The 2018 selection for DIPA of the Year (DOY), chosen from the 4PAX “Must Try Before You Die” category of superior tasting double IPA beers, is:
DOGFISH HEAD 120 MINUTE IPA by Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, Delaware. Clocking in at 15-20% ABV and 120 IBUs, 120 Minute IPA is continuously hopped with a copious amount of high-alpha American hops throughout the boil and whirlpool, and then dry-hopped with another pallet of hops. Unfiltered and abundantly hoppy, it’s the Holy Grail for hopheads! Consuming a DFH120 is like sipping a fine cognac.
TASTE QUALITY ANALYSIS
To illustrate the difference in the overall taste quality between the selected DIPA of the Year (DOY) and that of the other samples in the 4PAX data base, we generated the following figure. It shows the average grades (solid dots) for each of the four taste parameters for the selected DIPA of the Year versus the dispersion in the average grades for the remaining 4PAX data samples.
LEGEND:
- RED Dot ( Solid ) – average APPEARANCE;
- GREEN Dot ( Solid ) – average AROMA;
- BLUE Dot ( Solid ) – average MOUTHFEEL;
- BLACK Dot ( Solid ) – average FLAVOR;
- ‘X—X’ – measured spread, [ MEAN, +/- 1 SIGMA ].
TAKEAWAY
In terms of which taste characteristics influenced our selection of DFH120 as the 2018 DIPA of the Year (DOY), measurements show that the Mouthfeel and Flavor, followed by the Appearance and Aroma, in that order, produced the superb taste quality characteristic of this year’s DOY.