Picture this…
You’re scampering around a beer festival, trying desperately to sample every beer you can. With all the hectic refilling and draining of your 2-ounce sampler glass, do you think you’ll have time to write down (coherent) notes?
Me neither. But try drawing a picture instead.
In this video, I review the 33 Beers journal. It’s a beer journal that uses a flavor wheel to sketch a picture of your beer’s different tastes.
From 33 Beers:
“They say necessity is the mother of invention, but alcohol helps, too. Born from attending a few too many beer festivals, 33 Beers is a beer journal that provides an easy way to record tasting notes in a small, convenient notebook format. It’s designed for beer geeks, by beer geeks.”
I think this is a great product and recommend you give a shot. You can get 3 notebooks for $10, so that will last you for 99 beers (a few weeks with my readers).
Homebrewers will especially like the notebook because it lets you take an analytical approach to your beers and easily compare recipes.
An example beer review using the flavor wheel
With the Great American Beer Festival coming up in a few weeks, it’s a perfect time to buy one of these for your back pocket.
Have you tried the 33 Beers notebook? What do you think about it?
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Haha, this could result in some interesting pictures. The price is great too!
Wow, thanks for the great review, Billy! I’m a homebrewer myself, and have found it helpful for reviewing those beers, too. Are you going to be at GABF? I’ll have a booth there, and you should stop by to say hello!
@Katie Haha yea, I’ve got a feeling after GABF that my pictures are going to look like stick figures.
@Dave You’re welcome Dave, and thanks so much for sending the books. I will be at GABF so I will definitely come say hello.
I bought some of these. I like the idea but needed more than two hands at a beer festival I tried to use it at. I was fumbling around my sample glass trying to take notes.
I recently purchased the 33 beers journal, I like it a lot it helps keep a record of all the beers I try, also allows for easy comparison, especially if you use one book for a certain style of beer.
@Dale I’ve had the same problem at beer festivals, and it’s really an issue with any notebook you use. Luckily I had some friends who would hold my glass while I was writing, and sometimes you can find table space to take notes. Thanks for the comment!
@Darren Appreciate the feedback. That’s a good idea about using a book for a certain style of beer. I could see it becoming like a flip-book. You could thumb through and see how they all compare, as you said. Brilliant!
I’m learning a lot from this blog..
Nice review, Billy. I made a point to stop in Decatur, Ga., at Cook’s Warehouse to pick up three of these books on the way back from Key West early this year. I love the size of them. I also just ordered three of the wine version as gifts for my wine-drinking friends. Excited for the pending app (Android-only for now, I think I read).