Judging the Stout

Every few months I invite a selection of close friends and beer lovers to enjoy and evaluate a particular style of beer. Each time, the group blindly tastes different examples of a style and judges each one across particular parameters. Doing this blindly eliminates being influenced by marketing, past experience, or other pressures. They simply rely on their senses. This does bring with it new challenges, as most have not been asked to break down beers in such a detailed manner, picking out very specific flavors, aromas, and other characteristics. The tasting crew has consistently done a fantastic job and put forth a concerted effort to consider each beer. It's been a lot of fun to witness! This time, we evaluated stouts. I presented six examples, attempting to have the group taste different subtypes of the stout, noticing how they differ from one another. Here are the results:

1. Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout

Tasting Notes:
"Coffee, chocolate; soft, thin; very drinkable, but not too interesting"
"Nutty, gentle; smooth, not bitter"
"Roasty, burnt, slightly dry"
"Caramel; not typically stouty consistency"
"Sweet, smoky, silky"
"Malty, soapy, bland"

Average Score: C+ (3.45)

2. Saranac Irish Stout

Tasting Notes:
"Stronger coffee flavor, creamy, enjoyable"
"Sweet, earthy, roasted, bitter"
"hop?"
"Chocolate"
"Thin, smoky, roasty"
"Licorice?"

Average Score: B- (3.77)

3. Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Tasting Notes:
"Coffee, chocolate, sweet, creamy"
"Cream, vanilla, low carbonation"
"Aromatic, creamy, chocolate, vanilla"
"Sweet, malty, chocolate, smooth"
"Coffee, coffee"
"Strong coffee; too milky for my liking"

Average Score: B+ (4.37) [three A scores]

4. Left Hand Milk Stout

Tasting Notes:
"Beer; sweet, coffee"
"Smoked, roasted, sweet, nutty, malty, creamy"
"Subtle sweetness"
"Smoked mostly at the end not front, dry"
"Hoppy, dry, strong"
"Nice and bitter, hoppy, strong flavor"

Average Score: B (4.13)

5. Dark Horse Brewing Co. "Fore" Smoked Stout

Tasting Notes:
"Strong coffee flavor; too flavorful but enjoyable in small amounts"
"Tar, thick"
"Full, bitter, espresso"
"Smoky, dry, bitter"
"Tarry, complex"
"Slight raisins, bittersweet chocolate"

Average Score: B (4.03) [two A scores]

6. Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

Tasting Notes:
"Alcoholic, too strong"
"Sharp, tart"
"Nice, tart, strong bitter, slight smokiness"
"Not chocolaty, grainy"
"Hoppy, alcoholic, malty, sharp, tart, bitter"

Average Score: B- (3.6) [scores ranged from F to A-]


So, the winner is--Young's Double Chocolate Stout!
And, the loser is--Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout!

The winning beer is not a huge surprise to me, as Young's is a very enjoyable, very enticing, very flavorful stout. I am a bit surprised about Wolaver's, as I believe most people typically enjoy this one. However, it clearly fell short during this evaluation. I must add the note that in many judging sessions, it is quite common that the earlier beers being judged do not score as well. Who knows why. Perhaps the judges are saving their exceptional scores in case better beers come along. With that being said, I gave the panel a "starter" stout to calibrate their palates and discuss openly what they are tasting. This was a random home brew I picked up, and everyone probably liked this one the best of the whole night. So, that kind of screws up my theory on the order of taste preferences.

In any case, it was a really fun night of tasting stouts. I can't wait until the next judging sessions. Cheers!!