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Jess is a BJCP National ranked beer judge, award winning cider maker, and Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Jess studies how children (and adults!) use language (e.g., words) to describe their perceptual experiences (e.g., the things we see, smell, and taste). Judging beers, ciders, and meads allows her to combine her love of fermentation with her research interests -- Jess loves the challenge of using the precision of language to represent the complicated and intense experience of tasting, smelling, and seeing a brew.
Unicorn Farm IPA by Back East Brewing Co. was judged as a BJCP 21A (American IPA).
The aroma is immediately enticing. Big tropical fruit notes (passion fruit, guava), with a light hint of white grapes, and a punch of young pine. There is a slight hint of orange in the aroma, also. The... Read More
Lavender Ale by Motorworks Brewing is being judged as a Spice, Herb, or Vegetable beer (BJCP cat 30A), with a base style of Scottish Ale (BJCP Cat 14).
When I tasted this beer, I did so completely blind to both style and addition, and then re-tasted with information about style and... Read More
Cheetah, from Rhinegeist Brewery, is being judged as a Style 1B: American Lager.
The aroma was refreshing, with clean fermentation characteristic, a very low grainy aroma, and the faint smell of spicy aroma hops. This reminded me of the beers my dad would drink as a child, although the... Read More
This beer has a tremendously beautiful aroma – strong pineapple, tangerine, stone fruit (especially apricot), and lemon. As would be expected for a sour, there is a noticeable but pleasant lactic sourness, and a low brett aroma. Unlike most sours, there is also a noticeable but light floral... Read More
Knowledge by Rhinegeist Brewery is being judged as a Category 22A (Double IPA).
The aroma had complex and strong hop presence, with lemon, grass and pineapple hitting up front. This was followed by a low crackery biscuit malt presence. There were no obvious fermentation characteristics;... Read More
This beer starts off with a surprisingly fruity aroma – in addition to the pine, lemon, and floral hop aromas that are typical of many Double IPAs, there was also a strong pear and peach presence that was both unexpected and enticing. The malt aroma bordered on caramel, but was (appropriately)... Read More
