In lieu of the normal training session activities that I normally give my panel on Thursday mornings, I decided to switch it up a bit today and present them a number of IPAs to judge. Each one was purchased from a local grocery store or specialty beer/wine store, and was tasted blind by the panel of 11 tasters. I asked them to throw out any term or descriptor they could think of, and when we finished with that I went around the room and asked them express their preference for each sample on a 1-10 scale (10 being the best beer they’ve ever had). Below are the terms that were used for each sample, as well as the average rating and the range of ratings given for that sample. I’m assembling them here in order of “worst” to “best”.

21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA, 12oz cans, packaging info: 1010 0904 (9:04am on 10th day of 2011??)

Oxidized

Crayons

Yams

Baby food

Banana

Isovaleric

Grassy

Fig Newton

Grainy

Fusel

Rating: 2.45/10 (range: 1-4)

Deschutes Hop Henge, 22oz, packaging info: Best by 6/16/11

Pineapple

Sweat

Ethyl Hexanoate

Salty

Alcoholic

Thick

Metalllic

Ethyl butyrate

Flat

Urine

Lingering Bitterness

Solvent

Citrus

Rating: 2.82/10 (1-5)

Alaskan Pilot-Series Imperial IPA, 22oz, packaging info: Best by 8/12/11

Caramel Apple

Ethyl octanoate

Acetaldehyde

Ethyl Hexanoate

Ethyl acetate

Diacetyl

Cedar Resin

Dry

Woody

Hibiscus

Lingering Bitterness

Bile

Thick

Rating: 3.64/10 (3-5)

Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA, 22oz, packaging info: Bottled 1/19/11

Peppery

Fresh

Sweatsocks

Oxidized

Floral

Geraniol

Linalool

Vegetative

Harsh Bitterness

Haze

Astringent

Grassy

Diacetyl

Lemon

Rating: 4.27-10 (2-7)

Dogfish Head 90min IPA, 12oz bottle, no packaging info

Pineapple

Tropical Fruit

Alcoholic

Solvent

Salty

Oxidized

Thick

Sweet

Roasted

Caramel

Burnt Aftertaste

Beta-caryophyllene

Ethyl acetate

Rating: 5.45/10 (4-7)

Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA, 22oz, packaging info: Bottled 3/5/11

Piney

Grassy

Cannabis

Peppery

Geraniol

Lemon

Citrus

Sweet

Low carbonation

Hay

Incense

Grainy

Rating: 6.27/10 (4-9)

AND THE NUMBER ONE RATED IPA (from this set, anyway)…

New Belgium Ranger IPA, 12oz cans, packaging info: Canned 3/20/11

Hay

Straw

Cascade hops

Lemon Pledge

Grassy

Clean Finish

Wet plants

Earthy

Ethyl acetate

Piney

Tomato Plant

Cheese

Celery

DMS

Thin

Carrots

Cucumber

Myrcene

Rating: 7/10 (6-8)

So there you have it. I’ll probably do this again with more IPAs in the future, and will definitely do this again with different styles. In fact, I have some of this data for various pilsners from last night, but there were only two of us tasting, so I’ll keep that data to myself for now.

Things that surprised me about this session:

-I’ve always enjoyed the Hop Henge from Deschutes (mentioned it a couple times here), so I’m surprised it landed so far down the list

-How yummy Firestone Walker’s Union Jack was (hadn’t had it before)

-How prolific the panel was with coming up with terms and descriptors. They had a great time with this one.

See ya!

[edit: added age info]