Trelvis Tha Thrilla, which beers are those? I've heard of JK. But never really investigated too much into what types of beers they do or release types.. Care to elaborate. I'm getting more into saisons. They seem to do sours and wild and crazy wild ales with fruits and weird bacteria.
Comparison Ford, it's never ending huh? Nice pickups. It's never ending for me and my variety SUCKS. I can't imagine if I had so many more choices.
I drank both Maine BC beers yesterday.. Some world class stuff. I'm not sure if I'm describing the flavors right when I mentioned some saison like tartness. The body on both just remind of me a thin, yet velvety smooth dry finish. Easy drinking.. Beers you dont have to think about while drinking. No harsh carbonation either. That bottle conditioning is a treasure..
The hop smells never really reach AMAZING levels. But I feel they win out in how they feel in your mouth and aftertaste. I'd say there BA scores are right on the money. If they could get some more HOPPINESS to them, they may have some winners. I dont know if MO and Another One are within the same family as far as malts and hops, but they seemed very similar.. Are Lunch and Dinner just really amped up versions of the two you sent? Maybe exactly as how I described... More Hoppiness but same style of mouthfeel?? I can see why those would be highly regarded.
Port Jeff Party Boat IPA. I didnt check any reviews on purpose. I just tried it.. Maybe it was because I just had Another an hour or two prior, but I really liked party boat IPA. The hops had this really tropical fruit like smell and taste. I loved it actually. The color was darker than most normal IPAs. The balance is right on. Mouthfeel was above average. No off flavors. I was surprised to see the BA score.. I saw the freshness date of late July, so its some really fresh stuff. Are people drinking older stuff and not catching the hops that I smelled/tasted? Do you like it?
I can't really speak for Dinner, but nothing I've had from Maine is particularly "in your face" when it comes to flavor. They're just nice, light, well-balanced beers. Lunch is really good, but I think Another One is better. My only beef with Another One is that it suffers from Sculpin Syndrome. The difference in taste from one week to another is pretty evident.
I went into Party Boat with low expectations, but I was able to buy a 6'er when it was one day old so I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I don't really understand why it's rated so low. New recipe maybe? I though it wasn't too bad. I'd give it an 86 or an 87 as a BA score.
I love looking at untappd comments on many beers.."Its too hoppy" 2 stars or "I don't like IPAs"... 1 star. It seems they forget they are drinking an IPA. They get thrown into the hype on "top rated beers". I may never drink a top rated sour. It's just not my think. I wont buy one for $20 and then diss it because it "sucks". I truly believe some of the best rated IPA/DIPAs are those that arent even truly hoppy. They appeal to everyone. I guess that can be seen as a positive, or negative. Some of the hoppier beers get thrown under the bus because of their bitterness.. These are the peeps that affect scores one way or another... I almost want to say, the low scores on BA are too low, and the higher ones are too high. The majority should meld in the middle right around 84 to 93.
Not that I need a BJCP certified beer winner to win me over (GABF and others have gold medal winning beers rated in the 70s or low 80s). But I can see how those accolades can override what "average joes" think.
Has anyone ever done a large scale tasting or sampling? I'm off of work for a week at the end of September so I want to do this right. It may just be a 1 or 2 person event, so I doubt we can bust through them all in a day. It may more than likely be a 2 bomber per day event. Maybe a blind sampling in a head to head format. We wont know what we are drinking until halfway through. Maybe we pick a winner between the two?
So far my list is looking something like this. I haven't been hoarding these for too long. Just under a year now.
Majority are Imperial stouts, with a strong ale, barley wine, scotch ale, and a quad thrown in.
2012 Marble Brewery Reserve Ale (91 BA score)
2012 Marble Brewery Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (92 BA score)
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2013 Deschutes Abyss (100 BA score)
2013 SN Narhwal (92 BA score)
2013 La Cumbre 3rd Anniversary Belgian Style Quad ( N/A BA Score. Just 8 ratings. All hit or miss at this point)
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2014 Firestone Walker Parabola (100 BA score)
2014 Marble Mug Club Barley Wine ( N/A BA Score.. only 5 ratings so far. All above 4.. I've had it once and was impressed. We'll see how it manages against other strong beers)
2014 La Cumbre La Negra (83 BA score.. A new kid on the block with just 10 ratings since it came out in March.)
2014 Prairie Bible Belt (96 BA score)
2014 Prairie Bomb (100 BA score)
2014 Stone Imperial Russian Stout (96 BA score)
2014 Clown Shoes Undead Party Crasher (93 BA score)
2014 Founders Breakfast Stout (100 BA score)
2014 Founders Backwoods Bastard (96 BA score)
2014 Founders Imperial Stout (97 BA score)
2014 Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break (97 BA score)
Some suggestions:
-Do I do unknowns vs. unknowns with the la cumbre and marble beers?
-Do I stick the 100 BA beers out to be tasted amongst one another?
-Do I do highest BA beer vs. the lower ones?
-I realize I may need to divide the styles, so maybe I do a total crap shoot of stouts?
- Do I do bourbon vs. bourbon? or coffee vs. coffee? Lots of options.. I'm quite excited about this sweet sixteen setup I have going.
