Blind Barrel Aged Stout Tasting

That is a awesome picture, I'm sure that was fun.

 

That looks like a fun tasting, thanks for posting the results.
I wonder if the Triple-Mash Dragon's Milk that came out earlier this year would have been a better comparison? It was a higher ABV, and was much closer to a BCBS than the standard version. It was one of my favorite beers last year, and was right up there with BCBS, Uncle Jacobs, and Central Waters Black Gold for me.

 

I don't know why, but I can't shake the visual of the plastic cups.

 

Nice tasting! Always great to hear the results of a 'scientific study'! I'm wondering if you guessed them correctly, though?

A few buddies and myself did something similar with 2 BCBS ('13, '14), Pugachev and Parabola on tap at a great bar last year. We thought it would be a slam-dunk to recognize each given that the Pugachev last year was super big and hot and Parabola has that signature Firestone sweetness. No dice! We all got it wrong the first try and nailed it the second.

Just goes to show no matter how many times you've had a beer malt bills are strikingly similar from one Imperial Stout to the next and getting them side-by-side.

 

Nice! Actually going to do a BCBS '12-'15 vertical tomorrow. I'll see how our results compare to yours'.

 

"Among the BCBS, '12 was a clear-ish winner, and '15 was generally at the bottom. '13 and '14 flip flopped from person to person (although one person hated the '13 for some reason). The '15 was a little bit more harsh than the rest, which really stood out when tasting side by side."

The obvious question is whether the variation, and especially the superiority of '12 over '15, is attributable to aging. It would be great to have time-series panel data for this. Has anyone compared his/her 2012 rating of '12 with his/her recent rating of '15?

 

Cool exercise. I love doing blind verticals or blind by style parties to take away the brands and see what people truly enjoy.

 

Knowing my palate this would be a real challenge, I don't think my palate is all that sensitive, and so many of the same would probably wash me out. But I'd also think the preference for aged BCBS would reflect my impression that it's better with a bit of age on it vs drinking it hot and fresh. I wouldn't assume it's a hit on the 15 that it's not on top, it's just a reflection on the age. I prefer mine 2-3 years out, but I know I could never pinpoint a release, I would only have a preference, but there's nothing I've had that has the mouthfeel of GI, it would be a dead give away.

 

Hey, we are looking for your results...
Or are you still nursing a hang over? ;-)

 

Also heard from a few people 13 was the least liked out of a 12-15 vert. All i have is 14 and comparing 14 and 15 is pointless they're two different animals imo

 

Me and a few buddies did this around Christmas time last month, albeit on a smaller scale. First round was 2015 BCBS vs. 2015 Parabola, round two was 2015 BCBS vs 2014 BCBS. Picking BCBS from Parabola was easy, but some of us had a hard time distinguishing '15 vs '14 BCBS

 

cool, parabola vs bcbs is an interesting tasting combo. I'm guessing you were able to figure out which one was parabola ?

 

Yeah, BCBS was more flavor forward, I remember the Parabola being more boozy and hot. I can't remember the specifics, we were already on our way to buzztown by then lol

 

lol, good times.
I'm also looking at Parabola/Pugachev & §ucaba/Hammerhead tasting nights.

 

Would agree with the majority here. Have done BCBS blind vertical tastings and for me '12 has always won. It's always been my favorite and everyone else's too. Had a '10 that was incredible around Christmas time. Will most likely age all of my BCBS 2 years from now on.