CAMRA’s Tasting PanelsNorwich 2013

Tasting Panels

Agenda

• Background

• How they work

• Their responsibilities

• Getting involved

• What stops people getting involved

• What next

Background• CAMRA has operated tasting panels since 1989.

• There are 78 Panels across the country (not all are active).

• Taste-trained CAMRA members taste real ales and record their

characteristics on tasting cards.

• Panels are responsible for defining the style of any beer. This is

based on a beer’s characteristics as they fit in with CAMRA’s beer

styles

– NB This may not fit in with what the

brewer thinks. They may be using

different definitions!

Background• The data collected is used for:

– Tasting notes for CAMRA’s Brewery Information System

– Publications particularly the Good Beer Guide but also beer

festival programmes

– Nominations for area competitions for Champion Beer of Britain

(CBoB) and Champion Winter Beer of Britain awards (CWBoB)

• The information also allows a style

of a beer to be determined.

• Investigations of changes in beer

character can be passed to the BLO.

How they work

National Tasting Co-ordinator

Paul Moorhouse

Regional Tasting Co-ordinators Regions

London/ South East

England

Kevin Travers

Panels

Wales

Neil Goodman

Panels

Scotland/N Ireland

Eric Mills

Panels

North West

England

Chris Sandison/

Lynda Johnson

Panels

North East England/ Yorkshire

David Dixon

Panels

East Midlands

Norman Hall

Panels

West Midlands

Geoff Cross

Panels

South West England

Steve Barber Andy

Coston

Panels

East Anglia

Paul Moorhouse

Panels

Members of the

Tasting Panels

Advisory Group

How they work

National Champion Beer of Britain

(CBOB) DirectorGary Timmins

CBOB Area Coordinators

9 Regions

London/ South East

England

Kevin Travers

Panels

Wales

John Lamb

Panels

Scotland/N Ireland

Lindsay Grant

Panels

North West England

Chris DeCordova

Panels

North East England/ Yorkshire

Stewart

Campbell

Panels

East Midlands

Gill Hough

Panels

West Midlands

Jim Witt

Panels

South West

England

Rod Davis

Panels

East Anglia

Paul and Kathy

Moorhouse

Panels

Members of the CBOB

Working Group

How they work• Each Panel has a Chair

• The Panel Chairs are responsible for recruiting tasters and

co-ordinate local activities of panel

• Panel members taste beers and complete the tasting

cards. They can do any beer but tend to concentrate on

beers brewed in their area

• Panel members will then

recommend a beer’s style

based on CAMRA’s style

guidelines

How they workThe Panel Chair will then:• Collate and summarise completed tasting cards.

• Based on the feedback, decide on what style the beer should be

listed as.

• Use summaries to write tasting notes

• Enter tasting notes onto the Brewery Information System.

o Longer version gives more

details on a beer

o 20 word description for the

GBG

• Submit panel nominations for

CBoB/CWBoB area competitions

Winners of the area competitions

go forward to the Winter or Summer finals

Tasting Panel’s

responsibilities

• The first stage is to get trained. Panel Chair will arrange local

training.

• Any CAMRA member with adequate tasting abilities is eligible.

Everyone’s palate is different and therefore each Panel needs a

wide range of participants.

• Training helps identify flavours

and aromas present in beer

Tasting cardCAMRA BEER TASTING CARD Surveyor Venue

Date Brewer BeerABV

%OG

Type of Real AleCask Keg

Bottle Can Quality Check

Tick Boxes:Temperature OK Carbonation OK

Absence of UnwantedOff-flavours

ClarityBri Clr

Haz CldColour

Bl RB DB LBAm Go Ye St

Other Colour

MouthfeelSm Cr

Gr Wa OtBody

ThickAverage Thin

Taste Profile (Scores out of 10) M

alt

Ro

ast

Car

ame

l

Ho

ps

Cit

rus

Fru

it

Sulp

hu

r

Yeas

t

Swee

tnes

s

Bit

tern

ess

Ast

rin

gen

cy Other FlavoursName Citrus, Fruit &

Other Flavours

1 2 3CF

Aroma 1

Taste 2

Aftertaste 3

Notes

Style

Bitter: Session / Premium Pale, Blond & Golden Ale : Session/ PremiumIPA Mild Brown Ale & Strong Mild Stout & Porter: Session / StrongBarley Wine & Strong Ale Speciality: Differently-produced / Flavoured

For ABV ranges, see note 15 in Tasting Procedure.

Overall Score for

CBoB

Tasting Panel’s

responsibilities

• Panels may visit breweries in order to get tasting cards done.

Out of politeness, try and inform the BLO of the visit.

• It’s also a good way to get the Panel members

together to help to

standardise scoring.

Tasting Panel’s

responsibilities • Pubs are the best place to taste the beer - useful if you are a

regular pub goer.

• But beer festivals and breweries can be used to top up.

• Different Panels will

expect different numbers

of cards but 2 a month

per taster averaged across

the year would be great.

What puts people off

1. Don’t have a good enough palate

– Everyone’s palate is different

– Very few people can’t taste

2. Getting it wrong!

– So does everyone at first

– Standardisation with other

Panel members

3. Don’t know the words to use

– When drinking a beer,

look it up in the Good Beer

Guide and see if you agree

What Next?

• Contact your local Tasting Panel Chair or, if there isn’t one, the

Regional Coordinator (or leave your name with us)

• Get yourself trained

• Practice and practice

⁻ Your palate will become

more sophisticated and you’ll

be able to pick out more

flavours and identify them.

So get involved. It’s fun and

who doesn’t like drinking beer!

Cheers!

Any Questions?