Blind DIPA Tasting Results

I think its interesting to share blind tasting results, so thanks. I have had a few blind tasting, and it always ends a little different than you think it would.

 

What is fresh is best. Which means what is local is best. I had sculpin about five times and thought is was an average beer. I finally had it super fresh and it was upserdly good. My guess, is whatever beer was freshest/stored properly would be best. If someone around here did the tasting the order would be different because double jack is rarely fresh and even then it is likely mishandled. If I had fresh double jack out of a fridge on the west coast it would be much different from an east coast double jack over a month old that has traveled in shitty envionments to get there. In Cali double jack is better then Gandhi bot on the west coast double Jack is better. No home town bias, just an unfair advantage for the home team. Thanks for posting your results.

 

It's a good one. I remember Pliny being even maltier than Heady, which is saying something considering Pliny is pretty damn hop forward.

 

Made the journey from AK to VT over the holidays and ended up doing this blind tasting with a few different east coast/midwest DIPA's....

Just in case it's hard to read...from left to right (1-8) you have:

Fiddlehead Mastermind
Founder's Double Trouble
14th Star Tribute
Allagash Hugh Malone
Madtree Psyhopathy
Fiddlehead Second fiddle
Lawson's Sip of Sunshine
Alchemist Heady Topper

the numbers on the far left of the paper is how I ranked them in preference (blind tasting). Then I attempted to guess which one was which. If I was right I put a check mark next to my guess (I wrote the name on #2 instead of a check). If I was wrong I put a / and wrote the correct beer.

Good times!! Thanks to all who helped finish all those open beers!! In the future I'd limit a D/IPA tasting to 6 beers. It does get confusing and muddled very quickly. Can't wait to do this again with some HF, other Lawson's, and other Alchemist beers.

 

I think the results make more sense in this context of respective age. I love fresh DW, but with more than 3 weeks on it I feel its a shell of its fresh self. DJ holds on better with age vs. DW IMHO. Can't comment on HT, nor 3M old HT.

 

I also was not at all impressed with Hop Ranch.

 

3 month old Heady exists????

 

My order would be the exact opposite but to each his own.

 

They are very similar but I think HS has a bit more of a dry, piney finish while Pliny is a little juicier and clean finish.

 

What I thought was interesting was we cracked the bottles a bit too warm and our first tasting we found Pliny too malty and sweet, while Hop Stoopid was full of hop flavor and aroma. We put em back in the fridge for a bit and then tried them again. Tasted almost exactly the same.

 

I don't think you are.... I like Hop Stoopid but Pliney its dry hopped as compared to hop extract/oils with Stoopid. Probably extends shelf life I would think? Definetly helps price point.

 

Funny how only one of those cans suggest drinking from it...the sheep go ape-shit, then don't do the same or defend the practice with the other cans of the same style.

Not to sound snarkey, I loves me some Heady. I just find it odd.