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South Bay, Los Angeles County, California |
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By Ron Cooper You can tell unidentified beers from each other, Right? I've yet to meet another beer drinker who doesn't believe he or she can. Sometimes its almost as though you've challenged the very core of their character (It might even be dangerous in some places). Years ago I was one of the confident tasters who responded to the challenge "Could we tell Miller from Bud?" Of course we could! What a debacle. Not one of us got even 50% right in the blind test that followed. Labor day we set out to test an experienced quaffer's claim that he hated Miller Genuine Draft and was quite sure he could identify it against Bud and Coors. (NOTE: we're not testing "real" beers where, I'm sure, differences would be quite clear). In a spirit of scientific inquiry we agreed to repeat the fabled test of yore. This time only two contestants were involved, but the beers were increased to three - the dreaded Miller, along with Bud and Coors - all "Light" by the way. I'm no expert statistician, but I think this reduces the chances of guessing right to 33%. (We really need another name for these things Putting "Beer" next to "Coors Light" makes me shudder. Not quite "near beers" since they do have alcohol - perhaps "hopless beers"). To minimize the chance of using appearance to pick them, the beers were poured into clean china cups. Each taster got six, 3-oz samples; two of each type. Numbers were assigned AT RANDOM to the beers, #1-6 for one contestant and #7-12 for the second. The list of beers was then put aside to make the test double-blind. Tasters were allowed as long as they pleased to select their choices and unlimited supplies of Adam's Ale were available for palate cleansing. Some selections were changed along the way. The first indication of difficulty was that selection took quite a while - encouraging the skeptics. RESULTS Both sides of the discussion went away feeling they had proven something. On the one hand only 4 correct selections were made out of 12 - e.g. 33%, exactly what chance would have predicted. However the originator DID identify both of his Millers. In addition he got 50% of his Bud / Coors choices right. Those with the usual Strand Brewer steel trap minds will have noticed that there's not much left for taster #2. Right! 100% wrong. However, even here there is room for debate. BOTH Millers were identified as Coors, BOTH Buds as MGD and BOTH Millers as Coors. Chance? Tasting results:
Is there any interest in setting up a club challenge? I don't expect much support for testing MGD, etc. How about other comparisons? Please let one of our worthy officers know.
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