I got the whole IHB gang together Monday night for a little Blind Taste Test Challange. About once a year we give the crew here a chance to show their brewery chops by holding a blind tasting of our house beers. 

I love this event mostly because it’s actually a social. YEAH SOCIAL!  You know, lots of beer, a couple of blindfolds and some friendly competition. Besides, by the end of the night the entire thing usually melts down into a sampler race off between long time employees.  

The test works like this: 

Someone puts on a blindfold and a proctor hands them samples of each of the 6 house beers. The victim then has to determine which beer is which. The deliberation is usually accompanied by heckling, and occasionally some low grade abuse (think hot sauce in your light lager sample, not that I would ever do such a thing). 

I am very proud to announce that about 90% of our crew was able to identify all of our house beers blindfolded by smell alone! Give it a try the next time you are in, it’s tougher than it sounds but a ton of fun to try.

Here’s a photo of Assistant Brewer Doug-e-Fresh working his way through the lineup. Nice blindfold, no?