Beer Matters: The importance of being tasty

Perks of the job come in all shapes and sizes, but employees at a certain Bury St Edmunds brewery have one they are especially proud of. Every morning before work a small group gather in the tasting room, at the heart of brewery, mouths and noses at the ready, to test that day's fresh batch of real, fine ale.

"Beer tasting is a vital part of taking care of cask ales," says Dawn Baldry, part of the quality control team at Greene King, "and that goes for in the brewery as well as in the pub!

"Each morning, the tasting panel sample our ales, so we know every batch will leave the brewery in great condition.

"They aren't just brewers who act as judge and jury; we have a pool of about 60 employees from various departments including finance, marketing, customer services and IT who lend us their trained tastebuds."

Quality control

"My job is to make sure that each firkin leaves the brewery in the best possible condition," says Dawn, who worked in a maltings before joining Greene King. "And this means testing the beer throughout the brewing process, including ensuring the ingredients are always of the highest quality."

Greene King uses the finest barley malted just two miles from the Suffolk brewery, and water drawn from the historic chalk wells below Bury St Edmunds, all of which is thoroughly tested before being crafted into one of the 20 cask beers that the Suffolk brewer produces.

"In fact, we are the first brewery to be given the independent Red Tractor mark across all our beers," explains Dawn, "which guarantees the highest standards throughout the brewing process, as well as the use of quality British ingredients - something that we are all incredibly proud of."

Art and science

As well as her dedicated work in the tasting rooms, Dawn spends a lot of time in the laboratory, surrounded by test tubes and pipettes, sampling every single batch of beer that is sent out.

"I see brewing as a mixture of art and science - the brewer's craft, complemented by lab work to ensure each batch of beer is 'in spec', and up to our incredibly high standards," she says.

"We check the beer every time it moves from tank to tank during the brewing process, and no barrel leaves our brewery gates unless it is in perfect condition, ready to be nurtured in cellars across the country."

All in the taste

So does Dawn taste each new cask before selling it to customers?

"By learning the individual character of each beer, you can make sure it tastes as good as it should, as well as identifying potential problems if something tastes off," she says.

"Equally importantly, by knowing how different your cask ales taste, you and your staff are able to talk up the beers to customers, and you could even match them with food, to increase your sales."

Dawn is well qualified to discuss the flavours, having worked for Greene King for six years, and has also passed a number of brewing exams including the General Certificate of Brewing, and most recently, the internationally accredited Diploma in Brewing.

"I have always had a passion for cask ale, even from a young age," explains Dawn.

"I missed that whole thing of drinking cider or lager, and decided to go straight for something with real flavours and some life in it!

"Some people seem to find it strange that a woman takes such an interest in cask ale, but it's not all about middle-aged men in spit-and-sawdust pubs.

"Cask is incredibly diverse, with over 1,000 different flavour compounds available including floral, spicy, caramel, and citrus - to name but a few.

"Compared to wine, cask is far more versatile for the palate, and can complement all kinds of food just as well as a glass of flat vino, but with more fizzle on the tongue!

"It's amazing how many dishes can be matched - roast dinners with Abbot Ale, game dishes with Old Speckled Hen and spicier curries with Greene King IPA."

How to properly taste beer

Before connecting the beer lines for sale, and every morning before opening, you should check the beer is of the highest quality to present to customers:

• Take a clean glass and fill it half full. The beer should be clear and appealing. A cloudy pint indicates a potential problem.

• Next you should swirl the beer and take a good sniff to check the aroma. A half-full glass allows the aromas to circulate, something which is a big determining factor in taste.

• Finally comes the drinking. Take a sip of the beer at first and then take a bigger slurp over the entire tongue to really assess the taste - the bitterness receptors are at the rear of the tongue.

Troubleshooting flavours

The first thing to do if you uncover a problem during your morning tasting is to take the beer off sale. Sometimes an off flavour can be traced back to a specific problem:

• Vinegar/sour - indicates bacteria, suggesting the cask has been on sale for too long (Greene King recommends selling a full cask within three days, as the quality deteriorates after that)

• Overly butterscotch - indicates bacteria, could be indicative of poor hygiene in the cellar

• TCP - lines have not been rinsed properly, refer back to cleaning procedures