Help cull my IPA taster list

Cassanova in Hudson...

 

Just did Saga and Bent Paddle for the hell of it...had a few of each on hand and both are in the finals bracket anyhow but thought why not?......very fresh Saga (best by 3/9/14)...hell of a matchup.....my initial call was the glass that turned out to be Bent Paddle but the deeper I got into them the closer it got....Saga much dryer and definitely more pure bitterness....I just liked the flavor of the Bent Paddle better....more of a sweeter tropical fruitiness...

 

Big tasters with my brother are this weekend. I warmed up with a three IPA battle...

-Two Hearted (OK date but not great...we got a fresh growler for the real challenge this weekend)
-Bent Paddle
-Lift Bridge Hop Dish..

Pretty clear cut finish here with Hop Dish #1, Bent Paddle #2 and Two Hearted #3

*The last time I did an IPA big blind challenge Hop Dish bested a field of about 10 if I remember right so no real surprise here....I do like Bent Paddle quite a bit....the two-hearted while ok on the date was aged on the buds....I'm sure the fresh growler will give a better representation this weekend.

 

Note: Once this is all complete I plan on presenting this in order but for now here is the latest.

Two big tasters this past weekend with my brother. These are the final 14 beers in contention for what will be our final championship taster.

*Dates were all good to very good to great for both taster entrants for those we could find dates on which were most except Hopdish and maybe Steel Toe (can't remember...if we found it it was good because nothing was real old that we put in)...

Taster #1-(order of finish is a combined ranking for both of us)

1. Founders Centennial
2. Bear Republic Racer 5
3. Bemidji Brewing
4 (Tie) Stone
4 (Tie). Founders All Day IPA (awesome aroma but thinish body cost it)
6. Saga
7. Town Hall Masala Mama.

Recap: For some reason the ultra fresh Saga we had did not fare well....even more disappointing was Masala Mama which got 6th and 7th place votes from the two of us....marmalade notes galore but not much for attention getting hop flavor or aroma. (I've got notes galore from the tasting but not in the mood to type all that...maybe in the final rundown..any questions ask and I'll pass on our notes on that beer). All were bottles except Town Hall and Bemidji which came from growlers.

This was the weaker of the two brackets and after both brackets were complete we decided only the top three beers from this bracket deserved to make the final championship taster.

Taster #2-(order of finish is a combined ranking for both of us)

1. Toppling Goliath Psuedo Sue
2. Liftbridge Hopdish
3. Odell
4. (tie) Ballast Point Sculpin
4. (tie) Bent Paddle IPA
6. Two Hearted
7. Steel Toe Size 11

Recap: An impressive collection of IPA's. My brother commented this was the greatest collection of quality beers in any of the tasters we have done (10-20 total over the years). Sue is easily identifiable and truly drinks like an IPA...no body issues here like All Day.....Sue was spectacular as was Hop Dish.....Hop Dish more balanced with a real nice malt flavor to go along with a complex hop profile...Odell as always was right there....Sculpin and Bent Paddle were also legit......the two we felt did not deserve to move on were Two-Hearted and Steel Toe....not that there was anything wrong with them but we felt the top three beers from taster one deserved spots in the final over them.....All were bottles except Bent Paddle which was a can and Toppling Goliath and Two Hearted which were fresh growlers from Hudson.

So there you have it....final 8 looks like this: (listed in order of preference from these two tasters)

1. Toppling Goliath Psuedo Sue
2. Liftbridge Hopdish
3. Odell
4. Founders Centennial
5. Bear Republic Racer 5
6. Ballast Point Sculpin
7. Bent Paddle IPA
8. Bemidji Brewing

Finals hopefully will take place over the New Years Holidays in about a month...

 

Yeah...Size 7....checking on the date exactly but it was a good or better than the others..nothing was real old...some were real fresh like Saga

 

No palate fatigue at all....totally stand by the rankings in this one...Town Hall was not very good...we were both surprised by that....I'm still checking the date on the Steel Toe with my brother but I think it was decent...most of these were not brewed in the last week or two.....

The other thing to remember with Steel Toe is that was a heavy hitter bracket...It was probably right there with Stone and Bemidji and Two-hearted....In fact now that I think of it perhaps I should do a taster with those four to earn the final spot....I may just do that....If Steel Toe was in the other bracket I am guessing it would have been much higher...

 

Where on the bottles are they dated. I can't find it but I checked with my brother and he got it at Thomas Liquors and was told they just got it in..I've got the bottle I dug out of recycling but can't find the date.

 

Still planning on this showdown (Steel Toe, Bemidji, Two Hearted, Stone) for the final spot but decided to take a few I had in the fridge and do a five IPA taster tonight to see if anything changed...

They finished this way: (Two clear cut solid IPA's)

1.Ballast Point Sculpin (A fresh batch just arrived that was brewed on 11/13 and this was THE clear cut best beer in this one.

2.Lift Bridge (No date). More balanced with the malt but not in the same league as Sculpin fresh.

3.Bent Paddle (No date). Got this in early November in Duluth but not sure on the date. To be fair this tasted aged compared to the last tasting a couple weeks ago....a bit buttery....

4.Summit Saga (Best by 3/9/14 so brewed 11/9/13?)....maybe just a bad batch but the second time a pretty fresh Saga was nowhere close to the top.....odd as i was high on this in the past

5.Surly Overrated (Canned on 9/26/13)....I guess a bit dated not but the same batch a month ago also did not impress..

Conclusion: Nothing changes...as always the variable is freshness and that fresh Sculpin was much better than the semi-fresh bottle we had in the initial tasting...it advanced anyhow at the time but I would like to get a fresh offerings of all finalists if possible...real fresh offering...not sure how realistic that is though..