What’s the Difference? Share your Side-by-Side (2021)

Side-by-sides are very revealing but they also will influence and alter how you taste/perceive a particular beer. A beer in a comparison tasting can taste quite different when had on its own or in a different side-by-side... and in my opinion, that’s very important to keep in mind.

I absolutely love blind comparison tastings, but I’m actually not a fan of doing them with just two beers. I find (at least) three beers to be much better because it adds more opportunity for juxtapositions. The added chaos compared to a more straightforward A vs B helps to reduce the guessing game aspect as well - I find that I'm less concerned with simply identifying the beers when there are more of them.

Given what I mentioned at the top, when you do a side-by-side with only two beers, you are only able to experience each beer within a single rigid framework (A vs B). Use three beers and constantly shift the order you try them... and you can now shift things around to A vs B, A vs C, and B vs C... and doing so allows you to experience each beer through shifting juxtapositions rather than a single static one. With how easily something can be chameleon-like, this is very important for me. I'm also a big fan of repeating tastings but mixing them up slightly.

 

That sounds more like a difference between two beers rather than a difference between two "styles" or processes.

Somewhat related: The last time I did a blind side-by-side with dark lagers and ales from two different breweries, the differences in tone between the two breweries was greater than the differences between the lagers and ales.

 

Interesting, I was not expecting that aspect but in today's craft beer scene things can be quite 'different'.

And in my opinion this should be a discriminator but I am not too surprised in reading this statement. In my opinion US craft breweries sometimes (often?) have too much of a roast character when brewing their Black Lagers (e.g.,Schwarzbiers). It seems like they have the thought process that these beers need 'more' to be exciting? For the situation of the Czech Dark Lager I discussed previously that small, local craft brewery used too much dark roast malt in brewing that beer, but again just my opinion.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for starting this thread. I love doing side by sides and I'm looking forward to contributing to this thread.

 

Yup, I do find that if you're doing a blind tasting on your own adding the blended 'mystery' beer is the best way to go. Otherwise your brain will tend to be running a subroutine trying to guess which beer is which; and then you never know if you're subconsciously giving more weight to certain aspects or not due to the fact that you sort of know which is which. By introducing the blend I've actually surprised myself numerous times.

 

Thank you. I love for these. I also never realized how visually similar double nickel was to Germany. It’s a fantastic Pilsner I think is a touch too american type hoppy but still love it. I’ll join in later

 

Is this the same Von Trapp Pilsner in their yellow can ?

 

I think my only side-by-sides have been comparing a BA beer that's been in my cellar for 3-5 years to a current version of the same beer in an attempt to determine what aging can do to a beer. I think I've done it 2-3 times but I don't recall which beers I used. These comparisons caused me to decide to give up cellaring, or at least call it 'creating a stash' for spread-out consumption instead of 'cellaring'. I could always distinguish taste differences between beers during the comparisons, but I didn't have any appreciation for the taste of the older versions.

 

The short answer is no. The Von Trapp Pilsner in the yellow can is what they market as being a Bohemian Pilsner.

The longer answer:

Since we are discussing side-by-side taste testing it turns out I discussed the Von Trapp Bohemain Pilsner in a past NBS thread alongside Pilsner Urquell:



FWIW I was not a big fan of Von Trapp Bohemian Pilsner:

"Von Trapp Bohemian Pilsner: I enjoyed drinking this beer but the caramel-like flavor is not exactly thrilling for my personal palate. I am thinking that with more exposure (drinking) of this beer it will ‘evolve’ into a favorite? I strongly suspect that this is the sort of beer that would ‘grow’ on me."

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-592.429644/#post-4861931

I posted that above verbiage in 2016 and I never did give the Von Trapp Bohemian Pilsner another 'chance'. Just too many locally brewed high quality Pilsners available to me, that I like, for me to be motivated to buy Von Trapp Bohemian Pilsner again. In contrast I will buy Von Trapp Bavarian Pilsner again if I ever see it on the shelf of a local beer retailer.

Cheers!

 

Unrelated to the Von Trapp funnily enough I prefer other Czech beers over Urquell because no matter the format bottles or cans it is too buttery for me every time

 

I am pretty sensitive to diacetyl (buttery flavor) but I personally do not pick it up in the bottled/canned PU beers I have bought. I did once pick it up in a draft pint from a local craft beer bar.

When I was visiting the Czech Republic for a two week vacation in 2019 I did pick up diacetyl beer in the Tankovna pubs in Prague. Below is an extract from an article that I wrote and will be published soon:

"My least favorite topic: diacetyl

During the fermentation process all yeast strains (both ale and lager) create a chemical compound called diacetyl. In most cases this diacetyl will be further processed by the yeast into other compounds later in the fermentation process. For most beer styles a perceptible level of diacetyl in the beer is considered a technical brewing flaw. An exception is for Bohemian Pilsner. The BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) Style Guidelines states: “Light to moderate diacetyl…are acceptable, but need not be present.” Well the words “light” vs. “moderate” can be quite subjective. There is also the aspect that perceptible diacetyl, which tastes like butter to my palate, may be OK for some folks and undesirable for others (e.g., me). During my recent (2019) two week visit to the Czech Republic (Prague, Pilsen) I drank many draft half-liters of Bohemian Pilsners but the only beer I sometimes had issues with was Pilsner Urquell and principally when at Tankovna Pubs which served Pilsner Urquell directly from tanks within the pub. When I visited the Pilsner Urquell brewery to take a tour I asked the tour guide about this topic. She recognized this situation but since she was not a brewer she had no answer to why there was variability here.

I much preferred the Bohemian Pilsners that had no perceptible levels of diacetyl."

Cheers!

 

Speaking of direct comparisons and diacetyl, last fall I was drinking a lot of OEC Coolship Lager, essentially a Czech style pils. I never really noticed the presence of diacetyl in it, so it must have been at barely perceptible levels. That was until I had a can to follow a really clean pils one night (either Dovetail or Heater Allen, I can't quite remember), and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

 

When I had Czechvar I could not taste it at all but side by side with Urquell, some PU bottles were un drinkable to me which is odd because I like Czech pils more than German but since then I lean toward German the butter makes me feel sick

 

This beer is branded as Budweiser Budvar in the Czech Republic and I had many draft ½ liters of this beer at the U Medvidku Pub (a Tankovna Pub) in Prague. I never once perceived diacetyl in any of those beers.

Cheers!

 

Ok, so I happened to have bought two new dark lagers at the beer store yesterday. In this case, I have no idea how close they should be, as one in a Czech dark lager and the other just says "dark lager" although it also mentions Kveik so that would likely be one difference. Also, instead of doing a straight side-by-side with them, I decided to throw in another beer that I think might stand out, but who knows?

I guess I will shortly, as I asked the GF to set up a blind tasting of Aslin's Full Basic dark Czech lager, Non Sequitur Beer Porject's Black is Beautiful black Kviek lager (listed as a Schwarzbier on Untappd) and Parkway's Raven's Roost, a Baltic porter. I have had before many times.

The recap:

• All beers, to the surprise of no one, I'd guess, had the core roasted malt note, with Beer B standing out a bit with some extra sweetness
• Beer B was the most unique in flavor, while Beer A was most unique in smell
  
• Beers B and C had vaguely similar noses, including some generic fruitiness
• Beers A and C had more fruity openings, though Beer C seemed to lose it with warmth, and Beer B seemed to have lost it from the nose
  
• Beer C had a nose of chocolate, but Beer B showed the most chocolate of the three in the flavor

Beer B was most enjoyable tonight, but it was a bit heavier than I expected from any of the beers. Next I had Beer A over Beer C initially, but Beer C became more enjoyable with warmth.

Although it wasn't my goal to guess, In my thoughts on which beer was which, I wasn't sure if B was the stronger brew (Raven's Roost is 7.1%, the other two were 5%) or Aslin's beer based on experience with they're heavier beers. Either way, I figured beer C was the Kveik beer.

I was wrong. The most enjoyable brew tonight went to Aslin's dark Czech lager (B). My surprise of the tasting is that Raven's Roost (C) - an admittedly lighter Baltic porter, but one I quite enjoy - started out a bit weak.

So I mixed the last sips of all three and this mix fell into the same category as most times I do it - not an improvement on any of the beers individually. The notes from Aslin's beer seemed to stick out from the others, and the mix thinned it out, but it also neutralized the flavors of all beers.

 

A side by side of Shiner Bock and Yuengling Traditional Lager. There is a current thread of Yuengling expanding territory thru Molson and there is a side discussion in there about moving into Shiner territory so here is a side by side with shocking results you could say. I did not do this blind as I wanted the pour and color in here


yuengling traditional lager (amber) 4.5%. PA
Shiner Bock. (Bock) 4.4% TX

Looks: both beers pour a variation of amber. You’re talking a difference of 5> SRM, not even. Shiner Bock comes in a touch darker shade in body and foam. Both beers were poured with vigor

Smell: Yuengling has an earth, dirt quality to it in comparison to the Shiner being just a touch less hop profile. Woodsy hops of the noble character can be picked up in both with dry toast being a major characteristic. Difference being that the Yuengling is a bit more hoppy in terms of scent. That’s it.

Taste: well now. The best way I can put it is this. Yuengling is earthy. I’d call it rustic. There’s an old school touch here. Hope are perfectly balanced with a medium body. A chunky finish with moderate carbonation......Shiner Bock has such a subtle amount more sweetness that is is noticeable. Similar profile in terms of flavor but shiner bock has this plain oatmeal type of sweetness to it. You can’t even really call it sweet. With a smooth low carbonation shiner bock is a much cleaner and softer beer.

feel: as stated, shiner both is the cleaner and softer of the two beers with seemingly less carbonation than Yuengling.

overall: two very similar beers and I wouldn’t even classify shiner bock as a Bock but as an amber just as Yuengling lager because it does not follow guidelines for abv and is simply not as hearty as yuengling ( an American amber). There are a couple differences. Yuengling is heartier also with a touch more hop in flavor. Maybe even an English yeast? Something unique here but nothing crazy. Shiner Bock is much cleaner especially in the finish, smoother carbonation although low and just a tiny bit sweeter. Blindfolded the only way I’d think you could tell is the feel of this beer.

overall these beers have a lot in common and I do not think Shiner needs to worry about losing fans as they are similar but different enough to tell the difference. The mouthfeel of the beers has the largest impact on me.

Cheers!!!

@JackHorzempa
@nc41 @YamBag @Ranbot @zid @EmperorBatman @dennisthreeninefiveone

 

I think this is exactly the right comparison for Shiner, and you'd be doing it a disservice by comparing it to a Continental Bock if you did. The old-school American Bock substyle (which is what it is) is actually a beefed-up AAL. I came of age at the tail end of that era, and do remember that they were more of a thing in the 70s and precious few have survived to this date; Shiner being one of them. It's probably no coincidence that as Lite beers ascended American Bocks went by the wayside; the majority of drinkers wanting less character in their beers drove that market.

 

A very nice side-by-side tasting.

If you are so motivated you might want to compare one of these beers (or both?) with Genny Bock which should be coming out shortly.

Genny Bock is my favorite AAAL beer but I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts here.

Cheers to you!

 

I will do my best to find this. If I can not find it then I will ask if my job can order it. I’d say I am a traditionalist so I did not go into this tasting expecting Shiner to be a “real” bock and shiner and yuengling are so similar it was surprising. Cheers