Question for Guys Who Drink Heady on a Regular Basis

The "tropical taste" also comes from hops

 

having consumed heady for years, perhaps i've noticed some slight deviation among batches, however, the alchemist pretty much has it down to a science at this point.

 

It's funny, but I found the same variation while drinking a single one.

From my review

 

I think they have it nailed at this point and that most of the 'variation' we see is due to fluctuations in our palates. Even Bud Lite won't taste the same every time you drink it, but I'd bet a bunch of money that it's pretty much exactly the same beer every time. There might be some slight differences when the new crops of hops and malt come in, but not much batch to batch. This is of course assuming no beer abuse is happening... I've had a couple of Headys that were 'cellared' (i.e. lost under a wine rack) for 6 months and they *did* taste different.

 

Disagree with the majority here, as I think Heady can be VERY inconsistent. Age/shelf life seems to effect Heady almost as much as Flower Power, and even fresh, I've found can to can to have some significant variations on occasion.

Fluctuations in our palates? From week to week with the same beer?

Might want to have your palate checked.

 

They definitely have it nailed and I think that is more about the age of the beer (as I've noticed two days can give the same 4 pack a different taste) its pretty interesting/awesome.

 

I'm going to have to disagree with you there, the aging of Flower Power vs Heady is not the same. Having one that is 4 weeks old right now and still beautiful. I am getting a lot of the tropical notes that you described celfan and the ones I picked were put in the can that day and I drank one that night and maybe it is my palate, which is not as advanced as some of you, but I can't taste that much of a difference.

 

A valid point. I'll clarify my thoughts. Flower Power- superb for about a month at most, but after that, a poster child for "hop degradation". At two months... almost a waste of money.

Heady- generally a quality beer for a lot longer period of time.

That said- I would say I've run into a fair amount of fluctuation in cans of Heady. Unlike FP, they have almost always been an enjoyable beer, for sure. But still, I do think there's a decent amount of batch variation.

Of course, to each their own, and everyone's opinion varies, and is valid.

I would still maintain that the differences we notice in beers are NOT generally due to our own palates somehow changing from week to week, but much more likely due to variations in the beers themselves

 

For what it's worth, I was at the Alchemist twice this week (two cannings) and they said the second batch was one of the best they have ever done. I already paid, so it didn't seem like bullshit.

 

I actually thought Flower Power went off less then a month and HT can last 3 months.

 

Ya know... jomobon's post got me thinking. I tend to be snarky and occasionally downright bitchy on the internet. Some may have noticed that.

But, there's something that's come up at a tasting group/fun group of beer drinkers that jomobono is a part of. And I kinda need to apply it here.

skivtjerry does NOT need to have his palate checked. Everyone (who hasn't recently thanked INBEV) has a palate and opinion that's just as worthwhile as anyone else's.

While I still maintain my opinion that it's beer variation versus palate variation... that's just my opinion.

The birth of a good friend's son may have made me extra nice tonight. Take it while it's there.

Cheers!

 

Interesting. I'd give FP a month... but I think we agree that it is one of the quickest falling-off beers around. Sublime when fresh, useless when not.

Heady... more research needed.

 

And this is an interesting point. This would seem to suggest that the brewers at the Alchemist themselves seem to acknowledge some batch variation.

Food for... rather, drink for thought indeed.

 

Nice is boring...

Does the BJCP exam count as having my palate checked? I've been lucky enough to be paired with 3 Grand Master judges at competitions and all my scores have been within 3 points of theirs.

I will stick by my opinion that our palates vary somewhat. Get a 6 of, say SN Pale Ale, and drink one right after you mow the lawn on a hot afternoon. Then have one in the evening after dinner. All the same flavors are there but the balance will likely seem different. Not that you won't recognize it as SNPA, just that it will taste a little different. Our taste buds are not like pH probes or volt meters. They are living things subject to all sorts of complicated influences from hormone levels, state of hydration, and many other things, not to mention interferences like air quality or allergies.

Having said all that, there is going to be some variation between batches of Heady (or Bud). Agricultural products vary. A boil at low barometric pressure is a little different than one when the weather is good. That bag of Simcoe might be 12.5% alpha acids while the last one was 12.2%... My opinion is that the largest variation with Heady is carbonation levels, which of course changes the taste a bit. Of course there are differences; I just think they're pretty small relative to some other things that influence our perceptions. YMMV.

And some beers certainly are inconsistent, but Heady, except for the first 2-3 months of production at the cannery, doesn't seem to be one of them. Heady at the pub did change batch to batch but that was mostly intentional, except for one bad batch of malt, just John perfecting the recipe.

 

Hey, we've all got to step out of our comfort zone now and then!

Great post though. Even without your rather impressive credentials (not the least bit of snark or sarcasm there), you make some solid points. Very solid.

On one hand, I'd like to say that I was thinking in terms of a semi-ideal "sampling context", in which case, using Heady as an example, I would still maintain that batch variation trumps palate variation.

But, as you very adeptly suggest, does that "ideal sampling context" even really exist? Moreover, in how many cases can we actually say we are ensuring that's the context we sample a beer under?

Very interesting, some great food for thought.

You jerk.

ps- I really think you should pass on cans of Heady from multiple different batches so I can look into this further.

 

Heady doesn't stick around our house too long, believe me. The aged cans were at our son's house down in DC; we took him a case and a couple got lost, and then found shortly before our next visit.

We will never know for sure how much variation there is. It's not valid to compare last week's batch with what you buy today. If drank side by side, one is a week older and obviously different for reasons beyond anyone's control. Relying on memory of last week's beer is even worse, at least for me and most people I know.

Auror makes a good point too. As the beer in your glass (can) warms up and loses some CO2, its taste will change. I think this why big hoppy beers don't often do well in the best-of-show round at competitions - by the time the panel finishes debating, much of the character has evaporated.

One thing that doesn't vary a bit is that I always enjoy drinking a Heady