Beer Review: Gaspar

Gaspar, a Belgian IPA. Copyright 2015 by Andrew Dunn.

My wife and I have been on a celebration tear. She received a great evaluation from work, so we celebrated. She ended her school year, so we celebrated. And she was installed as an officer for our local Junior League, so we celebrated.

Amid all of that celebration, I did get to sample a few new Belgian brews. I actually took two to the end-of-the-school-year party. The first one I pulled from the cooler was Gaspar, a Belgian IPA from the Alvinne Microbrewery in Moen, Belgium.

You probably have guessed, but I am not a fan of overly bitter beers, especially India Pale Ales. I just don’t find the harsh bitter tones of a very hopped up beer very appealing. But this blog is about experimenting, exploring, and exhausting all that Belgian brewing has to offer.

Honestly, I have wanted to try this one for a long time though. I just thought the bottle looked cool. So here goes nothing.

Smell: Very light floral smell. Kind of just smells like beer.

Sight: Rusty gold with a pure white head. There is a TON of sediment.

Taste: Well, bitter. It has a bit of the floral notes that you get with most IPAs. But the alcohol content keeps it from being too overly bitter.

Alcohol: Gaspar is 8 percent. I think that is one of its better qualities.

Overall: Well, I don’t like IPAs very much. And I don’t like this beer very much. But if I had to buy an IPA, I could drink this one. I realize that’s not much of an endorsement, but there you have it.

Bottom line: I paid $6. Not worth it. Stick with American IPAs. We have perfected terribly bitter beers.

Bonus points: When I opened this bottle, it spewed everywhere for about 10 minutes. So I only got about three quarters of this expensive beer. I don’t know if I should be thankful or upset.

Blind Tastings & Bitter Beers

I really love science, and I really love research. That’s why I was so interested in this article about a recent blind taste test in a San Francisco bottle shop. The event featured India Pale Ales and Double India Pale Ales, the seemingly ubiquitous, lip-curling, hoppy, bitter brews.

One of the selections in the taste test, Pliny the Elder from Russian River, is considered to be one of the be best, if not the best, Double IPA on earth. But it rarely wins these blind taste tests. You know, the kind where no one can see the bottle. This time it did though. The authors suggest it could be chance or could be that people are no longer looking for the wildest, bitterest beer to call the best. Pliny is not over the top with hop.

OK, so it’s not science. Not exactly. But it isn’t that far removed. And it’s still noteworthy.

Part of the reason why I’m interested in any of this, especially since it has nothing to do with Belgian beer, is because I do not like bitter beer. I just don’t. And I’m not alone, as another recent article from Slate points out.

Pliny the Elder and Heady Topper. Gifts for my wife on our first anniversary. Copyright 2013 by Andrew Dunn.

But many people I know and love do love IPAs, especially my wife. I bought her two of the top IPAs in the world, Pliny the Elder and the Alchemist Brewery‘s Heady Topper, for our first anniversary.

I could take or leave either, which is a pretty good review from me. But neither beer blew my wife away. At the time, almost three years ago, she really loved the bitterest of brews. So if I could drink them and she’s wasn’t blown away, they’re probably not too bitter.

I personally think the super bitter beer craze is just that, a craze. A phase that will pass. Perhaps the results of this recent blind taste test is confirming my theory. It certainly mirrors some of my own “research” in the name of beer drinking science.

I love conducting blind taste tests. Now, admittedly, they come with their own problems. Remember the old Pepsi Challenge? People liked Pepsi better than Coke, if it was just a sip, because it was sweeter. But a whole drink? Coke always seems to dominate.

However, if you give people a little more time and a little more to drink, a blind taste test can be a reasonable way to decide burning important questions, such as “Which beer do I like best?”

The quad taste test. From the left, St. Bernardus Abt 12, Rochefort 10, Chimay Blue, and Westvleteren 12. Copyright 2013 by Andrew Dunn.

My wife and I have conducted three blind taste tests. And we have plans to do another one very soon. The first we conducted was to figure out which Belgian quadruple beer I liked best.

My choices were Chimay Blue, St. Bernardus Abt 12, Rochefort 10, and the extremely expensive and extremely elusive Westvleteren 12. I had my wife set up four tasting glasses without telling me where she put which beer. I drank the first round, each with a few sips, one at a time and told her my thoughts. We did it again, and she switched the order on me at my request. In both cases, Rochefort 10 came out on top. It wasn’t the super expensive beer that everyone wants so badly. Hmm.

Later, we did the same kind of test for my her. She really likes IPAs, but is always waffling over which she likes best. We wanted to know which IPA readily available in our local stores did she like best. This time we had six IPAs and one Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

While New Belgium‘s Ranger IPA was her favorite IPA of the mix, beating out her favorite going into the blind taste test, Dogfish Head‘s 60-Minute IPA, she actually preferred the Sierra Nevada more. I predicted this. I know she really likes it. But I had a feeling she had lost a little love for IPAs in general. So the least hoppy beer won out in the end.

The IPA (and Sierra Nevada Pale) taste test for my wife. Copyright 2015 by Andrew Dunn.

We conducted our most recent blind taste test, hard apple ciders, this winter with friends. I purchased 10 brands of hard cider. And we did two five-drink rounds. Then we did a final round pitting the top three. We only used straight hard apple ciders. No other flavors allowed. Strongbow came out on top for all but one of the six tasters.

What does that mean? I have no idea. But it was a lot of fun to do. So you should try your own.

If you can’t figure out if this expensive beer is worth the hype or you can’t figure out which bitter bomb IPA you like better, try a blind taste test. You might surprise yourself.

I plan on conducting my quad taste test again with a Rochefort 10, an aged bottle of Westvleteren 12, and an Achel Extra Bruin. It’s all in the name of science, of course.

😉