After long wait, all results are in and the scores have been calculated...
A quick summary if you're stumbling on to this topic for the first time, I questioned a while back whether or not the continuous hop methods of DFH really brought a more well balanced beer to the table showcasing the hops, or if in a blind test Joe-Beerdrinker (aka me) would even find a noticeable difference. With suggestions from members of the topic, I brewed up 2 gallons of a Cascade IPA, mirror image recipies, 1 gallon was hopped once every 3 minutes for 60 minutes, the other had 2 additions, one early, one late.
Each batch was bottled then blindly labeled so nobody but my better half currently knows which beer was continuously hopped and which was double hopped, the differentiating label on each cap was a plus or minus - she is the only one with the key. I shipped samples of each to 2 HBT members, I took a couple of beers over to my buddy Dave's house, and we all sampled the beers using an identical grading scale for results.
That brings us to today.
First off, an explanation of how we judged the beers: Each participant used a scale of 1-4 in each proposed category which were as follows:
Ratings:
1 = mild / below average
2 = moderate / average
3 = strong / above average
4 = EXTREME / AWESOME
Categories:
Clarity
Nose
Body
Bitterness
Hop Flavor
Malt Flavor
Alcohol Presence
On that note, let's take a look at the results in comparison:
The overall winner unanimously in the tasting experiment was the
Cascade IPA -.
Though my buddy D-Leu scored the CIPA+ 2 points higher in the end (the only one to do so), he overall appreciated and enjoyed the CIPA- more. When asked how that's possible with his numbers against him, he explained that bitterness is not a good factor with his pallet though he loves the presence of hops - his ideal IPA being low bitterness, high hop aroma and flavor therefore his bitterness score should count AGAINST his overall number, which ties his numbers at 12/12 if you subtract bitterness.
The first thing that really pops here is the unanimous decision that CIPA- was a better beer, not just by numbers, but by tasting notes from each participant. All 5 of us (Bwomp313 tasted his beers with a friend) stated in our notes that overall the minus was a much more balanced and enjoyable beer - the only one who didn't come right out and say it was Brew4it which comparing his notes to each, CIPA- was clearly his favored of the 2 (please comment and correct me if I'm wrong B4it). So 5 out of 5 drinkers agree on the win, interesting non-coincidental results and good data!
Let's analyze the numbers and bring out some taster notes - I will compare everything however anything that takes a loss by a single digit can fairly be dismissed as too close to call - not enough separation to truly assume there was a noticeable difference.
Clarity: CIPA- wins by 2 points ~ clearly (ba dum tzz
) the better looking and clearer beer of the 2. No additional notes were given on this category.
Nose: CIPA- wins by 1 point ~ This is close but the notes were interesting, Bwomp313 noted neither beer really came forth with a heavy hop front which illustrates the benefits of dry hopping an IPA, however felt CIPA+ was slightly more complex. B4it noted good hop scents on the CIPA- however noted the hops though slightly present were masked by the malt of CIPA+. I noted each had a good malt aroma with very light hop presence though I appreciated the overall scent of CIPA- more in the end. D-Leu was pleased with each.
Body: CIPA+ wins by 1 point ~ I myself noticed no difference in the body of each beer, they each felt identical to myself, Bwomp, and B4it. D-Leu noted a slightly lighter body with the CIPA- however 4 out of 5 tasters seeing no difference, this win is irrelevant.
Bitterness: CIPA- wins by 2 points ~ I felt CIPA- was a bit more on the bitter side however that was matched by the nose and hops so it really came acrossed balanced to me. Ironically D-Leu was the only taster out of us that noted less bitterness with CIPA- in his numbers but didn't give any comments on it. Bwomp and B4it also showed bitterness differences between the beers, no notes from Bwomp, B4it noted a more up front bitterness with CIPA+ and though he scored higher bitterness for the CIPA- this was masked by the hop malt balance of the beer, no additional notes were given.
Hop Flavor: CIPA- wins by 3 points ~ Now here are some goooood numbers. Clearly the most different feature of each beer. I didn't really notice anything to different about the 2 accept that I could better define the hops profile from CIPA- but I felt it wasn't enough to bump the score up. All other tasters unanimously felt that the hops were more upfront and present in CIPA-. Bwomp noticed hardly any difference noting he did get more fruit from CIPA-, B4it noted CIPA+ may have been masked by the malt but the balance of CIPA- definitely brought forward the hop profile, D-Leu noted he liked the fact the hops were more present with the bitterness masked which is interesting when looking at the other tasting notes, perhaps it was the balance of the beer that masked the bitterness from his pallet giving a all together better drinking experience.
Malt Flavor: CIPA+ wins by 1 point ~ This is an interesting category, a split decision if you will. I tasted nothing really different, D-Leu caught less in the CIPA-, Bwomp caught less in the CIPA+, and B4it caught less in the CIPA-. More than one brewer noted more sweetness from the CIPA+ however we all clearly noted a solid presence. Close call here.
Alcohol Presence: CIPA- wins by 1 point ~ Nobody likes to smell rocket fuel and I was pleased that 4 out of 5 tasters saw no difference between the 2 beers, 3 of us noting a low score presence of 1. B4it caught more alcohol taste and scent with the CIPA-, the deciding factor in the category - looking at his scores it's apparent that less malt body led to more hop aroma yet unmasked a little more scent of alcohol. Being though 2 is the highest number here, both beers are winners in this category to me showing hardly no noticeable differences between the tasters.
And there you have it. The results of this taste testing experiment,
Cascade IPA - is the winner by unanimous decision.
BEFORE I SPILL THE BEANS AND POST THE KEY....... Participants, tasters, topic followers, drifting forum readers, I'm curious after looking at the charts and reading the result comparison notes, please tell me the following:
Which beer do YOU think is the Continuously Hopped Cascade IPA, and which beer is the Double Hopped Cascade IPA?
I will post the key tonight when I get home from work.
Cheers!
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