When it comes to assessing flavour Gill Gibson takes some beating. As Land of Liberty Landlady, appreciating decent ales is part of the job, but Gill’s taste buds are so supertuned that she regularly judges at beer competitions nationwide. Her last mission was at the National Winter Ales Festival in Derby in February and her next is judging the finals at the Great British Beer Festival in Olympia in August.
“It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it” says Gill, smiling, “Each judging panel is 6 people, usually 2 trained CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) tasters, 2 trades people and 2 others. There are several female judges – our palates are generally more acute than men’s, one theory is that it’s because the female of the species needs to be discerning when feeding their young!
There’s no right or wrong in beer tasting– it’s an art rather than a science, real ale takes a lot of judgement.”
There are some general rules. Beer should be cool, not cold,, bright with no sediment and have an enticing aroma (tasters smell it when the glass is half empty). Unlike wine tasting beer doesn’t involve spitting out
“You taste flavours in the mouth and sinus, but bitterness is tasted on the back of the tongue so you need to swallow to judge the ‘finish’. We sip water and eat crackers in between.”
All this tasting makes for a better all round pub experience back at ‘The Land’
“ I often discover new beers. I came across Dancing Duck beer in the Derby final and we have served it regularly since. We taste everything, if it’s not good enough in the cellar it doesn’t make it to the bar. We reject a fair few. In a restaurant, the more passionate the head chef is, the better the food will be and here it applies to the beer!”
But it’s not just about the beer, it’s about flavour all round. There’s a wide range of artisan gins, single malt whiskies and even specialist chocolate at the bar.
“Lemongrass white chocolate buttons or Dark chocolate with Chilli and Lime go with hoppy beers and dark chocolate coffee beans are excellent with stouts. And we have Fever Tree tonics with floral tones like elderflower and spices. Whatever we do we focus on flavour, quality and freshness.”
Land of Liberty, Long Lane, You can book a tutored tasting session at the Land of Liberty or do you own tasting – Now a member of the Craft Beer Society, the Land of Lib offers tasting of different ales served in 1/3 pint glasses.