I went to a blind tasting last night...

[forstmeister]

Last night the Chicago Beer Society held its Fall Blind Tasting event. There was lots of good food (It was at Reza's Mediterranean Restaurant near downtown) and 16 different beers from (mostly) local breweries.

The tasting was eye-opening to me. Getting to try all the different beers without any preconceived notions because of the label was so much fun. The most surprising part was that I found that I don't care for Lagunitas IPA as much as I thought I did. Frankly it lacks character. My friend (a brewer locally) invited me and it was neat to see him pick out the flaws in the beers and then notice them myself after he pointed them out.

If you ever have a chance to attend (or host) a blind tasting, do it!

 

[Setesh]

That sounds really neat! I have a hard time picking up subtle off flavors. I'm actually thinking about going through the 1st bjcp program to try and hone this ability. Having your buddy point things out and then hunting for them sounds like great learning and experience to me! I also think it's interesting that you found out you had a colored perception of a particular beer. I guess that's proof that marketing works huh! Very neat stuff, thanks for sharing.