Blind RIS/IS Tasting this weekend- Results

Discussion in 'The Bar' started by atoulouk, May 30, 2012.

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  1. atoulouk

    atoulouk Pundit (873) Apr 25, 2011 Indiana

    Two buddies and wanted to have this tasting for a long time, and had it this weekend. We wanted to put some of the "big boys" up against some lesser-hyped stouts to see which ones we really thought were better. We also wanted to get some diversity within the style. Here's the list of brews we opened:

    Dark Lord, Stone IRS, Plead the 5th, Founder Imp Stout, Leiny Big Eddy, Old Rasputin, Mikkeller Black, DFH World Wide Stout ('10). Here is how they finished:

    1. Mikkeller Black, (all 3 of us rated it #1)
    2. Dark Lord, its too sweet when compared against other stouts, but the body is so great
    3. Plead the 5th, absolutely perfect body IMO
    3. Founders Imperial Stout, not much nose when compared to the other stouts
    3. World Wide Stout, very different but the complexity is nice and it was a lot "cooler" than '11
    6. Stone IRS, was absolutely shocked this ended up so low. I thought going into it it might be #1.
    7. Big Eddy, was expecting this to finish higher as I'd heard it did well in other blind tastings
    8. Old Rasputin- really tasted bad against the others, we drain poured what was left, no one wanted a refill

    Looking back, I'd try to cut it down to maybe 5-6, as my palate got kind of worn out after a while and I couldn't really decipher the differences in some of the beers, not to mention 3 of those beers were 15% + . Was very surprised Black ended up #1, but the numbers don't lie.

    Next up is BA Stouts, any suggestions on beers to use other than some of "big names" (KBS, BCBS)
     
    #1 atoulouk, May 30, 2012
  2. asustevo

    asustevo Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 North Carolina

    Not a stout but Olde Hickory has a new BA imperial Brown ale called Daniel Boone that I enjoy if you can get it in a trade.
     
    #2 asustevo, May 31, 2012
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  3. kpacedo

    kpacedo Initiate (0) Nov 24, 2009 California

    Parabola.
     
    #3 kpacedo, May 31, 2012
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  4. poopinmybutt

    poopinmybutt Zealot (643) May 25, 2005 Nebraska

    yeti, speedway
     
    #4 poopinmybutt, May 31, 2012
  5. zac16125

    zac16125 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,432) Jan 26, 2010 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Interesting. I've had four of the above and my order would probably be:

    Founders IS
    Old Rasputin
    Dark Lord
    Stone RIS

    On a side note stone RIS and Dark Lord were two of my biggest beer disappointments ever.


    As far as recommendations, I think Yeti can be hit or miss (thought the Oak Aged Yeti was really harsh, enjoyed the regular Yeti, and love the Espresso Yeti). I think getting a number of the Yetis would be fun for a tasting, especially considering their wide availability.
     
    #5 zac16125, May 31, 2012
  6. aknight

    aknight Initiate (0) Jun 2, 2008 California

    Older Viscosity
     
    #6 aknight, May 31, 2012
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  7. 71gto

    71gto Initiate (0) Jun 3, 2009 Illinois

    +1 on the Yetis, especially chocolate and espresso.

    Get some of the Central Waters stuff, they are great at BA beers (except the recent Peruvian Morning issues...still unhappy about that)
     
    #7 71gto, May 31, 2012
  8. Soonami

    Soonami Initiate (0) Jul 16, 2008 Pennsylvania

    Not quite BA, but Abyss is delicious and reasonably easy to get.

    Others:
    • Bourbon Counties - might be interesting to have a couple vintages
    • Weyerbacher Heresy - year round available where distributed
    • Mikkeller Beer Geek Bourbon - since you liked Black so much
    • BA Pt5
    • BA Blackout - hugely underrated IMO
    • Black Tuesday - I could pick this beer out easily, but interesting for those who haven't tried it
     
    #8 Soonami, May 31, 2012
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  9. stx00lax

    stx00lax Initiate (0) Dec 27, 2009 Washington
    Trader

    this one is always a surprise in blind tastings. as long as its carbonated of course
     
    #9 stx00lax, May 31, 2012
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