.
Footnote: As you can see from the video I was rather excited at the prospect of trying this vintage Leffe and caught up in the moment I gave it a top score of 5. Several hours later I revisited the bottle when I had more time to sit, ponder and reflect on its aromas and flavours and felt that my original score was somewhat over enthusiastic. It was still a great tasting beer with layers of complexity and texture but it also showed signs of tiredness that I didn’t pick up on camera. Therefore I’m going to downgrade it to a 4. Still great but not perfect.
Why do I mention this at all when I could just have kept my mouth shut? Because I think it proves an important point. Tasting beers spontaneously as I often do for the first time on camera is NOT a particularly good way of tasting beers. Relying on first impressions may work if you’re drinking simple macro European lagers but it often does not do justice to beers of complexity that require time to sip, savour and enjoy.
Remember that most of the beers that appear on BSTV are also reviewed in depth on the blog afterwards. There I have more time to break them down properly and sometimes (although surprisingly not that often) revise my score from the show up or down as necessary.
This experience also demonstrates the effect anticipation and expectation plays when tasting beer. Like being served a dusty bottle of highly acclaimed vintage wine at your restaurant table your mind can become hot-wired into thinking a beer is going to be good just because expectation says it should be. This sense of expectation can be brought on by several factors, such as the beer being a certain vintage, coming from a sought-after brewery or because it is a rare beer that is highly regarded and rated.
Trying to ignore these influences in an effort to taste objectively is difficult (as you can see I still haven’t mastered it). I could argue that it is exactly these influences that contribute to a great beer moment. Either way I’m going to continue rating beers spontaneously on the show and correct myself if ever I get too carried away (again).
I am soooo jealous at the celebrator and the samichlaus
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Looks yummi and well by the loos of it I think that you might have some really great beer moments ahead of you!
Like a kid on Christmas eve, really fun to watch when the delight shines through in such obvious ways. Great review, looking forward to more vintage tasting. Obviously I’m not the envious kind
Very encouraging review there, Darren. Fantastic looking bottles! I’m not a Leffe-fan, but that one I really would like to try
I agree with you as well when it comes to spontaniously testing. For instance, I thought that my first bottle of Number of the Beast tasted fantastic, and that was probably because it was the day before I should actually see them live in Stockholm. I was very excited, and the beer fitted right perfectly, of course. I had decided to myself it was fantastic. Now to the point: when I had the second one, here at home, It wasn’t more than an average beer.
Carried away or not, it was fantastic to watch you try out such an ancient vintage beer! I hope the Celebrator ends up being the best of the bunch–it’s one of my all-time favorites.
Beer geekdom at its best! Love the site, man!
Wow, I think I tried most of those beers around the early 90s, at least the German ones. Who could have thought I should read a review of them almost 20 years later.
I can almost sense the excitement you must have had before you tried them Darren
I also agree what you wrote about expectation and anticipation. Therefore it’s good to attend some blindfolded beer tasting session now and then….
Great video dude. But isnt it pronounciated ”Leff” or maybe ”Löööf”?
Pronunciation has never been my strong point. You only have to listen to my Swedish to know that