A few friends got together to taste through a line up of Double IPAs.
What happened is that the number of beers we were going to taste started to grow.
The blind tasting was initially designed to pit The Alchemists’s Heady Topper and The Crusher against Fiddlehead’s Second Fiddle and some West Coast brews.
The list settled on 17, although one or two may not have technically been a Double IPA.
The beers were arranged in four flights of four each with a late addition added to the last flight.
One general observation: With limited exception, the DIPAs all looked similar in color and few were distinguishable from the others. A couple were different - for example, Fiddlehead’s Master Mind was quite light in color and Foley Brothers Fair Maiden had a dark copper color. There were some subtle differences in sweetness and aroma, but not by much.
The real lesson learned was that 17 is way too many for a tasting. Not only the alcohol levels were high (we did spit and mainly split pint cans or two bottles among 4 people) but the beers all started tasting the same. It was very different than tasting wine. Likes I wrote above, it was a lesson learned.
Here are the notes -for what it is worth:
Flight One
SixPoint – Resin (Brooklyn, NY) - Light golden; a bit metallic nose. Better with cheese. Lighter in color than the others. B+
Dogfish – 90 Minute (Milton, Delaware) - Dark orange tint; smells like an IPA. Malty sweetness at first. Round medium weight. B
Hop Valley - Alpha Centauri (Eugene, Oregon) - Cloudy. A bit tart. Green apple. Thin. Clean finish. B+
Foley Bros. - Fair Maiden Batch #3 (Brandon, VT) - Cloudy copper orange tint. Fresh resiny smell of fresh hops. High malt, high ops. Good weight. A
Flight Two
Worthy Imperial IPA (Bend, Oregon) - Golden yellow; some seashells/saline on the nose. Crisp. Medium weight. Short finish. B+
Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Ale – (Petaluma, California) Golden lemon yellow color. Lemon curds on the nose. Nothing special. A little funky on the finish. B
Alchemist – The Crusher (Waterbury, VT) Cloudy. Hops Hops Hops. Lots of it. Good weight and a long finish. A little chemical note on the finish. B+
Fiddlehead – Second Fiddle (Shelburne, VT) Cloudy, orange hue. Hops. Nose of pine. Bitterness and sweetness on the finish. Big and rich and full bodied with a long finish. A+
Flight Three
Lawson Liquids – Double Sunshine (Warren, VT) Golden yellow; hops and citrus on the nose. Good rich flavor but bitter hops. Long finish. Well made. A+
Fiddlehead -Mastermind (Shelburne, VT) Light yellow color. Cloudy. Crisp fresh citrus nose. Thin in mouthfeel and texture but rich in flavor. Lots of hops. B+
Alchemist - Heady Topper (Waterbury, VT) Medium golden yellow. Fresh hops resin in the nose. Good rich fresh hop flavor. Somewhat metallic. A-
Finch – Hardcore Chimera (Chicago, Illinois) Dark golden brown - copper orange color. Nutty. Rich. Wine-like.in its finish and texture. A+
Flight four
Uinita – Detour Double IPA (Salt Lake City, Utah) Copper orange color. Malty sweetness. Round and full bodied. B+
Victory – Dirt Wolf Double IPA (Downingtown, PA) Smells like compost – fresh earth. A bit funky. B-
Blatant (Williamsburg, MA) Light yellow color. Crisp and clean. Nothing special. B
Sierra Nevada Torpedo (Chico, CA) Light Copper orange in color. Bold. Good flavor. Nice sweetness balancing the bitterness of the hops. A little dirty.
Two Captains Double IPA (Grimstad, Norway) - Bad, funky flavor. Tastes old.
The Fiddlehead Second Fiddle, Lawson’s Double Sunshine, Foley Brothers Fair Maiden, and Finch Hardcore Chimera were the standouts for me with the right balance of malt and hops, sweetness and bitterness, in a complete package.