What’s The Difference? Share Your Side By Side (2025)

I am also part of the problem, although a bgger part of it as I am the OP. Though I think your review is what this thread was meant to be about. Honestly. Despite the failures we are...

I have one this evening that will take a while to type up, but will bring this thing back with a vengeance... an epically long post that will make this thread appear on the top of the sub-forum list for about 12 hours.

This is Battle Oktoberfest, post-fest and based on what was left in my fridge. The first battle is of beers specifically labeled Festbers - Sierra Nevada and Lawson's Finest


Gonna have to quick these, as best I can, which ain't great...
I sipped Lawson's first and thought it would be sweeter than Sierra's based off memory, but they were fairly equivalent. To be honest, these are very similar - like way more than I would expect. I had to really dig to find the SN had a bit more peppery bite in back, but that was really the only thing I could come up with. Obviously a draw here, and I have enough of both for the next stage, I will do a threesome.

It was at this point I recalled we are limited to two pics per post, so I took a pic of all five beers in this comparison and will post it at the end.

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I went with local Solace Gute Nacht, a beer I rated decently high in the past. It is hazy yellow-orange compared to the golden brews pictured above. Sipping it a bit colder after a brief break from the first round, and it seemed to fit in with its competitors. But this thread is about comparison, so going back to the previous beers I found:

• a fuller-bodied softness in the Solace beer versus the cleaner, lighter feel of the "national" brands
• a hint of citrus from the local beer where the light pepper of SN and noble hop vibe of both first rounders, though the overall malt/hop balance was quite similar
• the fact that Gute Nacht is still listed as a Märzen on the can seems a bit off for me (and something I think I mentioned in a previous Oktoberfest thread)

All together, the malt comes through a bit more nicely on the first two beers, so I am nudging the local Solace to the sideline after round two.

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So next I went into true Märzen-style with another local brew (spoiler alert: the last beer is also local). Port City is a favorite local brewery for me, who generally stays true to style, producing solid beers without testing too many boundaries. I appreciate it for that.

Anyhow, this Märzen does have a more dark amber hue, but doesn't get into a more toasty brown look. That toast vibe goes into the nose and taste, which I feel I am noticing a lot more after having the festbiers in the previous rounds.

Going back the SN and Lawson's...
Sierra Nevada into Port City brings out the toasty malt notes.
Lawson's into Port City actually brings out a little spiciness to the local.

The reverse seemed to only work on the Lawson's, where its bitter notes came out when I sipped it right after the Port City; Sierra Nevada's beer seemed mostly unaffected.

Tonight, and likely most nights, I like the more toasty Märzen over the Festbiers. Which brings up an interesting finale, given I've had Aslin's foederfest before and chose it as last due to its unique nature.

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So, we are actually back to Festbier-style with Aslin's brew. It is a slightly hazy, lighter-colored (more yellow) version of the first two. But, the contact with wood replaces the toasting of the malt in a way... I could argue?

The wood shop comes in the aroma, and the taste backs it up. It is young wood, not like a barrel-aged brew, but it is interesting. Medium light, vanilla and a hint of spice from wood or hop, a lemon citrus edge and a lingering wood note in this brew.

Going back to Port City, and yeah - the fun uniqueness of Aslin melts away as nostalgic familiarity takes over.



So, Port City wins over time. But a quick super-comparison reveals...
That I mixed up the glasses. Oh, well. I am not spending any more time on this. I think the only classic Märzen style in the group won the day. I'd probably go Lawson's by a hair of a nose next, though I do like the uniqueness of the foeder in Aslin's beer.

Prost, all!!!

 

Ok, this one is called, "Battle Bold, but Old, Hops" - with the high ABV DIPA/TIPA I have had in the fridge for a while now and I decided now was the time to taste them, despite not having fresh offerings on hand. The Hopslam has a BB date of Jan 2024 - so I'd presume a 2023 release. The Hoptimum are 2022 and 2021 - one of which is obvious in the photo.


The first thing of note is right in front of my face - the fact that Hopslam, despite being from a can, had a robust and sticky head (honey effect?). The Bell's offering is also a bit hazy compared to the two Sierra Nevada brews. The oldest beer is the clearest, and has the brightest orange in the spectrum of amber beers in front of me.

A quick sip and Hopslam seems the least fizzy, carbonation wise. Overall, the three seemed more similar than expected (which obviously is not completely unexpected for two of them).

The newest, 2022 Hoptimum had a more candy-like orange relative to the orange rind of 2021 Hoptimum, with Hopslam being in between the two on the sweet citrus side. All had a hint of alcohol tickling my nose. Hopslam had a hint of grapefruit where Hoptimum leaned a little more pine in the nose; this was initially a small distinction as I looked for differentiation, but became more obvious as I sniffed more throughout the tasting. There wasn't much difference between the Hopimums.

Sipping Hopslam next to 2022, and the pine vs fruit came out, specifically with the bitter notes. Hoptimum 2022 had a more aggressive and lingering bitterness. Hopslam's bitterness fell off a bit short into the after taste, though the pithiness hung out quietly for a little while.

The older Hoptimum 2021 is a bit sweeter throughout, and the piney finish is more tame than the fresher version. However, going back and forth, things seemed to move towards similarity. Going from the 2021 Hoptimum to Hopslam, and the latter seems smoother and is slowly getting into the "sweeter" realm in this comparison.

The GF indicated her order was Hopslam, 2022 Hoptimum, 2021 Hoptimum. She only saw the Hopslam can and assumed they were all Hopslams.

I like the Hopslam the least, though I was always a skeptic when it came to this Bell's being one for me. I am leaning towards the newer Hoptimum today, but the two Sierra Nevada pours are quite similar.

 

I decided to take a half day today and stopped by the beer store. My bank account complained a bit, but I found the Northern Hemisphere Harvest (NHH) there so I could attempt to replicate the pairing of @FRANKHAZE of this beer with Celebration.

I agree with his impression of looks - Celebration has at least a chill haze, but it seems a bit more than that. Pouring, they looked the same color, but Celebration went matte where NHH went shiny. I thought NHH's head looked a little more creamy at first, and maybe it is, but there wasn't as big a difference as they fell as I expected.

The nose has Celebration with more pine notes, and the citrus comes out a little more readily than the nose of Harvest. Harvest is a bit more fallen leaves where Celebration brings pine.

Harvest brings a nice malt character right up front - one that makes me think British ESB out the gate. Wet leaves comes next, and then a decent amount of pine that the nose decided to cover up for some reason.

Switching to Celebration, the term hop-forward speaks to how quickly the hops enter the palate. Where in NHH, the hops let the malt have some time in the spotlight, Celebration has hops climbing over the amber ale base malts pretty much right away. Citrus pith, both orange and ruby grapefruit, paired with some tangerine or maybe even tangello pulp to try to even things up, but the green pine needle bitterness covers it all.

Going back the Harvest, and the more aggressive bitterness of my last Celebration sip brings out a bit of tropical fruit in this Sierra Nevada offering. After adjusting, I continue to get a hint of the toprics and a lighter bitterness in the finish. I think throwing Celebration in disrupted things with NHH a bit,

That said, moving back to Celebration, and the sweeter citrus note are dulled. It is less of an effect than going the other way.

Overall, I think I'd like to sit and sip Harvest on its own, and I will get a chance to do so with my next can. I think Celebration has a little more going on, overall, and if not, it is at least a bit more aggressive about it. Overall, I pretty much agree with the previous comparison's conclusions.

 

Funny, I am thinking that might be my experience, as well.

 

Ok, today I have the opportunity to try a side-by-side I am not sure I've ever tried. I am going to do a "draft pour" versus a can pour. Admittedly, I could not actually achieve this, but I got a growler of a beer about an hour before pouring and am comparing to a canned beer that I am quite certain was from the same run of beer. Why am I certain? This is Spite House IPA from Port City, and it is a new beer that was released October 17th - I don't think there is enough time for multiple batches, so I am guessing (quite certainly, mind you) that some portion went into kegs and another portion went into cans, which I bought last week.

The first thing I noted was that the can had a more "scum-like" foamy head as it settled, where the kegged beer held a tight white foam. Next, the can beer obviously had more haze - more than a chill difference can explain. Otherwise, the body colors were pretty much the same. The can had a little better lacing.


Getting into the nose, the two samples are similar, though the aromas are a bit more expressive from the glass that was filled from a can. The can has a bit more floral notes, but also an ever so slight hint of cardboard or metal (it was so slight, I really struggle to determine what it is). The keg/growler pour is a bit more vegetable stalk bitter, in relation.

As I get deeper into the comparison, the "fresher" beer starts to express its hops a bit more, specifically the more bitter aspects the hops provided. A bit further in, and I am getting tropical notes from both, and the aromas have converged to be more similar again.

Interesting evolution, but we aren't getting much difference. Onto the tasting notes...

The first few sips, and I am not getting much difference. My mind wants to say the clearer growler pour has a crisper feel to it, but it is a small enough difference, I had to start this note as I did. The beer from the can has its bitterness seeming to crescendo from about the mid-palate to the finish, whereas to the beer that was recently in a keg has a spike of bitterness at around the same point.

I got a little bit of tropical notes in my review of the canned version for this site. I still get a tropical note, but today it is a bit more fleeting. In the growler pour, I struggle a bit to find this same note. As such, I feel the can has a little more complexity, but in a way that doesn't stretch the palate as much as the keg/growler pour - if that makes sense.

So, first things first - this same beer, poured from two different formats, are a lot more similar than they are different. I was digging in deep to produce my analysis above. I do think the beer evolved in the can versus what I was getting in the growler - though I never sampled the beer fresh from the fermenter to back up such a claim. I like what I finally concluded is a more crisp/clean vibe to the growler pour.

 

I think I would've noted some differences in smell and taste, but I am also drinking the beers to find such things. With the looks being the biggest tell, I'd be interested if I could've gotten a triangle test right if the looks were hidden.

I bought the cans from a high turnover spot in town, and I think the cans were cold there. In between the brewery a few miles away and there, I do not know how they were handled. If I hadn't had some at home already, I could've grabbed a four-pack at the brewery at the same time, but I didn't need to spend any more on beer

Lastly, Port City actually posts when their beer lines were last cleaned, and when I was in yesterday, the date was November 4th.

 

Ok, one of the imperial stout comparisons I have available to me due to a slight glut of them involves two old school breweries - Oskar Blues and Bell's. Bell's Expedition Stout I bought a while ago and with a best by date of February of <some year> - I am guessing it was bottled in February. OB's Ten FIDY has a canned on date of August.

Ten FIDY has a better look, making this the second recent review where the canned beer generated a better head than a bottle - which is typically opposite of what I've found in the past. The looks of the top / surface of these beers do work out to be similar by the time I move them to the place I am doing this comparison.


Expedition has a better nose on first sniffs, with a chocolate cake-like aroma with some roasty bitterness. Ten FIDY is more roasty in general, with hints of dark chocolate and hop bitterness.

Ten FIDY starts more bitter, with a balance of roast and hops, leaning more into piney hops. Expedition starts more chocolate malty and then goes roasty bitter with a more earthy bitterness and a mild chocolate liqueur vibe in the finish. I think I would argue Expedition is more herbal with a minty tinge than the piney Ten FIDY.

As I went through the taste comparison, I consistently liked Oskar Blues offering a bit more. I really like the Bell's beer, and I liked it more and more as it warmed. But there was something about Ten FIDY that made it a more clear choice for me than I have found in many comparisons.

 

Nice comparison. The way you describe them makes me feel that I’d enjoy them both. Cheers!