TOPIC:

I checked my tasting notes for Fullers Honey Dew and there was just one word- 'urgh'.

One approach I usually use when note taking is called Cyclops.
It is just listing sight, smell, taste, bitter, sweet.

Here is a recent example of it for my 1933 milk stout.[/url:2g0z1of0]note the honey dew glass <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt="" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P -->

Now I don't usually use cyclops on my blog, it depends on my mood but my note taking usually follows that format.

It's all about perspective.

You and I both decide to review a car. It's a sports car with bucket seats. You love the car, the way it handles the speed, the noise, the styling. I can’t stand it, I find the bucket seat so uncomfortable that I can’t enjoy anything else about the car.

Our reviews are going to be very different.

This is similar to food and drink. Some people can’t stand spice and eating a hot curry is like torture, while to others it’s fantastic.

Some people hate honey and all they taste drinking Honey Due is the honey, they can’t look past it, like me with the uncomfortable bucket seat.

Don’t worry if your reviews don’t match up to the “Experts” reviews. Develop your own review style, the only two things that you need to worry about getting right is the head retention and describing the colouration, however even this can vary based on the glass.

Reviewing your review style I think you were too worried about getting the technical detail of the beer right rather than putting together a comprehensive review. It’s an easy to read style but a bit lightweight. I liked when you described the smell of the beer. Like you were drinking the beer “now”.

Anyway a few other tips would be to describe how you are expecting the beer to taste. You almost did it when talking about the labelling and the indication of the use of honey. But if you set your expectations for the taste of the beer at the start of your review you can then justify your review by how it stood up against those expectations. That’s something else the “Experts” do, reviewing a beer in relation to it’s style.

Hope that helps <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt="" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P -->