Advanced Off-Flavors Seminar with Master Cicerone Rich Higgins

SF Beer Week 2017

Taste 24 different off-flavors that can occur in beer!
Smell them!
Taste them!
Dislike them (probably)!
Learn about when and why they can occur!

• Tickets cost $85 (including all processing fees)

• This is a 2-day seminar! (your ticket includes both sessions)

• 2 hrs on Sat 2/11, 12:30-2:30, for the first 12 off-flavors

• 2 hrs on Sun 2/12, 12:30-2:30, for the second 12 off-flavors

• one glass of untainted beer per day is included in ticket price -- your pick from The Beer Hall's amazing draft list during their weekend of Wine-Barrel-Aged Beers! (5-oz. glass)

• seminar will wrap at 1:45 each day to allow you time to drink your good, wine-barrel-aged beer and to chat with your fellow off-flavor explorers

This seminar will be led by Rich Higgins, who is a Master Cicerone, professional brewer, and beer educator. For each off-flavor, we'll taste a beer spiked with that off-flavor and compare it to an untainted control beer. We'll learn how to identify each flavor, covering the common descriptors as well as coming up with our own so that we can broaden our skills at detecting these flavors. For each, we'll also learn the chemical compound, its source, and discuss what a brewer or retailer might do to avoid this flavor's development in a beer. This is a great seminar for beer geeks, brewers, homebrewers, BJCPs, and Cicerones studying for Advanced- and Master-level exams.

Attendees must be 21 years of age or older.

Off-Flavors to be tasted will include:

Funk and Fermentation:

• ethyl hexanoate (bruised apple)
• isoamyl acetate (banana)
• 4-vinyl guaiacol (clove)
• caprylic acid (goaty)
• butyric acid (rancid milk)
• acetic acid (vinegar)
• lactic acid (yogurty)
• ethyl butyrate (pineapple)
• ethyl acetate (nail polish remover)
• diacetyl (butter)
• 4-ethyl phenol (horseblanket)
• chlorophenol (antisceptic)

Staleness, Earthiness, and Ingredients:

• geosmin (beets)
• indole (manure)
• mercaptan (sewer)
• dimethyl sulfide (DMS)
• hydrogen sulfide (cooked eggs)
• p-menthane-8-thiol-3-one (cat pee)
• isobutyraldehyde (grainy)
• isovaleric acid (cheese)
• ferrous sulfate (metallic)
• trans-2-nonenal (paper)
• trichloroanisole (musty)
• acetaldehyde (green apple)

Photo credit: Anha Kennedy