What oh what would we do without advice like this? Don't forget to invite friends. And make sure you have beer glasses! Ugh... Our very own Beerspotter posted some tips for hosting beer tastings awhile back, but he thought enough of his readers to leave out some of the obvious ones. The best tip from [...]
Last week's Beerspotter column about Smuttynose IPA mentioned that the beer shined in a blind tasting against old standbys, such as Bell's Two-Hearted Ale, and was mistaken across the board for Stone IPA. It's exactly discoveries like this that make beer tastings so much fun — sometimes you'll find a new favorite and, in any [...]
D.C. residents are lucky to have the craft beer selection we enjoy, and I'm reminded as much every time I walk into a good bar or store. But if you drink lots of beer (I call it "research") the selection can be maddening. Though my heart is in it, I just don't have the constitution to try every good beer at a restaurant with, say, eight taps and a fetching bottle list. Such are the problems in my life.
Enter the side-by-side tasting. Every now and then, my friends and I convene around a dinner table for a beer tasting with a mission: we choose one style, like IPA or stout, and taste each one "blind" (more on this in a minute). We compare notes, then reveal which beers were which. Invariably, some of us discover new favorites.
If those old household commercials have taught us anything, it's that comparison is the best way to test something. When you taste beers side-by-side and discuss them with friends, your impressions are more likely to stay with you and inform your buying decisions next time you pick up a six-pack. It's fun, educational, and just a little bit nerdy. But while I opt for the full-on, annotated geek-out, all you really need is friends, glasses, and beer. Here's some tips to get you started:
