Mitchell Krause Czech Pilsner No1...

This 4.2%abv “all-malt” Czech Pilsner uses soft water and the noble Bohemian Saaz hop to deliver a peppery aroma and a dry finish. Long conditioning at low temperature (“lagering”) produces the beer’s smoothness and a natural carbonation that makes it easy to drink, especially with food.

Ingredients:

Lager Malt

Bitterness Hop – Czech Sladek

Aroma Hop – Czech Saaz

Bottom fermenting lager yeast

Food matching:

Pour at 7oC and enjoy as a wonderful

accompaniment to roast pork,

casseroles and lighter cheeses.

This 3.8%abv American Pale Ale uses Maris Otter malted barley and Target, Willamette & Cascade hops to deliver a fruity aroma and an intense, refreshing bitterness. This is complemented by a smooth, medium body, the result of extended brewery conditioning.

Ingredients:

Marris Otter Pale Ale Malt & Crystal Malt

Bittering Hop – Target

Aroma Hops – American Cascade & Willamette

Top fermenting ale yeast

Food Matching:

Pour at 7oC and enjoy as a wonderful accompaniment to full-flavoured foods such as tapas, curry and mature cheddar.

This 5%abv Bavarian Hefe Weiss (literally ‘yeasty white’) combines the finest malted wheat and barley with a yeast that delivers the spicy, banana aromas peculiar to this beer style. Bottle conditioning produces a lively, cloudy beer, perfect on a hot summer’s day.

Ingredients:

Wheat malt, Lager malt, Pale Ale malt

Bittering hop – German Perle

Bavarian Hefe Weiss top fermenting yeast

Food Matching:

Pour half the bottle then swirl to mix the yeast. Enjoy at 7oC as a wonderful accompaniment to light foods such as chicken salad, seafood and lemon meringue pie.

Enjoying your Mitchell Krause beer

How good a beer tastes depends on many criteria, some controllable in the brewery or pub and some uncontrollable such as where you are, who you’re with, what mood you’re in. If you’re on holiday, watching the sun set over the horizon, arm-in-arm with your loved one the chances are that whatever the cold beer, it’ll taste fantastic! The thing is it never tastes the same once you get home….

If you’re interested in the more technical route to enjoying your Mitchell Krause beer read on.

Serve

In the perfect world, you’ll have a Mitchell Krause branded glass and pouring instructions specific to the style of beer. As a minimum you need beer-clean glassware - no dishwasher residue please. It’s also often worth rinsing in cold water to freshen the glass and to cool it down in readiness for the pour.

Your chosen beer should be at its optimum serving temperature. We recommend 7oC for Mitchell Krause beers. This is cooler than a pint of cask ale in the pub (10-12oC) and slightly warmer than most other draught beers (4-6oC). The average domestic fridge is set at 4oC so if this is where you’re lucky enough to store your beer, allow it to stand for a few minutes before pouring.

Hold the glass at a 45o angle and run the beer down the middle of the inside. When it’s half full, straighten the glass and continue to pour, judging your speed so that at least a 2-3cm head forms.

Don’t forget that the Mitchell Krause Bavarian Hefe Weiss has an intentionally unfiltered sediment of yeast, which is good for you. As a Hefe Weiss this should be mixed into the beer prior to pouring. With the crown cap still on the bottle, tip it upside down and gently swirl around. If you hold the bottle up to a light you will see the sediment cascading from the bottom of the bottle through the beer. Once it is well mixed, stand the bottle upright and as long as you swirled gently, open the bottle and pour into the glass as described above. Some people prefer their German Wheat beers clear (Kristal Weiss), in which case simply pour normally, taking care not to disturb the sediment.

See

People say you drink with your eyes. Certainly you will have formed an opinion and an anticipation before it’s even touched your lips. Hold your glass aloft and assess your beer’s colour, clarity and consistency.

Is it cloudy, hazy or brilliantly clear? Is it blond, amber or copper? Is the head thin and creamy or tall and foamy? Does the head last or does it quickly disappear? In a moment you’ll sip some so keep looking! Does it leave a lovely lacy foam residue on the glass?

Hopefully you’ll be encouraged to move on to the next step….

Smell

The world’s beer aficionados refer to the Beer Flavour Wheel for a dazzling array of very useful and widely accepted terms to describe the smell, flavour and mouthfeel of beer. Let them be your guide but never your master.

Agitate your glass, take short sniffs with your mouth closed, then sniff with your mouth open, close your eyes and conjure up your sensory memories.

Sorting scents into aromas, bouquets and odours is a great place to start. Aroma generally refers to the malty characteristics. Bouquet refers to the hoppy, fruity (estery), floral and grassy scents. Odours mostly relate to the not-so-nice elements that may arise, such as sulphury, stale or mouldy scents.

Half the fun is trying to put a name to the what you’re smelling. It’ll be on the tip of your tongue! Speaking of which….

Sip and Swallow

Take a sip and notice the sensations as the beer enters and moves around your mouth. The best bit about a beer tasting though is the fact that you have to swallow it! Balancing ‘bitterness’ and ‘sweetness’ is critical to brewing a good beer. Sweetness is detected on the tip of the tongue and bitterness at the back of the tongue, hence the need to swallow

Do you detect sweet, salty, sour, bitter or savoury flavours?

How does the beer feel in your mouth? Is the mouthfeel smooth, silky, dry, chewy, syrupy, sticky, thin or fizzy?

As you swallow, what is the finish? Does the taste linger, does it change and continue as it passes down your throat, or does it disappear all together? Would you describe the finish as long, short, crisp or non-existent?