Commercial Calibrations for Classic Beer Styles

If you’re reading this, perhaps you scanned the QR code from the Calibration Bundle 6-pack on the shelves at Arrow Wine Mason. Perhaps you followed a link from the Butler County Brewing Society (BCBS) Facebook Group or our monthly Brews-letter. Maybe you followed an internet rabbit trail, and you aren’t exactly sure how you got here. (Probably started with a cat video; that’s what usually does it for me.)

Regardless, BCBS & Arrow Wine Mason are delighted YOU made it here, so we can tell YOU more about our monthly Commercial Calibration for Classic Beer Styles.

What is the Commercial Calibration?

If you know anything about beer beyond the ubiquitous American light lagers, then you know there are a LOT of different kinds of beers out there. Like… a LOT! Lagers. Ambers. DIPAs. Hazys. Pils. Stouts. Oktoberfests. Krieks. Hefeweizens. Dubbels. Tripels. Quads. Oh My!

But do you know what makes each one different? Or what each is supposed to taste like? And how do you sample all these different styles without breaking the bank? Enter the Commercial Calibration!

The Commercial Calibration is an on-going collaboration between BCBS and Arrow Wine Mason. Each month we build a mixed 6-pack of beer covering 3-4 related styles. We then host a Zoom meeting on the 4th Wednesday of each month and taste a few of these beers together. During the monthly Zoom call we develop our beer tasting skills and learn a little a bit about each style: How it came to be. How the style is supposed to taste. And how you can brew it yourself!

Why Should You Participate?

Whether you’re a craft beer novice or a long-time taster, there are dozens of unique styles out there just waiting to be tasted. The beers in each month’s Calibration Bundle are all classic and/or award winning examples of styles represented. In some cases these are the beers that define the style. (I’m looking at you, Saison Dupont!) And because we know Cincinnati makes AMAZING craft beer, we always try to include local examples when we can. By putting our collective heads together, YOU get the opportunity to discover your next favorite beer style.

For those of you already into the home brewing scene, we are hitting all of the classic beer styles covered in the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) tasting exam. The Commercial Calibration is a great way to augment your own exam prep or keep fresh on styles you may not gravitate to when popping out for a pint at your local.

How do I get the beers?

Step 1: Look for an announcement on both the Arrow Wine Mason and BCBS Facebook accounts when the Calibration Bundles are released, usually the first week of each month.

Step 2: Pop into Arrow Wine Mason and grab the Calibration Bundle 6-pack! They are normally on one of the seasonal display shelves just inside the main entrance.

How do I participate in the Zoom call?

The Commercial Calibration is generally the 4th Wednesday of each month starting at 8pm Eastern. Login details to each month’s Commercial Calibration Zoom call are posted on the BCBS Facebook Group and included in our monthly Brews-letter (Sign up here!). Just add it to your calendar, put the kids to bed early, and log on!

NOTE: There are occasional holiday-related changes to the usual schedule, so be sure to check out the Facebook Event and Brews-letter each month to confirm the date.

What’s beers are you tasting this month? And next month? And the month after that?

As mentioned there are a lot of beer styles out there. Since we only sample 3-5 styles each month, it takes a while to get through them all. Two full years, in fact! Darn! I guess this means we’ll just have to drink beer EVERY month (sad trombone). Below is a tentative calendar of when each of the styles will be tasted over the full two-year cycle.

Year	Month	Style	Subcategory
Even	January	Porters	9C – Baltic Porter 13C – English Porter 20A – American Porter
Even	February	Bocks	4C – Helles Bock 6C – Dunkles Bock 9A – Doppelbock 9B – Eisbock
Even	March	European Sours	23B – Flanders Red Ale 23C – Oud Bruin 23D – Lambic 23E – Gueuze 23F – Fruit Lambic
Even	April	Malty Ambers	2B – International Amber Lager 3C – Czech Amber Lager 19A – American Amber Ale 19B – California Common
Even	May	Hoppy Belgians	25B – Saison 25C – Belgian Golden Strong Ale 26A – Belgian Single 26C – Belgian Tripel
Even	June	Macro Lagers	1A – American Light Lager 1B – American Lager 2A – International Pale Lager
Even	July	Malty Blondes	1C – Cream Ale 5B – Kölsch 18A – Blonde Ale
Even	August	Hoppy Pales	5D – German Pils 12A – British Golden Ale 12B – Australian Sparkling Ale 18B – American Pale Ale
Even	September	German Wheats	10A – Weissbier 10B – Dunkel Weissbier 10C – Weizenbock
Even	October	Dark Lagers	2C – International Dark Lager 3D – Czech Dark Lager 8A – Munich Dunkel 8B – Schwartzbier
Even	November	Big Brits	17A – British Strong Ale 17B – Old Ale 17D – English Barley Wine
Even	December	Big Americans	22B – American Strong Ale 22C – American Barleywine 22D – Wheatwine
Odd	January	Scottish	14A – Scottish Light 14B – Scottish Heavy 14C – Scottish Export 17C – Wee Heavy
Odd	February	Irish	15A – Irish Red Ale 15B – Irish Stout 15C – Irish Extra Stout 16D – Foreign Extra Stout
Odd	March	Light Euro Lagers	3A – Czech Pale Lager 3B – Czech Premium Pale Lager 4A – Munich Helles 5A -German Leichtbier 5C – German Helles Exportbier
Odd	April	Hoppy Ambers	7A – Vienna Lager 7B – Altbier 11A – Ordinary Bitter 11B – Best Bitter 11C – Strong Bitter 24B – Belgain Pale Ale
Odd	May	Summer Wheats	1D – American Wheat Beer 23A – Berliner Weisse 23G – Gose 24A – Witbier
Odd	June	IPAs	12C – English IPA 21A – American IPA 21C – Hazy IPA 22A – Double IPA
Odd	July	Specialty IPAs – Part 1	21B1 – Belgian IPA 21B2 – Black IPA 21B3 – Brown IPA 21B4 – Red IPA
Odd	August	Specialty IPAs – Part 2	21B5 – Rye IPA 21B6 – White IPA 21B7 – Brut IPA
Odd	September	Oktoberfests	4B – Festbier 6A – Marzen 6B – Rauchbier
Odd	October	Malty Browns	13A – Dark Mild 13B – British Brown Ale 19C – American Brown Ale
Odd	November	Stouts	16A – Sweet Stout 16B – Oatmeal Stout 16C – Tropical Stout 20B – American Stout 20C – Imperial Stout
Odd	December	Malty Belgians	24C – Biere de Garde 25A – Belgian Blond Ale 26B – Belgian Dubel 26D – Belgian Dark Strong Ale