12 oz. BB Stout blind results

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by AlienSwineFlu, Jul 13, 2015.

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  1. AlienSwineFlu

    AlienSwineFlu Savant (1,135) Dec 14, 2012 Ohio

    I love doing blinds, I find them extremely informative and humbling. Last night, a group of guys and I did a blind taste test of 12 oz. BB stouts without adjuncts. We intended on doing a field of eight, but could only do seven (forgot the Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition from Jackie O's, which I believe may have won).

    Anyway, for whoever is interested, here are our group average results. We all had our glasses in different orders and did not communicate on our rankings prior to the reveal at the end. All stouts were approximately the same age and served at the same temperature in 5 oz. tasters.

    1.) Central Waters Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout (Average ranking: 2.0/7)
    2.) Bourbon County Brand Stout (Average ranking: 2.25/7)
    3.) Dark Horse BB Plead the 5th (Average ranking: 3.75/7)
    4.) Great Lakes BB Blackout Stout (Average ranking: 3.75/7- placed in 4th in tiebreaker due to outlier score)
    5.) Thirsty Dog BA Siberian Night (Average ranking: 4/7)
    6.) Tippins BB Plead the 5th (Average ranking: 5.5/7)
    7.) Bell's Black Note (Average ranking: 6/7)

    I believe we'll be doing this again with the top four from this list, Black Note (to see if it comes in last again), BB Dark Apparition, and two more TBA, so feel free to give me some suggestions. Again, the criteria is a BB stout in a 12 oz./375 ml format with no extreme adjuncts (vanilla, coffee, etc.).

    * Note: This is now the third blind test I've done like this with different groups, and Black Note has always finished last for the group average.
     
    #1 AlienSwineFlu, Jul 13, 2015
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  2. beergoot

    beergoot Grand High Pooh-Bah (9,310) Oct 11, 2010 Colorado
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Man, if I still lived in Ohio (Mansfield), I'd love to hang with you guys and partake in this.

    As is, I've only tried BCBS from your list, but have had many other excellent bourbon barrel stouts, e.g., Huge Arker, Black Xantus, Oak-Aged Yeti, Tweak, Abyss, B.O.R.I.S., Dragon's Milk, Big Bad Baptist, several Brouwerij De Molen barrel-aged stouts, etc., etc.

    Anyway, sounds like a nice sampling and, I'm sure, it was a blast.
     
    #2 beergoot, Jul 13, 2015
  3. SackBlabbath

    SackBlabbath Initiate (0) Nov 28, 2014 Kentucky

    How does lower score = higher ranking. Am i missing something here?
     
    #3 SackBlabbath, Jul 13, 2015
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  4. Jstonerock24

    Jstonerock24 Initiate (0) Sep 4, 2014 Ohio

    I am guessing that the people rated these as 1 as their favorite and 7 as least. They averaged them out amongst the votes and that was the average score. So if someone said it was a 1 and someone said a 3 then that would give that beer a 2.
     
    #4 Jstonerock24, Jul 13, 2015
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  5. AlienSwineFlu

    AlienSwineFlu Savant (1,135) Dec 14, 2012 Ohio

    Yep, what jstone said. We all ranked them 1-7 personally with 1 being the best. Then at the reveal, we took the everyone's numerical grade for each and averaged them out. So an average 2.0/7 means the beer's mean average was second place.
     
    #5 AlienSwineFlu, Jul 13, 2015
  6. TboneRN

    TboneRN Initiate (0) Mar 30, 2014 Minnesota

    I love central waters as much as the next guy but very surprised it beat out bourbon county and black note. Actually I take that back the last few times I have had black note in the bottle it hasn't been the same flavor wise as when I've had it on draft. Less flavor for whatever reason. One time I thought it was because the beer was too cold so I let it warm up and it still wasn't as good as it was on tap (even when it was colder on tap).
     
    #6 TboneRN, Jul 13, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2015
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  7. BeerBrose

    BeerBrose Initiate (0) Jun 28, 2015 Illinois

    I love this! Not surprised at the result, though I would have expected BCBS to be one of the last place beers. Central Waters is freaking great and so affordable in comparison to most.
     
    #7 BeerBrose, Jul 13, 2015
  8. TboneRN

    TboneRN Initiate (0) Mar 30, 2014 Minnesota

    You would have expected BCBS to be one of the last beers?
     
    #8 TboneRN, Jul 13, 2015
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  9. KevSal

    KevSal Pooh-Bah (2,940) Oct 17, 2010 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Awesome! What's stange about black note is the 750 I had (1st bottling) was far superior to the small format ones. I do have another 750(2nd bottling) and 12 and 14... Might have to see the difference in vintages side by side.

    One small format I would recommend for the next one is Greenbush Delusion, I had it from a bomber and loved it, but I noticed it's now available in 12ozers
     
    #9 KevSal, Jul 13, 2015
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  10. BeerBrose

    BeerBrose Initiate (0) Jun 28, 2015 Illinois

    Absolutely. It's one I would throw on the list of "overrated and oversaturated" It doesn't hold a candle to Central Waters, Dark Horse, Great Lakes or Thirsty Dogs examples.
     
    #10 BeerBrose, Jul 13, 2015
  11. Fox82791

    Fox82791 Initiate (0) Jun 20, 2014 New York

    doesn't surprise me that black note is at the bottom, but the CW is surprising. I don't understand the love for that beer
     
    #11 Fox82791, Jul 13, 2015
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  12. TboneRN

    TboneRN Initiate (0) Mar 30, 2014 Minnesota

    Agree to disagree
     
    #12 TboneRN, Jul 13, 2015
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  13. mudbug

    mudbug Pooh-Bah (1,762) Mar 27, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Well done! love those blind tastings "harpoon the whalez"
     
    #13 mudbug, Jul 13, 2015
  14. TboneRN

    TboneRN Initiate (0) Mar 30, 2014 Minnesota

    One beer I do think could compete in this and probably win would be pipeworks barrel aged jones dog...its up there with bourbon county and rare dos for me as one of the best
     
    #14 TboneRN, Jul 13, 2015
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  15. AlienSwineFlu

    AlienSwineFlu Savant (1,135) Dec 14, 2012 Ohio

    That's a good idea, didn't think of that one. Had it once and loved it about six months ago.
     
    #15 AlienSwineFlu, Jul 13, 2015
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  16. OrangeMen

    OrangeMen Initiate (0) Jan 26, 2014 New York

    OP..thanks for sharing results.

    Its funny, almost every blind taste test i see ranks Black Note far behind others....its such a sought out brew but seems to fail when compared to others

    Edit: I wonder if they did straight up expedition aged in barrels if it wouldnt be better, the fact they blend it with double cream might just mellow it out too much after barrel aging
     
    #16 OrangeMen, Jul 13, 2015
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  17. AlienSwineFlu

    AlienSwineFlu Savant (1,135) Dec 14, 2012 Ohio

    That's my belief. It's weird that I love most of Bell's regular beers but just don't like Black Note... I feel like the best parts of Expedition and Double Cream individually are lost in the blend. I definitely think straight BB Expedition would come out better, but that would still leave the mouthfeel issue.
     
    #17 AlienSwineFlu, Jul 13, 2015
  18. Zh78888

    Zh78888 Initiate (0) Nov 2, 2014 North Carolina

    i've heard olde hickory event horizon will be coming out in 12 oz bottles at some point. hopefully that can make a blind tasting next time. really think it could hold up w the best of em.
     
    #18 Zh78888, Jul 13, 2015
  19. KevSal

    KevSal Pooh-Bah (2,940) Oct 17, 2010 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Totally agree! I was going to mention this one but I believe it contains adjuncts disqualifying it from the tasting. Plus only batch one was small format and it would be abhor pain to track down at this point
     
    #19 KevSal, Jul 13, 2015
  20. StoutFox

    StoutFox Pundit (777) Jun 6, 2013 Ohio

    Ive done a similar blind tasting, a year or so back, with BA Stouts (8 in all) and oddly enough BCBS Took first with BA Doris the destroyer taking second, and also surprisingly Black note was either last or second to last. it was a great experiment but your taste buds do tend to get a bit burned out after the fifth or sixth BA Stout.
     
    #20 StoutFox, Jul 14, 2015
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