Most shocking blind taste test

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by anteater, Aug 22, 2013.

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  1. anteater

    anteater Pooh-Bah (1,852) Sep 10, 2012 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I'm wondering if anybody has an experience they'd like to share where they did a blind taste test and were surprised by the results. Sometimes it hard to form true opinions when your mind is clouded by the hype of the beer.

    My most shocking blind taste test was between Sculpin, Pliny the Elder and Binary IPA. I had expected Pliny to be the clear winner. I picked out my least favorite instantly and chose my favorite between the other two after some thought. The results were 1. Sculpin 2. Binary 3. Pliny.
     
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  2. ElijahRivera

    ElijahRivera Initiate (0) Jun 30, 2009 New York

    My gf at the time and I did a blind tasting of 14 Pale Ales. I only knew what six of them were going into it, and the identity of all of them were concealed during the tasting. I've been meaning to post about the whole event, but the big surprise was how badly Brooklyn Summer Ale did. It only ranked higher than an infected Poleeko, and a one or two stale/outdated beers. A couple outdated beers were actually better than the fresh Brooklyn Summer, and even Bass ended up with higher ratings and rankings.
     
  3. DropInBrewer

    DropInBrewer Initiate (0) Oct 25, 2012 Vermont

    Guinness Extra Stout and Anchor Steam are two sacred cows that get slaughtered in blind tastings at the ABG.
     
  4. raynmoon

    raynmoon Initiate (0) Aug 13, 2011 Colorado

    Pliny the Elder and Hop Stoopid.


    Pliny the Elder won. Big surprise right.
     
  5. yemenmocha

    yemenmocha Grand Pooh-Bah (4,092) Jun 18, 2002 Arizona
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Yes and it's why I don't drink or praise my local brewers. Their examples stick out like crazy in a lineup of the better stuff from nearby states within the same styles.
     
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  6. wardenclyffe

    wardenclyffe Initiate (0) Sep 10, 2010 Virginia

    Rochefort 10, St Bernardus 12, and Westy 12. I place in them in that order after trying them all blind. I am wondering if my tastes for Belgian beer suck.
     
  7. Brokentalontsi

    Brokentalontsi Initiate (0) Nov 10, 2012 Texas

    Trying to correctly identify 14 different macro lagers ranging from natty light to Amstel light. As a group we is surprisingly poor, with the average getting about 6 right.

    Worst BY FAR was a beer called Frio Light sold at HEB's. most people thought that was the 2 yr old natty, was terrible.
     
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  8. Providence

    Providence Pooh-Bah (2,628) Feb 24, 2010 Rhode Island
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I'd like to see people do a blind taste test with big name IPA's that have limited distribution, but also include Sierra Nevada Torpedo in the mix.
     
  9. anteater

    anteater Pooh-Bah (1,852) Sep 10, 2012 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader


    must have been pretty tough to tell which one was Black Tuesday huh?
     
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  10. shnsajax

    shnsajax Initiate (0) Jul 2, 2013 Idaho

    I went Westy, St B 12, Rochefort 10 doing it blind. Drinking Westy straight from In De Vrede is awesome.

    Either way I could spend the rest of my life drinking nothing but those three and be perfectly happy.
     
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  11. VictorWisc

    VictorWisc Maven (1,355) Jan 2, 2013 Massachusetts

    Oh, the irony! I had a Brooklyn Summer Ale last night and it was possibly the worst beer I've had in four years. And, yes, having tasted the US-brewed Bass PA, I would put it way ahead of that summer swill. I'm not a fan of most beers proclaiming their summer seasonableness (not dissing whole seasonal styles, however), but most of them are just feeble inoffensive incarnations. This one was actively bad.
     
  12. MCain04

    MCain04 Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2013 Texas

    Did a blind taste of Sculpin, Pliny, and Heady. It was way too easy to tell them all apart. Pretty distinct IPAs, each of them.
     
  13. beatenbyjacks

    beatenbyjacks Initiate (0) Apr 17, 2011 Colorado

    Did a blind tasting with 90 Minute, Rampant, Myrcenary, Hopslam, Hercules, and Double Jack. Surprisingly Hop Slam did not rate as high as I would have expected. Myrcenary got the best overall ranking with Double Jack coming in 2nd.
     
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  14. anteater

    anteater Pooh-Bah (1,852) Sep 10, 2012 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Here's two more blind taste tests I've done:

    Sculpin, Union Jack, Racer 5, Stone IPA, 90 Minute, Green Flash West Coast IPA (in that order)

    I was suprised that Racer 5 did better than Stone and I was very surprised by how much I disliked Green Flash in comparison to the rest

    La Fin du Monde, Chimay White, Westmalle Tripel (in that order)

    These were all pretty equal, I was very relieved that the cheapest one is also the best.
     
  15. TwoTrees

    TwoTrees Pundit (895) Oct 31, 2012 Washington

    Sculpin.

    [drops mic]
     
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  16. udubdawg

    udubdawg Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2006 Kansas

    Don't be so hard on yourself. You picked a 100 and a 99 over another 100. There is no wrong order with these three. FWIW I'd pick the 99 first.
     
  17. volta

    volta Zealot (720) Dec 21, 2008 New Jersey
    Trader

    A buddy and I did a blind gueuze tasting with Cantillon, Drie Fonteinen, and St. Louis Fond. Cantillon finished last, with Drie Fonteinen winning it pretty handily.
     
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  18. devlishdamsel

    devlishdamsel Initiate (0) Aug 1, 2009 Washington

    Racer 5 tastes like cigarette butts as far as I am concerned... I'm surprised it would beat any beer in a blind taste test..
     
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  19. Kjanisch7

    Kjanisch7 Initiate (0) Jun 26, 2013 New Jersey

    Doing an awesome blind taste test this weekend: Heady Topper, Double Sunshine, Pliny, and Green Flash Imperial IPA...should be interesting
     
  20. fuzzbalz

    fuzzbalz Pundit (887) Apr 13, 2002 Georgia


    I've never done any blind tasting, but sounds interesting. I also like your line up, maybe should also add Sculpin in there. I'd be very interested in that outcome, Sculpin is one of my top 5 ipa's.
     
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