Subject: Digest for the period 1/29/2006 - 1/30/2006 Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 01:00:31 -0500 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Re: Sparkling Ale ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: paul sorenson Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2006 21:07:58 +1100 Subject: Re: Sparkling Ale Dave, Thanks for your comments, there clearly needs to be some more detail in the descriptions. I have had some very detailed feedback off list on this (thanks Gordon). As for the OG - that is an interesting one, I turned up the 1.045 from several sources - they must have been supplying you with the top shelf stuff when you visited. This is something that can be determined reasonably accurately so I am not going to speculate further. I need to emphasize that I am more acting as an editor for the page, I don't pretend to be an expert on the style. As for which category it fits into there are dozens of opinions on this. Interestingly, Graham Sanders suggested that Australian Pales ales were traditionally stronger than the Sparkling Ale (and I still reckon the guys at the brewery slipped you something stronger than today's commercially available Coopers Sparkling Ale). As for style guidelines, I guess at the end of the day, the more, good quality style guidelines judges have access to, whether they be in the BJCP "canon" or not the better equipped we all are. These days we have so many options for publishing written material. Categories are convenient groupings but comp organisers still often have to group beers together in different ways depending on the number of entries and supply of judges. cheers PS as a completely unrelated piece of trivia, I found out this week my uncle used to work on the site where Pride of Ringwood hops was bred, not far from where I lived. You guessed it, I even put a wiki page together with some notes I took at http://brewiki.org/PrideOfRingwood. > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > From: dave sapsis Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 16:49:25 -0600 > Subject: Re: Sparkling Ale > > > Paul -- I am all with you mate regarding the uniqueness and greatness of > Sparkling Ale, so take these comments as support. I visited the brewery > in 1996, got a brewmaster tour, met with Glen Cooper, got given a ton of > swag (including the Coffee Table Book) and had a blast. My Coopers shirt > is completley worn out from wear. > > Your page lists the og at 1.045 and I think you mean it to read 1.055. > I think the component descriptions are a little tert, and off base > regarding the basic impression of palate bitterness. The fruitiness and > alcohol dominate the balance in my mind, and the og:IBU ratio support > that. I think I had some evidence that the bittering level of Cooper's > was around 26 or so, and at least to me, the overall blance is to > esters, sweetness, and grain all in a distincly thin body and dry > finish. I (think I) understand that you are shooting for a more generic > "range" of characterisitcs than that defined by Cooper's, but I still > think that leeway exists for interpretation no matter the detail of > description. > > While it could nominally considered a regional or even historic type of > "golden ale" and lumped in there, I do think it is pretty wholly > unique. When fresh the beer is stunning. The sweet apple of the nose > is unlike anything else I know, and easily distinguished. It is not > unlike Steam in that sense: Endemic to a bitchin city, brewed in an > old fashion, and resulting in a superb beer that is different than > almost anything else out there. > > I disagree with the notion of lumping the beer with Pale Ales, despite > the historic accuracy of the linneage. In final product, it is neither > amber, nor particularly hop accentuated and is stronger than most pale > ales. I would, however, support an effort to get it put into a distinct > subcategory for Golden Ales. The BJCP guidelines can only be viewed as > a dynamic product, its just that formal change occurs as a step > function. The dialog leading to the change thoough... that is as > progresive as we choose to make it. > Cheers, > --dave sapsis > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > >>From: paul sorenson Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 10:31:13 +1100 >>Subject: Sparkling Ale - "untainted" evaluations >> >> >>I ranted a while back on a particular Australian Style in relation to >>BJCP style guidelines. >> >>Since then I have had considerable input from a range of knowledgeable >>folk on this style, the result of which is: >> >> http://brewiki.org/AussieStyles/Sparkling_Ale >> >>As a cursory glance will show, this has a little way to go and mostly >>turned into a historical discussion. I am really acting more as a >>maintainer/editor rather than style expert. >> >>Anyway to the point of my post, I think it is possible to be so familiar >>with a style description and beer that one's sensory perception can be >>skewed. The style guide suggests things to us and so we taste them and >>our memory of the beer suggests things to us that perhaps are no longer >>there. Of course good judges are more objective than that but we are >>human after all. >> >>So if any people on this list who are not familiar with the beer find an >>opportunity to taste a Coopers Sparkling Ale, I would love to hear your >>evaluation. I am not sure of its availability in the USA, but maybe >>someone in their travels might come across it. >> >>cheers >> >> >> >> > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > ***** Important Subscriber Information ***** > > To post a message to JudgeNet, send it to judge`at`synchro.com. > Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments. > Make sure you use a meaningful subject. > Quote only as much material as is needed for context. > > To manage your subscription, go to http://synchro.com/judge/subscriptions.html > or send an email to judge-request`at`synchro.com with the subject: help judge. > JudgeNet is also available as an NNTP newsgroup, go to news://news.synchro.com/synchro.judge > > -- http://melbournebrewers.org/ http://brewsta.sourceforge.net/ http://brewiki.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Important Subscriber Information ***** To post a message to JudgeNet, send it to judge`at`synchro.com. 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