3.28 - DIPA Blind Tasting Showdown

So the(current) #1 beer in the world, an ultra-fresh IPA and the first American style beer from a local brewery walk into a basement...

What do you do here..  you have a fucking showdown, that's what you do!

The Alchemist - Heady Topper
Stone - Enjoy By 04.01.13
Backlash - Salute



Currently Heady Topper from VT's the Alchemist is rated the #1 beer in the world on Beer Advocate, Stone's Enjoy By series have set the benchmark for unbelievably fresh IPA's.. and well Backlash, after 6 Belgian-influences/styled beers has released our first American-style beer, a huge Double IPA with Simcoe and Citra.  Humbly honored, we have had this actually compared on a similar level to Heady Topper.. WHOA.  So what better way to pass a Thursday evening with a few friends than to do a blind tasting between the three!   Of course it was 100% blind as I had to pour for my friends, but they didn't know which one I was giving them

And just so it's even more clear - the beers don't even line up with the samples.. in case my friends peeked.
Heady Topper - - 8.0% ABV  120 IBUs
Enjoy By  - - 9.4%  ABV ~88 IBUs
Salute  - - 8.5% ABV  100 IBUs

All evenly matched..  the pours are all similar, with Heady being the cloudiest.  The Enjoy By probably looked the prettiest, with a nice orange hazy pour and fluffiest head.  Despite being 2+ months old, Heady still maintained a glorious nose with Salute having the 2nd best.. Enjoy By's first iteration had the best nose of any IPA/DIPA I've ever come across, but this time around it fell a little short.  As for body.. Salute was easily the best...  the perfect balance of bitter and malty.  The Enjoy By's body was the smoothest, but this was not in line with the previous batch.. it was known for it's incredibly hop-forward taste and this fell short.  Heady was incredible as always, but in terms of the best, the hops were still a bit overpowering.  In terms of the BEST beer.. Heady wins, even months old.  The aroma, the body, the hops.. the lingering resinous hop profile..  just incredible.  But, with something on this end of the spectrum.. you can't have more than 1 or 2 without killing your palate.  The Enjoy By didn't live up to it's predecessor..  Salute just eek'd out the beer of the night award..  the right combination of strong hop profile and smooth malt body..  it's far too easy to drink too many of these, too fast.

An incredible way to spend a Thursday evening with good friends!