I just completed my first blind tasting with a couple of my fellow Baltimore area beer advocates @gillagorilla @_RL_ @alexk307 and I have to say it was quite the experience. First and foremost I have to thank @alexk307 and his lady friend for providing the beer as well as facilitating and hosting the tasting. The beers we tasted and in what order 1. Toppling Goliath - PseudoSue - American Pale Ale - 5.8% 2. Alpine - Nelson - American IPA - 7.1% 3. Bell's - Two Hearted - American IPA - 7.0% 4. Russian River - Pliny The Elder - Double IPA - 8.0% 5. Alpine - Pure Hoppiness - Double IPA - 8.0% 6. Bell's - Hopslam - Double IPA - 10.0% 7. Stone - Enjoy By 7.4.15 - Double IPA - 9.4% 8. Toppling Goliath - Intergalactic Warrior - IPA - 5.8% 9. Tired Hands - Virgins & Diamonds - IPA - 4.2% 10. Alpine - Duet - IPA - 7.0% With the exception of Two Hearted, Hopslam and earlier versions of Enjoy By the other 7 beers were all firsts for me. The Hopslam obviously was old having been bottled back in January and was thrown in intentionally as a control of sorts. I initially assumed that Sue and Pliny would be at the top of the rankings and that Hopslam would be at the bottom considering it's age. The beers as I ranked them 10. Two Hearted - 3.18 Overall - This was a total surprise to me as this has been a go-to beer for me for many years and it was unanimous that this was our least favorite 9. Virgins & Diamonds - 3.52 Overall 8. PseudoSue - 3.79 Overall 7. (Tie) Pliny & Duet - 3.87 Overall 5. Pure Hoppiness - 3.95 Overall 4. Nelson - 4.04 Overall 3. Hopslam - 4.27 Overall - A huge surprise to all of us considering the widely regarded ideas regarding IPA freshness. This being consistently ranked in the top 5 of our group got me thinking and asking a lot of questions regarding hops and freshness. 2. Enjoy By - 4.28 Overall 1. Intergalactic Warrior - 4.29 Overall Overall I thought this was an eye-opening and surprising experience. The beers I thought would do really well ended up at the bottom of the list and the beer I figured would be on the bottom was in the top 3. I would love to continue doing these blind tastings as I feel it takes the whole hype/rarity element out of ratings. Whether we like it or not the perceived desirability of a beer can definitely play in to a rating. I'm curious if others have had similar experiences when it comes to blind tastings?
I was definitely blown away by our thoughts on two hearted, but it truly was not on the same playing filed as any of the others we had. My favorite three: 1. Nelson 2. Intergalactic 3. Pseudo
Pseudosue being lower on your list might be because the last batch wasn't great. I also think enjoy by might be one of the most under rated IPAs out there. Every time someone does one of these blind taste tests it always competes with the Pliny the elders or heady toppers and holds its own most of the time. It often even beats them.
Not surprised by Two Hearted at all. It has fallen off big time over the last few years. It's not nearly as good as it used to be.
The problem with tasting multiple IPA's in one sitting, blind or not, is that your palate is altered after 2 or 3 tastes of any real hoppy beer. I would imagine your results would be different if you did the same tasting in a different order.
What a great tasting! I actually agree with Hopslam still being pretty solid. Not sure where I would end up placing it in that kind of powerhouse line-up, but the one I had tucked away in the fridge over the weekend was still great. It did lose a little of the hop punch, but it was still a great beer in my opinion. Thanks for posting! Cheers!
