116 Beer IPA Blind Taste Test

I don't think you can make an assumption about "perceived better" list of IPAs without fulling knowing the extent of the competition at GABF... which I think was part of your point.

To the Paste article's detriment, we can see what breweries are missing that have won medals at the GABF or other competitions

Off the top of my head:

• Columbus brewing
• Laurelwood
• Barley Browns
• Beachwood
• Half Acre
• La Cumbre
• Alpine
• Fat Heads

 

My guess is the order was randomized so as not to damage the reputations of the breweries and to maintain good will of the breweries who didn't qualify for the final rounds. Would you want one of your kids to become last in their class?

 

It's a solid IPA, honestly it's the one that got me into the style. It doesn't have many super intense flavors which probably why it has a lower rating then what you might expect. Doesn't hold a candle to snakehandler though.

I can't believe that Brew Kettle was number 1. I use to live about 15 min south of it. A group from my neighborhood always went up there to brew there own stuff.

 

Unless the breweries supply the samples, I would take the results of any of these tastings with a grain of salt. A week or two of freshness or warm vs cold storage conditions can make all the difference.

 

sure they are, it just depends on what you consider professional. the GABF says the beers are judged by a professional judge panel.

 

No, I would want my kid to be sorted alphabetically

 

They also descibe what is meant by that, i.e., the qualifcations of the panelists is that they are professionals associated with beer, but not professional judges. and not all have been through the BJCP training course, etc. e.g., Brewery owners, beer writers, etc.

 

Sad to see Blind Pig from Russian River sitting out in the "Field" personally my favorite of everything that was listed, but very cool to see some of my local guys high up in the ratings, especially Spiteful.

 

We'll have to ask the author there, but for some people randomization is the way to prevent others from drawing erroneous inferences...

 

I want to be surprised that Fort George Vortex is that high on the list, but I participated in a blind tasting of Oregon IPAs a few months back and it placed #2 in my rankings (behind Breakside IPA, which for whatever reason still seems to be underrated around here). I enjoy both Barley Brown's Pallet Jack and Boneyard's RPM more than Vortex in "regular" situations, but that's the nature of blind tests right? It's also good to see some workhorse IPAs like Two Hearted and Centennial getting some love - it's way too easy to overlook those excellent brews.

Also, for some context, the tasting I did consisted of 12 beers. That was WAY too many for me. By the end of it I couldn't taste anything. 10 beer heats might sound reasonable but that's still a lot in my eyes. I'd feel much better about picking a winner amongst 4-5 beers max I think.

 

I consider that proffesional.

 

Then the judges used in the article tasting are a professional panel as well.

 

Yeah they are. Never said they werent.

 

Then what was the point of your bolding in the first post you made??? Seemed like it was intended as a contrast to the article's panel.

 

Seems like a pretty outlandish and egregious inference on your part.

I didn't mean any such thing - just highlighting the main points of my post.

 

I'm not so sure they purchased the beers.

from their explanation:
"Other times, breweries simply choose not to participate"

if they were buying the beer, the breweries wouldn't be "choosing" to participate.

 

Not at all egregious. If you chose to highlight that the number was different, and that it was a professional judging panel and then make the point that that was the GABF, you could have saved yourself a lot of words by saying something as simple and easy as "Sounds like GABF."

 

Maybe I missed it, but it'd be interesting to know more about WHEN each beer was purchased (over the course of a week? a month?) and when it was bottled/drank. If beer A is purchased on day 1 and sits for a month when beer B was purchased "fresh" on day 30 and drank, that makes a huge difference IMO (obviously bottling dates also play a factor). Still a great read, how bout that rajah! It's a great IPA for sure.

 

Perfect timing! Thanks for posting.

 

Okay, Jackie Chiles.

That's seems to be a straight-forward interpretation of your post.