For our very first experiment we asked our to tackle a fairly simple experiment. Can tasters detect a difference between the same wort fermented with the classics Wyeast 1056 American Ale (nee Chico) and White Labs WLP001 California Ale? See the link above for the full writeup on the parameters of the experiment.
The Experiment
Here are the basics – IGORs brewed and split a batch of our Magnum Blonde ale, chilled and then pitched one part with a pack of Wyeast 1056 and the other with a vial/pack of WLP001. We asked the IGORs to grab yeast samples of roughly the same manufacture date and to pitch without making starters to reduce possible variations. (Thought on that towards the end!) After fermentation, the IGORs were instructed to package the beers in the same manner and run a basic triangle test to determine if tasters could reliably detect the different beer. We gave no instruction on weighting the samples in favor of Wyeast or White Labs.
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