TheFunGuy's thread about his light lager blind tasting got me thinking it would be interesting to see what everyone's biggest surprises/upset winners were at blind tastings they have held. At one we held about four years ago, Schlafly Imperial Stout beat out Abyss, Dark Lord, Stone IRS, and a few others. At the time, it was a surprise because I had never had a Schlafly beer before. To be fair, the Schlafly may have been the only barrel-aged beer in the lineup so that may have helped its cause. I'd love to hear results from some of your blind tastings!
Awesome thread! Over an hour and no replies (Todd Alstrom checks the record books). I had a blind Pale Ale/IPA tasting at my place a few weeks back and to spare the boring details....Bad Boy, Pupil and Nelson were the favorite. Sculpin was pure shit.
2-3 years ago, I had given up completely on Hopslam. I just couldn't tolerate the overpowering aroma of honey. Then I got one in a blind tasting last year, and it impressed the hell out of me. Turns out Bells figured out how to tone that shit down. The last two years have been excellent.
haha, VaTechHopHead, I wasn't expecting responses as if I had put up a FT:Rare ISO:Your Locals, but I thought there would be more interest in this. I love the idea of putting up highly touted beers of a certain style against one another without knowing which is which and wanted to hear peoples stories, especially when it comes to a tasting of heavy hitters out there. What other beers did you have in your blind tasting?
At my shop every year for the month of march we have our own "March's Madness" (named after our manager March) where it's a heads-up blind taste test every day for the month where all customers who come in that day are eligible to partake. This year we're doing all belgian beers, segregating different styles into the different brackets. No real "whales" involved but it's a lot of fun and the results are often eyebrow-raising. Didn't work today so I don't know who won between maredsous dubbel vs. westmalle dubbel, but the first three days went as follows: Allagash tripel beat out la fin du monde Ommegang abbey beat out Chimay Red Gulden Draak beat out Delirium Nocturnum If you're ever around Richmond this month feel free to stop by and check it out haha. cheers
