help you distinguish between Welsh and other cider & perry varieties we've used the Welsh forms for Seidr and Perai! Press here for CAMRAs NBSS (see below).

Steve

Rioja Dry Cider 6.7%

You might wish to use the new beer scoring system from CAMRA. It goes like this...

CAMRA has a new online National Beer Scoring Scheme (NBSS). The NBSS is a six point scale (0-5) for judging beer quality in pubs that has been designed to assist CAMRA branches in selecting pubs for the bestselling Good Beer Guide. In the past CAMRA members filled in cards to rate the beer in a pub and then submitted the entries to CAMRA, but now they are able to fill the details in online at www.beerscoring.org.uk - making the process quicker and easier than ever before.

CAMRA members will be asked to examine the look, smell, and taste of each beer before offering their evaluation. The scores are:

0 = Undrinkable: No cask ale or the quality is so poor you can't finish it.

1 = Poor: Barely drinkable

2 = Average: Competently kept but uninspiring.

3 = Good: Good beer in good form. Worth another pint.

4 = Very Good: Excellent beer in excellent condition, another pint is a must.

5 = Perfect: Very rarely given by the seasoned drinker. Probably the best beer you are likely to find.

Should you feel like waxing lyrical, Roger Protz kindly let us reproduce some tasting notes for your guidence below...

Nose: the aroma. Gently swirl the beer to release the nose. You will detect malt: grainy, biscuity sappy. When darker malts are employed the nose will have powerful hints of chocolate, coffee, nuts, vanilla, liquorice, molasses and such dried fruits as raisins and sultanas. Hops add superb aromas of resins, herbs, spices, fresh-mown grass and tart citrus fruit - lemon and orange are typical with intense grapefruit hints from American varieties. Sulphur may also be present when waters are 'Burtonised': i.e. gypsum and magnesium have been added to replicate the famous spring waters of Burton-on-Trent.

Palate: the appeal in the mouth. The tongue can detect sweetness, bitterness and saltiness as the beer passes over it. The rich flavours of malt will come to the fore but hop bitterness will also make a substantial impact. The tongue will also pick out the natural saltiness from the brewing water and fruit from the darker malts, yeast and hops. Citrus notes often have a major impact on the palate.

Finish: the aftertaste, as the beer goes over the tongue and down the throat. The finish is often radically different to the nose. The aroma may be dominated by malt whereas hop flavours and bitterness can govern the finish. Darker malts will make their presence felt with roasty, chocolate or coffee notes; fruit character will linger. Strong beers may end on a sweet or biscuity note but in mainstream bitters, bitterness and dryness come to the fore.

ROGER PROTZ
Editor Good Beer Guide

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