What to include in a BBA Stout Tasting

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by BreweryRun, Feb 12, 2015.

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  1. BreweryRun

    BreweryRun Initiate (0) Feb 22, 2013 California

    I'm planning on doing a BBA stout tasting, potentially blind, with a bunch of friends in the next month or so. I know for sure I'll be including:

    '14 Black Tuesday
    '14 Pugachev's Cobra
    Both the '14 13.8% and 14.4% BCBS
    WootStout 2.0

    I may seek a few more out before then, but as it stands my potential additions would be the original Wootstout and Black Xantus. Obviously it's not a huge deal to add these in, but the Wootstout has an extra year on the next oldest and is also only 25% barrel aged (I believe 2.0 is at least 50%). And then Black Xantus is the only one with coffee added. Any thoughts would be helpful, or other beers you think fit in particularly well with this group.
     
    #1 BreweryRun, Feb 12, 2015
  2. 2beerdogs

    2beerdogs Grand Pooh-Bah (5,682) Jan 31, 2005 California
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Alesmith Speedway Vietnamese or Kopi Luwak are phenomenal.
     
    #2 2beerdogs, Feb 12, 2015
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  3. Nominoe

    Nominoe Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2014 California

    If you're doing it blind are you going to try compare them all the same? Or blind BT and WootStout separately from Pugachev's Cobra and BCBS?
     
    #3 Nominoe, Feb 12, 2015
  4. PSU_Mike

    PSU_Mike Initiate (0) Sep 6, 2013 Pennsylvania

    I have nothing to add other than the fact that Pugachev's Cobra is absolutely fantastic and horribly underrated.
     
    #4 PSU_Mike, Feb 12, 2015
    Nisfornike, The_Beer_Shark and BreweryRun like this.
  5. SeanBond

    SeanBond Pooh-Bah (2,904) Jul 30, 2013 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    W00tstout (1.0) probably won't be super tough to taste, since as you mentioned, it's pretty low on the barrel-aging (good beer, though).

    You're in Cali, so I would personally throw in a Parabola or something if you can get it. Parabola with BCBS is a pretty fun comparison.
     
    #5 SeanBond, Feb 12, 2015
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  6. BreweryRun

    BreweryRun Initiate (0) Feb 22, 2013 California

    If we do it blind we'll would probably leave Black Xantus out since the coffee will be a dead giveaway, will probably save it for a BBA Stouts w/coffee tasting or something. But other than that I think we would just do a comparison with all of them, not grouping them together really. If we wait long enough I'll probably try to grab a parabola to throw in there but we will see.
     
    #6 BreweryRun, Feb 12, 2015
  7. BMBCLT

    BMBCLT Grand Pooh-Bah (3,427) May 9, 2014 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    Westbrook Siberian Black Magic Panther and Evil Twin Double Barrel Jesus.
     
    #7 BMBCLT, Feb 12, 2015
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  8. evilcatfish

    evilcatfish Pooh-Bah (2,116) May 11, 2012 Missouri
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    You might be surprised about whether the coffee is a dead giveaway or not.

    Couple suggestions:
    1. For it to truly be blind, don't tell anybody what the beers are. Get one person (who can still drink the beers of course, just not blindly) to do the pouring and receive the bottles from each participant. Everybody keep the identity of the beer they contribute to themselves. The results will be very interesting, two people may bring the same beer but they get evaluated very differently.
    2. Eat a couple crackers and have some water or something before each round (including the first)
    3. Don't go overboard on the number of beers. Your taste buds (and other senses) will get dulled and you'll be unable to truly appreciate the later beers
     
    #8 evilcatfish, Feb 12, 2015
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  9. TheNightwatchman

    TheNightwatchman Initiate (0) Mar 28, 2009 Pennsylvania

    Throw in some year round, readily available options like Dragons Milk. Dragons Milk isn't usually ranked among the top tier of BBA stouts, but it might be interesting to see how it would perform in a blind tasting.
     
    #9 TheNightwatchman, Feb 12, 2015
  10. BoardwalkBock

    BoardwalkBock Pooh-Bah (2,041) Aug 18, 2012 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Central Waters BA Stout
     
    #10 BoardwalkBock, Feb 12, 2015
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  11. Nisfornike

    Nisfornike Initiate (0) Apr 5, 2013 California

    Coming from Cali, here are a few more suggestions:

    Eclipse
    Darkstar November
    Tweak
    Narwhal barrel aged
     
    #11 Nisfornike, Feb 12, 2015
    nc41 likes this.
  12. BreweryRun

    BreweryRun Initiate (0) Feb 22, 2013 California

    Thanks everyone. I'll keep working on it and report back once it actually goes down.
     
    #12 BreweryRun, Feb 15, 2015
  13. nc41

    nc41 Initiate (0) Sep 25, 2008 North Carolina
    Trader

    I'd be curious how a random Eclipse would fare as well. Imo Bcbs is the standard most are judged by, so would have to be in the mix. Narwhal too, shouldn't be a hard get, Parabola as well.
     
    #13 nc41, Feb 15, 2015
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  14. Erikberglund

    Erikberglund Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2015 California

    Darkstar is so bomb but so hard to find right now.
     
    #14 Erikberglund, Feb 15, 2015
  15. RobinLee

    RobinLee Maven (1,423) Feb 15, 2012 Wisconsin

    Black Note is another tough competitor, worth trading for IMO.
     
    #15 RobinLee, Feb 15, 2015
  16. BreweryRun

    BreweryRun Initiate (0) Feb 22, 2013 California

    Yeah I will definitely think about attempting to get some Black Note, the biggest concern is not overdoing it with two many beers but if I do get a hold of that one it would definitely supersede a few of the beers currently on the list. I wish that Black Note would make it down to SoCal but it looks like we are only getting a select few Bells beers in bottles.
     
    #16 BreweryRun, Feb 15, 2015
  17. BH712

    BH712 Initiate (0) Jan 29, 2014 District of Columbia

    Boulevard Imperial Stout - worth getting one that isn't 100% BA to see the difference between the bourbon providing a substantial flavor vs an accent. And it's widely available.
     
    #17 BH712, Feb 15, 2015
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