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[personal profile] pmb

We held a seasonal ale taste-test and had a big party, much like last year, but 11 people instead of just 3. We poured little glasses of many seasonal ales and had people rank them in order of preference. Ties were strictly forbidden. There were 11 beers:

  • Anderson Valley Winter Solstice - Perennial medal winner, Tracy's favorite of last year, and a very tasty brown ale with a vanilla taste.
  • Bridgeport Ebeneezer Ale - Lighter, and Allison's favorite beer last year by a wide margin.
  • Full Sail Wassail - New entrant.
  • Alaskan Winter Ale - Wasn't a big winner last year, but tastes change. It's light in color and tastes of spruce.
  • Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Anchor Steam - Another old favorite, a dark beer that won me over last year.
  • Dick's Double ◆ - New entrant. Amber color.
  • New Belgium 2 Below - Seasonal ale from the people who brought us Fat Tire and a very tasty summer beer whose name escapes me.
  • Hopbonkle Special - A very small-batch beer from a pro-am brewery in Seattle, made in the tradition of the Anchor Steam recipe.

There were three late entrants, so these get mixed in to our data, but if you are performing an independent analysis, feel free to discard them:

  • Deschutes Jubelale - Was a middle of the road seasonal last year.
  • Sierra Nevada Celebration - New entrant.
  • Brown Shugga - The beer that bites back. Brown and strange and strong.
X PeterTracyMarissaVictor Rachel Jason Tim Kevin LaurelJames Allison
Anderson Valley Winter Solstice 2 1 6 7 4 1 6 4 5 2 11
Bridgeport Ebeneezer Ale 7 2 3 2 1 7 5 9 9 10 3
Full Sail Wassail 4 6 5 6 7 3 4 11 8115
Alaskan Winter Ale 11 8 9 4 3 49 1 3 7 2
MC&HNY from Anchor Steam 1 9 1 1 2
5
7 3 1 1 1
Dick's Double ◆ 3 10 4 8 8 6 2 7 11 310
New Belgium 2 Below 10 11 7 5 6 8 8 8 7 48
Hopbonkle Special 8 3 11 3 5 9 3 6 4 56
Deschutes Jubelale 5 7 2       1 10 2 94
Sierra Nevada Celebration 9 5 8         5 1089
Brown Shugga 6 4 10     2   2 6 67

Anchor Steam Wins!

On a funny note, there is literally no more Anchor Steam seasonal within Eugene city limits. Victor, who brought it to the party, bought the last 12 bottles in the last store in town to have any. I hope you've all had a bright solstice and happy Chanukkah, and have a merry Christmas. And don't forget: Science Rules!

Date: 2006-12-24 02:45 pm (UTC)
kirin: Kirin Esper from Final Fantasy VI (Default)
From: [personal profile] kirin
Seems to me what this experiment really shows is how dangerous it is to rely on someone else's beer recommendations. Aside from the consistently high-scoring Anchor Steam and the consistently middling-to-low New Belgium and Sierra Nevada, every other beer was both in someone's top 3 and someone else's bottom 3.

Of course, this is all pretty academic to me since I hardly like beer at all. (The only ones I'll drink are ones sweet and/or fruity enough that aficionados are hesistant to even call them "beer".)

Date: 2006-12-24 04:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] omega697.livejournal.com
Science be praised!

Date: 2006-12-24 06:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mycrust.livejournal.com
Nice use of HTML. What do you think of the Sam Adams Winter Lager?

Date: 2006-12-25 12:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pmb.livejournal.com
It remains untested. Is it good? Could you compare it to any of the beers in our list?

Date: 2006-12-25 02:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] misuba.livejournal.com
What is the significance of the dots and gray patches?

You might get more regularizable results if you presorted maltier beers vs. hoppier beers.

Date: 2006-12-25 02:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] misuba.livejournal.com
OK, it took me a minute to correlate dots and numbers. Shows you how visual I am I guess. Gray = undrinkable?

Date: 2006-12-25 03:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pmb.livejournal.com
Dots are medals. The HTML circle entity in unicode colored in gold, silver, and bronze respectively.

Gray background is "below the line of drinkability". It indicates that the person at the top of the column wouldn't drink it on their own, and would probably decline it if offered for free.

Date: 2006-12-27 03:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pooplord.livejournal.com
Hi there, stranger. So when do Jesse & I get invited out to Oregon for beer parties? =)

Hopbonkle

Date: 2007-09-04 11:36 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Micah, founder of Hopbonkle here. When you say very small batch you ain't kiddin. Just curious how you got ahold of some of our beer in Eugene??

Re: Hopbonkle

Date: 2007-09-09 10:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pmb.livejournal.com
A man named "Victor" brought it, IIRC. If that is not the case, and/or you don't know him, then I have no idea.

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