For all the Beer Lovers!

[RoyY51]

Last night, at our traditional New Year's Eve party, we decided to try something different: beer tasting. In the past, we have done a blind taste testing with wines, and this year we thought we'd try shaking it up a bit.

Each couple brought a 6-pack of their favorite brew. Three of the beers were used in the tasting, while the other three went to the provider of the Top Beer.

All beer was served chilled, in small glasses. No one was allowed in the kitchen before or during the tasting, so the participants only knew what beer THEY brought.

My wife downloaded some judges forms from TasteBeer.com. that included judging points such as appearance, aroma, taste and overall impression, with each point broken down into sub-points (Malt/Grain: Nutty, Sweet, Grainy, Roasted, Caramel,etc...). Since most of us didn't have a clue as to what these meant, we cut to Overall Impression and left it at that.

The results/rankings were as follows:

Round One:

1. Spaten "Optimator"
2. Sam Adams "Winter Lager"
3. Indiga "India Pale Ale"
4. Miller Genuine Draft (!)
5. San Miguel "Premium Lager"
6. Stella Artois "Premium Lager Beer"

As you can see, there was a diverse range of countries represented: Germany, America, India, Philippines and Belgium. This made for some lively conversation (after the judging) as to the beer-making predilections in various parts of the world.

Round Two: The Finalists

1. Sam Adams "Winter Lager"
2. Spaten "Optimator"
3. Indiga "India Pale Ale"

And good ol' Sam Adams takes the top prize!

Everyone had a great time and the winner went home with an ice chest full of really good beer. All in all, a great way to start the new year.

Here's wishing the Best of the New Year to you and yours.

Roy