Double blind IPA/IIPA taste testing

Looks awesome! Are they relatively similar freshness wise?

 

Nice, man!

 

Interesting... Why did you do a IPA per grouping of DIPA's? It seems a bit basing in a way as folks should be able to tell the difference easily between the DIPA's that you have and the IPA's with them.

Also the same question as above, if they aren't very similar freshness wise, is that a good comparison?

This is not not double blind for the explicit purpose that you know what is being served, even if you don't know the order, you have a much higher potential to bias with your results then everyone else's, because you know what each of the five beers are, just not what the order is. (Example: Oh, Heady is in this round, BAM something gets a '5' because damn do I love Heady) and with an n=3 observers, it's fairly easy to skew the results.

On top of that, taste is very subjective. If you are all from Cali, then do you automatically prefer West Coast hop styles because that's what you normally experience? Or do you vote higher for something that is interesting because it's unique on the palate?

Anyways, sounds like a very fun tasting of a lot of good hoppy brews!

 

You need some FFF in there. Awesome way to do a tasting though!

 

very envious. a good portion of those are on my "never had but want" list.

I will avoid being a PIA and mentioning additional brews for this outrageous tasting session. Can't make any guesses because in each grouping there's at least 1 I've had one time or less!

 

Sweet collection there, rooting for Apex to take down Sculpin and for Heady for the win. Still yet to try a lot of these though.

 

That's a great looking line up. Have fun with this! My money is on Sculpin and my sleeper is Racer 5. Looking forward to the results.

 

My guess, it is close between Heady and Abrasive in the final, although Abrasive's first bracket is by far the most brutal, and Hop Slam's is by far the weakest.

 

Having done these types of things before I must say this tops anything I have done....can't wait to see how it turns out...freshness is key but it is near impossible to have two week old offerings from all.....as long as they are within a month or so of bottling date I feel it is a fair showdown....if not who gives a shit just do it anyway..I've stressed too often trying to find perfect dates for all the beers....can't be done...

 

i'll go Abrasive for DIPA and Racer 5 for IPA

 

Five weeks ago, we did a DIPA tasting. It was double blind for eight people, and single blind for me. Beers we tasted were Pliny, Heady, Hopslam, Hop Venom, Myrcenary, and Hop Ranch. Pliny and Hop Venom were rated #1 and #2 by every single person. Hopslam and Myrcenary didn't even belong at the table. It was surprising that Heady was so pedestrian.

 

You need a Project Dank so you can have a clear winner in the group, but otherwise I'm interested in what this turns into. Sounds like a fun taste test!

 

Well, I've had at least one but at most two of each flight, so I've got about a 1/20 chance of picking a winner. That being said, you'd need a sample size of about 1000 to find "the best" since people are so variable in what they like in an I/IPA. I just had a Hop-15 and am pretty sure it's the best IIPA I've ever had, but it's not even top 50 in its style. Anyway, I'll go with Double Jack as the surprise winner.

 

Abrasive is getting a bit old by now no? I see that guy pulling it. I'm calling Apex as the sleeper hit. Sculpin to blow out the IPA category

Sounds awesome! Looking forward to the results

Edit: never mind sculpin, apex, hopocalypse and abrasive in 1st round bracket?? That one will be tough, I'd say abrasive and sculpin

 

Personally...
Pliny
Heady
Simtra
Double Jack
Hoptologist

... and Sculpin wins for single IPA's, with Blind Pig as a close second.

 

your guess alron on Sculpin could be right, Sculpin remains in my top 5.

 

I will get a good laugh if Heady gets knocked off in the first round