What’s the Difference? Share your Side-by-Side (2022)

I'm doing a simple comparison between the old imported Stella vs the new domestically brewed version.

Cut to the chase: it's noticeably different and not for the better.

The import has a deeper spicy hop presence and bitter bite. Neither has much malt flavor, although what is there is bready and nice, but there's a pop to the import that is lacking in the domestic. It's coming across to me like a water profile difference, too soft in the US version.

It's still a clean and drinkable beer but also bordering on bland. Maybe they know what they're doing and it'll appeal to the average beer drinker, but they're lying if they say they haven't made any changes.

 

Michael, Juicy/Hazy IPA is not my favorite beer style but I really enjoy drinking Workhorse NEIPA; very tasty for my palate.

The two brewers at Workhorse are:

Nate Olewine who has the title of VP of Brewing Operations (or so I have been told). Nate is formerly of Victory Brewing and prior to Workhorse, Devil's Backbone. I have been told he was instrumental in formulating Devils Backbone Vienna Lager (GABF Gold Medal 2016) and IMO the Workhorse Vienna Lager is comparable to the Devils Backbone Vienna Lager (same recipe?). You can read a bit more about Nate:

https://breweriesinpa.com/meet-the-brewer-nate-olewine-of-workhorse-brewing-company/

The head brewer at Workhorse now is Steve Bischoff, formerly from Sly Fox and more recently at Root Down. While at Root Down, Steve won a couple of GABF medals.

Workhorse won a GABF medals last year for a Gose.

I have enjoyed a number of Workhorse brands with a recently brewed Baltic Porter being another example which comes to mind. Having stated that other brands do not exactly 'resonate' for me. For example while I recognize their Vienna Lager is an extremely well brewed beer to that style it is not something I would order on a regular basis (just a personal style preference sort of thing).

Cheers!

 

I am uncertain whether I would agree to "they know what they are doing" but I could certainly envision the aspect of "bland" being more appealing to the folks who mostly drink AAL beers.

Cheers!

 

Thanks, I really appreciate the background information. I've only tried their lagers but they seem to lack that 'suffig' quality.

 

I really wanted to try their baltic porter but it was a bit too pricey. The over-priced 4-packs of pounders really needs to go away, across the market.

 

After finishing the 25 oz can I'll give them credit for this: it got better and the flavor built as I drank it. "Bordering" on bland still applies, but it's another step in the right direction.

 

No, the can was about 8 months fresher. I even mentally went into it knowing that it had an advantage, but the import's hops still kicked it's butt. I suppose you could deduce that all things being equal there would have been even more of a difference.

This was my first time with the domestic version but since there has been some talk that it wasn't the same I was expecting some differences. In a perfect world I would have had someone assist with a triangle test, but that hasn't happened in the past month so I just decided to go it alone today.

 

If you are a Juicy/Hazy IPA fan I would recommend the Workhorse NEIPA to you.

I am more of a fan of 'regular' (or West Coast if you prefer that terminology) IPAs but I do not like the Workhorse West Coast IPA. In contrast my wife really likes that beer and will order pint after pint of that beer when we go to the Workhorse taproom.

We all have our unique palates and preferences in what we enjoy in a given beer style.

Cheers!

 

My terrible memory is working in my favor here and allowing this pairing to be somewhat blind. I've had a ton of Bodhizafa, but I remember recently thinking, "This looks a lot clearer than I remember it being..." and this'll be my fourth Wanderjack, and I have no recollection of its clarity, despite tasting it the first time and reviewing it just a couple days ago.

Blue Squirrel = BS, Other Beer = OB.

BS is hazier and lighter in color, a light pale orange. OB is clear, dark gold. OB has a denser, creamier head, but at least right now (a few minutes after pouring), they have very similar levels of head. OB's clarity reveals a ton of active carbonation; BS has a little bit if I put a light behind it.

BS is tropical and resinous, deep pine in the nose. OB is more citrus forward with a little melon, maybe a little bubble gum. Definitely some dankness in OB.

Taste...OB is orangey citrus zest, orange zest bitterness in the finish. Moderate honey sweetness. BS has way more vegetation, definitely more tropical, has a little bit of a grain sweetness, dry pithy finish.

Mouthfeel: BS is creamy with a slight grittiness. OB is thinner, smoother.

Overall, I like them both a lot, but I think I like OB better. I also think OB is Bodhi.

Reveal: I am wrong. BS is Bodhi, and OB is Wanderjack.

It is now time for me to re-assess my self worth...while drinking two delicious beers.

 

I posted the below earlier this morning in the NBW thread:

Do you prefer it in the can!?!

Last month I started a thread asking: Are there some beer brands you prefer in the bottle vs. cans?

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...ands-you-prefer-in-the-bottle-vs-cans.666904/

In that spirit I will today be drinking the same beer Saison Dupont from both a can (a new drinking experience for me) and a bottle.

There are differing stories on the bottle vs. can labeling:

Bottle: “Brewed at one of Europe’s last farmhouse breweries, Saison Dupont is a 4-star, world classic example of the Belgian Saison style. Blond in color with a big rocky head. Saison Dupont is dry and refreshing. Great with all grilled foods.”

Can: “Brewed at one of Europe’s last farmhouse breweries. A classic example of the Belgian Saison style. Golden blond in color with a thick creamy head. Dry, yet refreshing, leaving you wanting more – sip after sip.”

Different but essentially the same.

If you want to read more about the Saison beer style and Saison Dupont:

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Saison_Beer

Before I start the drinking aspect, I will first discuss a few topics which may be ‘confounders’ to this side-by-side tasting:

Age of the beer

The bottle has a date of L21143A. My Little Orphan Annie decoder doesn’t completely work with the Saison Dupont secret code. The best I know is this beer was bottled in 2021 from the “21” portion of the code.

The can has a date of L21476C which means this beer was canned sometime in 2021.

Beer storage conditions & handling

I can report that both of these beers were stored in my basement/cellar after I purchased them but what conditions they experienced during the long supply chain from Belgium to my local beer retailers is a mystery to me. I think it is fair to say they would have been subjected to differing conditions. How resilient is Saison Dupont to high temperature exposure/storage and rough transport?

Bottle/can conditioning

I know from past knowledge/experience that Brasserie Dupont conducts a bottle conditioning process for their bottled products. In the bottle conditioning process the beer undergoes a secondary fermentation within the bottle to achieve carbonation. Since an actual secondary fermentation occurs within the bottle other sensory qualities could be expected beyond just the carbonation aspect.

All that is stated on the can is “Unfiltered” which I suppose could imply they can condition this beer? Or maybe it just means that did not filter this beer prior to canning?

One thing I will be attuned to when tasting these two beers is whether I can perceive a difference in the beer’s mouthfeel. When I homebrew my beers I choose to bottle condition since this provide a superior mouthfeel for my palate; a result of the secondary fermentation I discussed above.


Whew, that’s a fair bit a ‘jibber-jabber’ which is making me thirsty but before I really get into it, I will ask my lovely wife to help me with conducting a triangle taste test of these two beers. As a reminder the purpose of the triangle taste test is to pour the same beer into two cups and the other beer in the third cup and see if the taste tester can determine the ‘odd man’ out. In the below photograph two of the cups were marked with A on the bottom and one with B on the bottom. I normally would use small opaque plastic cups but since this is the same beer I will use small glasses this time but with instructions to my wife to ‘fix’ the glasses to ensure they have similar head appearances (thanks to Chris (@zid) for the suggestion here). Will I be able to distinguish one Saison Dupont from the other via blind taste test? Will mouthfeel differences exhibit itself in these small glass pours?



A took some sniffs of the three beers. The beer in the middle had a very similar aroma to the other two glasses but there was a bit ‘more’ to this beer. That was an indication to be that the middle beer was the ‘odd’ beer but I figured tasting would be more definitive here. Boy, I was mistaken here since all three beers tasted very similarly to me. I stuck with my initial ‘reaction’ from sniffing and said to my wife: the middle beer is the ‘odd’ beer to which she replied “correct”. She then went further and asked: “So, which beer is which” and I very confidently (which I wasn’t) responded: “The middle beer is the bottled beer”. And she replied: “correct”.

I have conducted this triangle test a number of times in the past and so far I have been “correct” every time. I probably just jinxed myself for my next triangle taste test.

I will conduct the side-by-side non-blind so here we go!

Appearance

Can: Golden colored, very slightly hazy with a white head

Bottle: Ditto

Aroma

Can: A combination of spicy (phenols) and fruity (esters).

Bottle: Ditto to above but with what I will describe as being a bit more complexity (perhaps just a bit more intensity to the aromas?).

Taste:

Can: The flavor follows the nose with a pleasant combination of spicy (phenols) and fruity (esters) flavors. There is low-moderate bitterness.

Bottle: Ditto

Mouthfeel

Can: Medium body with a dry finish.

Bottle: Medium body, with a softer mouthfeel in comparison to the canned version, with a dry finish.

Overall

Can: Very good – excellent.

Bottle: Ditto

These two beers taste very much the same but there are some differences in other sensory qualities as detailed above. Given that I had these two beers in a side-by-side tasting the subtle difference of the two are more evident with a personal preference towards the bottled version but I will have no difficulty whatsoever in consuming the remaining three cans of the four-pack I purchased.

I discussed above my wondering on whether the canned version of Saison Dupont is canned conditioned I decided to take one more step: pour the last ½ ounce (or so) of the two beers into a small glass to see if I can detect yeast sediment. Below are two photos of this exercise with the first photo just of the bottle’s last bit of beer and the second of the can’s last bit of beer (and the bottle’s for additional reference). I am uncertain how well this appears in the photos but the bottle’s last portion is decidedly murky while in contrast the can’s is only slightly hazy. Is this an ‘acid test’ situation? I don’t know, but I will state with some confidence that both from the sensory evaluation and the visual appearance of the dregs that the canned version of Saison Dupont is not can conditioned.

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

It's good that you emphasize personal preferences. Preferences can be within a style as well as between styles. "Quality" is only a preliminary indication of potential satisfaction.

 

Have you had their Black Lager? I bought a 4 pack of that in early 2021 and was impressed. I was on the lookout for it again this year, but missed it.

 

I haven't seen it either year, but would definitely have been interested. I bet that we only see a limited number of their brews up here. Plus, out of the 4 regular stores where I shop only one carries them at all.

 

Yuengling Traditional Lager Can vs Bottle. Tasting notes and having fun. No pours. Drinking directly from the can & bottle. I've had it on tap in many places going back to the 1980's. Cheers Advocates!
The Scoop:
Smell is the same, tastes are close to one another...fairly light, but the feel & finish are different. Bottle is EZ drinkin, EZ to tip, goes down like a $20 hooker. Can is slightly more of a sipper and I get more of the bitterness that dwells in the aft portion of the finish. Yes, indeed. The bottle mouthfeel is wetter, lightly creamy and seems easier to slug back than the can version which seems to be a bit more resinous and has a linger. I really like both quite a bit. One of the simple pleasures of life that is availible to us. I just have to occasionally drive a few hundred miles away from home to find it and when I see it fresh...BOOM! Always enjoyable. Cheers!