So my friends and I who have been into craft for a while now want to do a blind tasting next weekend, and will be tasting IPA'S & DIPA's. We've collectively decided that all of the beers being tasted will be beers that we have all had (and like). We're interested to see if we like these beers as much as we think we do, or if our previous ratings of these beers was influenced by existing ratings/hype. My question is how many different IPA's should be tasted/sampled in the course of a night without compromising the palate. Sample sizes too? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!!
When judging we do about a 2" pour and can do about 6 to 9 over a 2 hour period without getting fatigued. With IPAs you can probably handle up to 9 while with DIPAs you are probably more in the 6 range. Have plenty of waters and stale saltines or flavorless bread. Oyster crackers work too. You could do one round of 6, eat dinner and do another round of 6 after eating. Do the IPAs first then to the DIPAs.
I'm going to try a blind tasting with my in-laws during the Super Bowl. IPAs, dIPAs, and stouts. Between the game, the beer, and them texting their bookies every 10 minutes, this Sunday should be verrry interesting.
