As with the other shootout, this was a blind tasting. We had no idea which beers we were drinking. The Mrs was again gracious enough to pour our brews into tasting cups and serve them to us on the back porch. We tasted each of our 7 samples and then rated them 1-5, 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. We are by no means beer judges and rated them simply on taste and smell. This shootout was performed in the pursuit of fun and the results should be interpreted as such. I will be detailing the reviews of some of the top performers in later posts.
And the winner is:
1. Firestone Walker Double Jack 18.5pts
2. Founder’s Double Trouble 17.5pts
3. Odell Myrcenary 15.0pts
4. Stone Ruination 14.0pts
5. Avery Maharaja 10.5pts
6. Boulevard Double Wide 9.5pts
7. Moylan’s Hopsickle 7.0pts
FatCat’s Favorites:
Firestone Walker Double Jack 5.0pts
Founder’s Double Trouble 4.5pts
Stone Ruination 4.0pts
Super Dave’s Favorites:
Stone Ruination 5.0pts
Firestone Walker Double Jack 4.5pts
Founder’s Double Trouble 4.0pts
Greg’s Favorites:
Firestone Walker Double Jack 5.0pts
Founder’s Double Trouble 4.5pts
Stone Ruination 4.0pts
Alex’s Favorites:
Odell Myrcenary 5.0pts
Founder’s Double Trouble 4.5pts
Firestone Walker Double Jack 4.0pts
Conclusion:
Prior to the shootout, I had tried the Myrcenary and Super Dave had tried the Double Wide. Other than that, we were in virgin territory (giggity). I did some research and the Double Jack was rated rather highly along with the Hopsickle rating of A+ by the bros on BeerAdvocate. In many of the forums the Maharajah was touted highly as well. So we basically had no clue who the winner was going to be.
At the conclusion of this test, I really wished we had the Stone IPA in the previous IPA shootout. The Ruination was a kick in the face. It’s like a 9v battery, you know not to put your tongue on it but eventually you know you will do it again. Awesome. Was surprised the Hopsickle took last after the bros A+ rating. This brings up the point JJSKCK mentioned in the previous shootout’s epilogue comments. IPAs and Imperial IPAs are susceptible to aging and losing their hop presence. I assume this is what happened to the Hopsickle.
I’ll give a special shoutout to Bridgeport’s The Czarr. Super Dave had a torrid love affair with the Czarr in the past and still pledges his undying love for it. It was tentatively scheduled for the shootout but was not cold enough in time. I have serious doubts it would have fared well , but Super Dave said it would have won (it wouldn’t). This is another kick in the teeth type imperial, so if you’re a hop head the Czarr could be your next mistress as well.FatCat's Epic brews page has been updated with these results. Check it out.
Thanks for reading and as always...
Cheers!
Where we got’em:
Founder’s Double Trouble – Gomer’s Midtown Firestone Walker – Gomer’s Midtown
Stone Ruination – Gomer’s Midtown Moylan’s Hopsickle – Constentinos downtown
Odell Myrcenary – Gomer’s Midtown Avery Maharaja – Missy’s Discount Liquor
Boulevard Double Wide – Gomer’s North
The Czar would not have won, but it would have scored highly. Huge fail on my part (well - cooler fail as well). We tried it after the contest was completed (it was cold by then), and even the Fatcat agreed to its deliciousness, even though it is a spin-kick in the face because it's so damn hoppy.
ReplyDeleteThe Czar would have been destroyed! That's about how I would have ranked them, my only surprise was that Maharaja was so far back. I've had the top three pretty recently, and they were all great. Blind tastings are a great test of your palate.
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