33 Bottles of Beer

For Christmas my bro-ham Brian got me 33 Bottles of Beer.  Not actual bottles of beer but little booklets where each page is a chart so you can keep track of the beers you drink, the states (IBU, APV, OG, TG), write notes, keep track of the serving type, keep track of a flavor wheel, and then give a rating on a five star scale.

The flavor wheel is pretty interesting.  It lets you rank beers based on alcoholic/solvent, dark fruit, citrus fruit, hoppy, floral, spicy, herbal, malty, toffee, burnt, sweet, sour, bitter, astringent, body, and linger.  The center of the wheel is 0 and the outside of the wheel is 5.  After you place all the dots you connect them and, BLAM you've got yourself a flavor profile.

Once you start ranking a bunch of beers its interesting to look back and compare how the flavor wheels compare to each other.  I've found that as I try more beers and reflect on their tastes I have more respect for the many varieties out there.  I know I've expanded my horizons.

These little books are pretty cheap.  Brian said he got them 3 for $10.  If you're a beer connoisseur of any level this is definitely a good way to explore, refine your tastes, and figure out what you really like and don't like.