Blind IPA tasting - 2/22/14

As far as Sculpin is concerned, I found it to be a well balanced middle of the road IPA. It is nice to have, but it doesn't have a wow factor. I think this is pretty well shown in this blind taste test.

 

Feel the same way about DirtWolf...Just a bunch of hype around it

 

Concur on the first released part and it definitely was not as good the second time around.

 

I woud have beer mailed you a few Jai Alai's just to see where it stacked up. Probably would have been at the top.....eventhough its not brewed in Oregon.

 

Garlic and onion hop aroma doesn't mean it's infected. It means they probably used CTZ and other "C" hops in their mix for Enjoy By, which they surely do.

 

I hated Simtra when I had it a couple months back. Thought it was stupid boozy.

 

Sucks and 90 minute are so far apart in tastes, smell, body, and color. Your statement about those two beers makes me question the whole tasting.

 

Couldn't agree more. For example, a had a sixer of Two Hearted and mixed in a bottle here or there into my sessioning. It tasted different every time. Once it was very floral and the hops were exploding (two bottles). The other times it was just meh. It was very order dependent.

Dirtwolf has been the same for me. If I have one first, right out of the gate it is excellent. If I put it in the middle after a few other IPAs or whatever, it is a different beer.

All that said, there is no way DW deserves such a bad rap. DFH 90 (which I like) is the pretender here as it is my favorite barleywine, not DIPA.

 

I think its awesome that you did this, it's a really great way to learn what your personal tastes are. However, I personally feel you can't mix styles (even close ones like IPA and DIPA) or serving styles (bottles and growlers) and expect to get a fair evaluation, especially when it's a style that relies highly on freshness. That being said, it sounds like you did a good job getting bottles that were comparably fresh, and most importantly to each their own in regard to how you want to do your event. I recently did a blind test with a few friends of fairly widely available (in Caifornia) but good IPAs. The order for us went:

1. Sculpin
2. Union Jack (these two were 1 and 2 for almost everyone)
3. Torpedo
4. Stone
5. Racer 5
6. Hop Highway from Belching Beaver (a smaller SD brewery that hasn't been bottling for long)
7. White Hawk from Mendicino (Last by a good amount)

I enjoyed this since it helped me to make decisions about which beer to drink when faced with fairly common but quality choices. That being said I gotta get me some Boneyard!

Also I need to try fresh Simtra because the bottle I had a few months ago was a bit older and not great.

 

If you think 90 minute is a barleywine, your drinking the wrong barleywines broski.

 

Read the list, not one of the IPA's in my distro. area, I shed a single tear and leave the thread.

 

Blind is always the way to go but combining the results for a few folks gives any ranking a little more credibility.

I do now know what baby vomit tastes like (nor want to).

 

Wasn't that impressed with Sculpin?
And Dirtwolf tasted like baby vomit?
Were you drinking beer?

 

Being from Downingtown I have never had a bad dirtwolf. I find it to be an excellent east coast style ipa. The first time I had sculpin I didn't understand the high ratings. The second time I thought it was spectacular. I almost cried when I finished my six pack of sucks last month. That being said, there are days when I yearn for a jai alai or, lord help me, surly furious. Very different beers from the others but every bit as delicious. Yes, freshness and tasting order matter, but I think so does your mood. The moral of the story is there are plenty of delicious beers from all over for all of us to enjoy.

 

Really? I get a totally west coast vibe from that one.

I'm going to have to agree and say that I had Dirt Wolf on tap here when it was just being released and it was fucking delicious. I picked up a four pack the other day and it just... didn't do it for me. Very curious as to why.

 

ive had two of boneyards ipa offerings and they were both fantastc.

 

Methinks your friend has a sensitive palate, enjoy by uses summit hops and summit gives some people big tastes and aromas of garlic and onions, including myself. For me it wasn't a deterrent and I didn't think it was super strong. Taste is very subjective, but the flavor you friend was getting wasn't infection.