Thursday, September 27, 2018

Double IPA Blind Taste Test Post Summer 2018 Update

This endeavor has grown since it's inception, so I stopped posting individual test results about a year and a half ago (you can still find some of them on the original post HERE).

Now I'm just updating the rankings as groups of taste tests are completed. A few things to note:

1. Within categories, the beers are not really ranked (though I do kinda put them in order based on latest results).
2. A beer doesn't leap to the top until it has been tested at least twice, usually much more often.
3. As often as possible, I try to include an established beer in a tasting with new or new-ish beers as a benchmark. Sometimes this is a huge help, other times it messes everything up.
4. I won't test a beer unless I or a friend I trust really like it, or it has a great reputation. Merely appearing on this list means a beer is good.
5. Taste tests are generally 3 to 4 beers, with at least 4 testers. Testers vary, except I always participate. Occasionally I will do 5 beers, and I will only do more for a "fun" test - I have 6 of the top ten and plan on doing an "all-star" tasting.

Here is the master list:

SOLID WINNERS:
COAST Boyking
Fiddlehead 2nd Fiddle
Odell Myrcenary
Firestone Walker Double Jack (no longer available)
Edmund's Oast Viridi Rex
Burlington It's Complicated Being a Wizard
Prairie Phantasmagoria
Alaskan Hopothermia

SERIOUS CONTENDERS:
AleSmith Double IPA
Evil Twin Lost Souls
Westbrook Two Claw
Maine Beer Company Dinner
Upper Pass Cloud Drop
Frost Beer Works Slush
Frost Beer Works Lush
Single Cut Softly Spoken Magic Spells

AWESOME, BUT NOT BEST EVER:
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Tree House Bright
Alchemist Heady Topper
Alchemist Focal Banger
Lawson's Sip of Sunshine
18th Street ZERO Discipline
Greater Good Greylock
Trillium Melcher Street
Clown Shoes Galactica
Maui Brewing Double Overhead
Weyerbacher Double Simcoe
New Belgium Rampant
Foley Brothers Prospect

MIDDLE GROUND:
Southern Barrel Slippery Slope 
Southern Tier 2xIPA
Trillium Vicinity
Stone Ruination 2.0
Second Fiddle Mastermind
Alchemist Crusher
Boulevard Brewing The Calling
Wicked weed Freak of Nature
Trout River Hangry Angler
Farnham B72
Banded Horn Daikaiju
Melvin Brewing 2 by 4
Lord Hobo Boom Sauce
Bear Republic Racer X Double IPA

BOTTOM DWELLERS (still good but not competitive):
Shmaltz She Brew
Clown Shoes Space Cake
Shmaltz Wishbone
Firestone Walker Leo vs. Ursus Fortem
Foley Brothers Fair Maiden
Foley Brothers Pieces of Eight
Benford Problem Solver
Westbrook Three Claw
Exhibit A Hair Raiser
Heavy Seas Double Cannon
Crooked Run Orbz


Thursday, September 13, 2018

How to Use r/wroteabook to Benefit Everyone Here

There are 4300 subscribers on this thread but it seems like there's not a lot of activity other than posting a book.  Not a lot of up-voting and not a lot of action. 

This is not taking advantage of what this thread could be.

Here's what I would like book posters to do:

1.  Find a book someone has posted that you might like
2.  Buy it or borrow it
3.  Read it
4.  If it's good, review it on Amazon and tell the author
5.  If it's not good, tell the author via the book's reddit thread to help them out
6.  Provide some useful feedback either way on the reddit thread for the book
7.  Repeat as often as you can.

If you post a book, you should do this at least once simply as a point of courtesy and with the hope that someone will return the favor.  It's hard to get quality reviews, so let's leverage this community to help each other out.

As an aside, Kindle Unlimited is $10 per month and you can read as many books as you want for free (assuming the author activates it, which most do).  You can have 10 books at a time. 

I also think people should add KU to their title if their book is available for free so we can read as many of those as possible.

Feel free to read and review my tax books (written for normal people):
amazon.com/author/kirkea