I agree 100% with your assessment of Dave’s chances. This is not a denigration of his palate.
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You underestimate my skills boyz. You underestimate them massively!
Not only am i game, but iv put up my bargin. What is yours?
I’ll let you understand that iv been drinking only straight lambic for the last 2 1/2 weeks and i know my banter well. I will accept your taunt as a jest
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Well he’s not exactly tasting blind like the NY crew was.
If he’s tasted his own taps then he knows
1) characteristics of each pour related to present effervescence
2) biological state and some idea of relative levels of active bacteria
3) any other setting related clues - particular lines or taps producing a particular pour, temperature or line smell or flavor.
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Great posting Puzzl.
Loz and I did a blind tasting on a much smaller scale with just three beers Westvleteren 12, Rochefort 10 and St Bernadus 12 I actually managed to get all three correct and was quite confident then rashly changed my mind at the last second and scribbled out two of them and ballsed it up getting just the St Bernadus correct in the end, Loz dithered and got them all wrong, but it was good fun. One thing that we were both in agreement with was that that the Westy 12 had the most unique character though as it was a fairly new bottle we both felt that it came across a bit rough and ready compared to the other two, we both felt that it would be better with a couple of years on it.
I admire your bravery Tom in taking on the challenge, though however good someone thinks they are at something like this I would be really, really surprised if they got more than half correct. Make sure that you are really strict about how you do it and good luck to yer’.
Fin
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Dickinsonbeer had mentioned the newest vintage of Cuvee Rene was quite good, and it looks like he was right. It should be noted though that although it won, it wasn’t a huge winner at all — in fact, I’m not sure a single one of us had it as our top pick — it was merely that it was the most consistently liked.
The 50N4E was universally agreed upon to be extremely solventy and unpalatable. I doubt it would have faired any better on its own. Perhaps it was an off bottle, or perhaps it hasn’t aged well, though I will freely admit to never being particularly fond of the beer in the first place.
I didn’t write down notes for any of the beers besides numbers though I remember a bit. I tend to place gueuze into two categories, those that are minerally and those that are not, and happy all my guesses still matched the categories previously considered them to be in (if that makes any sense).
I found the 3F to be very raw and gritty, woody (though not oaky), with an aroma I initially described as "bacon bits". It was a standout in terms in uniqueness, but it was still missing something for me, and I placed it in the middle of the pack.
The St Louis I found to have the best flavor by far, everything I’d hope for in a good gueuze. It was bright and very citric, and comparable in flavor at least to my experiences with Blauw and Belle-Vue. I need to explore this beer further, as all three of my experiences with it so far have been stellar. It seems I was alone in that thought though, as it ended up pretty low, despite my picking it as #1.
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Yea i agree it would really be a bit unfair. Iv been drinking thier beers for the last week and do have a bit of a grasp on them. But if you speak to mesandsim we’ll do it tomoz night?
Im totally game.
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Wait, so you’re not doing these out of bottles??
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From bottles, with no idea what’s being served, and no communication about the beers, whatsoever. That was our circumstance.
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Yes iv got all the bottles, im currely selling them all apart from the 50N4E, which aint really part of the avalible gueuze, surly?
I look forward to showing that The Cad is lean and neat with regards to his infinate tasting skills
Fuck i was teaching a 2 michelin star restuart’s beer list the other day
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Those were the two I got correct. As soon as I smelled the 3F, I knew I recognized it. I first put Hanssens, but then switched it because the aroma just wasn’t funky enough, it was more tannic and minerally. I ended up nailing the first three when I put up my first guesses, but then switched them around. Guessing is extraordinarily difficult, as others said.
I picked Hanssen’s #1, followed by Cantillon, Boon, and 3F. I put Girardin next to last, which is strange, because I really like it generally. I don’t have my notes with me, but the ones I put on the bottom tended to have weird vegetal or chemical aromas/flavors. The more minerally/tannic ones in the middle, and the bretty/funky/sour ones on top.
This was a really great time and I’d love to revisit it next year.
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It needs to be completely blind. We had puzzl’s wife and maxxdaddy’s girlfriend doing all of the bartending duties in a separate room (a lovely job they did, too I might add) so nobody tasting the beer had a clue what was coming up next. 
