As I mentioned at the end of my post earlier this week, I received the Beer Tasting and Hop Appreciation Kit a week ago and fully intended to give it a thorough review and workout by running as many beers through it as I could. Fun, right?!?

Heck yeah its fun! Unfortunately that last couple of days I have been suffering from a rare but serious affliction that attacks beer lovers world wide. Distiledgrainitis is a condition causing one to find only distilled spirits in the house appealing. Unfortunately the thought of reviewing a beer related kit in this condition was near impossible.  Not to worry, it passed quickly.

On to the Kit! It comes in a sturdy brown cardboard box with a stylized hop cone on the front and the title above with the url underneath. I didn’t even make it into the house before I had the box open and even outside in a breeze, opening that box was like heaven on Earth! The updraft of pure hop madness hit like a velvet glove, hehe, it was expected since it is a hop appreciation kit.

Inside is a quick start guide, an instruction book with a color reference chart on the back. There is a “Hop Cheat Sheet” printed on the cover and once the paperwork is moved, there are fourteen little vials all tidily lined up and waiting exploration. Thirteen hop varieties and one scent refresher!

Now, rather than use the suggested beer as a starting point I grabbed a Spaten Oktoberfest that I reviewed a couple days ago. Here is where the geek in me started twitching. Not only do I have a guideline of process to follow, I have a hop reference to try and isolate those flavors and identify them better. Instead of saying the color was golden amber, I can say in the 12-14 SRM range.

It also has a list of common beer terms and now I can call it “Finish” instead of “after the swallow”.

Overall: This kit is amazingly well put together. Two frosty mugs up! It made me stop and actually think about what I’m drinking more than normally. I look forward to reviewing more beers using the Kit. The only improvement I could suggest is having something to help pin down grain roasts as well, especially in beers that have more malt presence like stouts, porters and Scottish ales. I checked out their website and it appears they have a couple regional specific kits coming out, too. I’d be all over the Belgian Beer Kit!

If you need a present for the beer geek in your family, this would work well. Its a great way to discover more depth in the beer we drink! (I wonder if I should open a can of Schlitz too… Naaaah)

Cheers!