A new perspective on beer: The tasting trainee from a tea-sipping background

Hawke’s Bay’s Si Jin Lee was selected this year to sit with a host of experienced beer tasters at the annual New World Beer & Cider Awards in Auckland.

Sipping beer all day sounds like a cushy number.

However, when you are a junior judge on your first assignment and every sip has to be scrutinised, the beer sipping becomes very serious.

Si Jin Lee of Hawke’s Bay was selected this year to sit with a host of experienced beer tasters at the annual New World Beer & Cider Awards in Auckland recently.

“It was the best experience I have had in my six years in the beer industry,” Si Jin said.

Originally from South Korea, Si Jin trained in food and nutrition. After further study to become a ‘Tea Master’ she worked as a tea sommelier in South Korea, before moving to study in the United Kingdom. While there she joined the Real Ale Society.

“My main reason for joining was to immerse myself in the local culture‚” Si Jin said.

“We did pub crawls, visited breweries and I fell in love with the beer. That’s when I decided I wanted to find a job in the beer industry.”

At the judging, she tasted 70 beers over two days, 50 on the first and 20 on the second. Unlike wine tasting the “tiny amounts of beer” are swallowed.

“There’s no possibility of getting even a bit tipsy on the small sips. We drink lots of water and there is always cheese and crackers and heaps of food,” she said.

“I really liked it. There were lots of super experienced people there and as a trainee, I learned a lot.

“We looked at the colour of the beers, clarity, sniffed it for aroma and tasted for mouth feel, flavour and drinkability.

“Then we would decide on and enter a score.”

Because Si Jin was a trainee her scores were not considered in the final process.

She was able to read senior judges’ footnotes and says she learned a lot from that.

“The captain at our table asked at one stage if I could smell the corn aroma in one beer. I didn’t get it at first but then I sniffed again and got it.”

Si Jin is a lab technician at Napier brewing facility bStudio which is used by top brewers nationwide.

She has a certified Cicerone qualification for beer-tasting which involved written and tasting exams.

Asked what she thought was the secret to a good brew Si Jin replied: “Oxygen control is key. Too much and the beer oxides.”

She enjoys a beer that has juicy, herby, and fruity flavours.

Si Jin is keen to apply everything she has learned from tasting back to her job where batch consistency and quality is key.

The results of the New World Beer & Cider Awards will be out in May.

• Linda Hall is a Hastings-based assistant editor for Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 30 years of experience in newsrooms. She writes regularly on arts and entertainment, lifestyle and hospitality, and pens a column.