The Problem

What do you do when you have an enormous bottle of beer? My friend recently had this “problem”. He won a .8 gallon bottle of beer from an Ellicott City disaster relief fundraiser raffle. And that beer was not just any bottle of beer. It was a 9% Tröegs Nimble Giant. Point 8 gallons of beer is a lot of beer. It’s about 100 ounces or an 8-pack of beer. So, .8 gallons of 9% beer is not something a normal human can finish alone.

Nimble Giant is a wonderful beer. Tröegs Brewing Company makes this fine double India Pale Ale (IPA) out of Hershey, Pennsylvania. With International Bitter Units (IBU) measuring 69, it is surprisingly balanced with grapefruit and pineapple flavors on an earthy malt background. The Beer Advocate population places it in the outstanding category.

Just as a warning, the 3 hops in Nimble Giant: Mosaic, Simcoe and Azacca are all considered high-alpha hops. High-alpha hops are massively bitter and not for the uninitiated IPA drinker.

The Solution

Having a giant bottle of beer just screams “party”. My friend used a recent (and impressive)

renovation of his townhouse as an excuse to share his Giant. He cooked up a batch of chili and sent out a GroupMe invite. About 10 of us showed up with snacks, homebrews and a fascinating kit of beer off-flavors and aromas.

Pouring beer from a ginormous bottle is a two-man operation: one holds a pint glass, while the other pours. We took turns spelling the one pouring. Despite the obstacles, we managed to “slay” the Giant early in the evening. It was a sad moment.

Beer Off-flavors and Aromas

One of my favorite Christmas gifts was a beer off-flavors and aromas kit. Nine French wire bail glass jars contained various off-flavors and a sample beer. Many of the guests are homebrewers, so there is an interest in identifying potential brewing mistakes and their causes. One at a time, we passed around an unlabeled sample and tried to identify the scent. Then we cleansed the nose with a sniff of coffee beans.

Here are the flavors:

• Sample beer
• Acetaldehyde – green apple scented chemical caused by yeast or more intensely (and rarely) by a bacterial infection. (Made from a green apple jolly Rancher candy).
• Acetic – vinegar aroma caused by infection, often intentionally as in Belgian lambics and sour brown ales.
• Cheesy – Limburger aroma caused by oxidized hops.
• Chlorophenol – medical adhesive tape aroma caused by inadequate rinsing of bleach sanitizer.
• Diacetyl – buttery aroma produced by yeast.
• Dimethyl sulfide (DME) – vegetal (canned corn) aroma caused by a weak boil or slow yeast start.
• Skunky – skunky aroma from light hitting a green bottle for an hour or more. The light dissolves hop compounds. Interesting note: Miller filters out these hop compounds and can use clear bottles.
• Solvent – a nail polish aroma can be produced by yeast at higher temperatures.

Homebrews

One guest brought 6 homebrews to share. He had 2 kinds of Russian imperial stouts and a beautiful barley wine.  We were all intrigued by his wooden 6-pack holder with a bottle opener on the side. Savoring the roasty stouts and fruity barley wine rounded out the evening.

Cheers,

Warren