Belt’s Beer Garden BrewFC #8: WisCANsin

Coming just a few months after the last BrewFC fight, the eighth battle takes places between two Wisconsin breweries - O’so and Third Space.

Today’s judges will be a familiar pair...myself and Taylor, who has been part of two previous BrewFCs and has reviewed two beers with me in the regular BBG setting.

As with all BrewFC fights, we will each judge both beers in five categories that total up to 50 points. From there, we’ll simply add the totals together for a composite score out of 100. The beer with the higher score wins.

The five categories are: Aroma (10 points), Taste (20 points), Presentation 1 (the look of the beer; 10 points), Presentation 2 (the look of the bottle; 5 points), and Value (5 points).

The first three categories we will be blindly testing as to not have a bias towards either brew. However, those last two categories are impossible to rank blindly, so those have already been scored before the real fight begins.

Now...let’s me our competitors.

In one corner, we have Plover, Wisconsin’s O’so and their Hop Debauchery - a double IPA. And in the other corner: Milwaukee’s Third Space and their Happy Happy - another DIPA.

And now onto the fight!!

Beer 1:

Judge 1 (Taylor):

Aroma: Some hop character but nothing to make my mouth water. Some citrus juices but, again, kind of a muted aroma. 4/10

Presentation 1: Like the aroma and taste, the look is also pretty generic. Nice golden color with some light head forming that sticks around while you drink it. 4/10

Taste: Had a decent taste to it but nothing I’d go running back to. There is an oaty after that was not something I preferred. What citrus there was, wasn’t enough to make me go back for more. It was a pretty generic DIPA 11/20

Presentation 2: It has a simple, clean look that I like and would definitely catch my eye in the store. 4/5

Value: Decent price in Chicago - still a little much but not terrible. 3/5

Total: 26/50

Judge 2 (Dave):

Aroma: Slightly juicy with hints of mango and papaya. Weird oaty, cereal-like aroma that hides the hops surprisingly well. Not sure how I feel about that oaty aroma though... 6/10

Presentation 1: Super bright coppery orange color but looks like your average IPA. 7/10

Taste: Followed the scent to a tee. The cereal/wheat flavor dominated, with those citrus hops falling behind. Grapefruit and mango notes do show up but late and are accompanied by a bitter sting and hoppy aftertaste. Decent but nothing special. 15/20

Presentation 2: Simple, yet cool design. Easy to read and eye-catching. 4/5

Value: A tad higher than average. And, after drinking the beer, not really worth the extra money. 3/5

Total: 35/50

OVERALL: 61/100

Beer 2:

Judge 1 (Taylor):

Aroma: Overall juicy smell but there’s a sweet note at the end that’s a bit off-putting for me. 6/10

Presentation 1: Awesomely hazy. Muddy look without making you think it’s OJ that has expired. 7/10

Taste: It’s a solid hazy DIPA but it definitely doesn’t wow you. For this style, it makes me say “huh, that’s pretty good” but nothing to get overly excited about. Would I drink it again? Sure! But it’s not a very exciting beer. 13/20

Presentation 2: Fun comic look! Totally eye-catching. 4/5

Value: Good price for what you get. 4/5

Total: 34/50

Judge 2 (Dave):

Aroma: Slightly juicy with a ton of pineapple. Behind that is a hoppy orange scent and some malty quality that I’m not sure how I feel about. 6/10

Presentation 1: Like a glass of muddy water. Super hazy and cloudy. 6/10

Taste: Juicy flavor of oranges and tangerine with the pineapple sitting in the backseat but still very noticeable. Ends with some bitterness that doesn’t linger too long. Pretty easy to drink with some oaty flavors and a malt sweetness hitting you mid sip. 17/20

Presentation 2: Really like the comic book look and feel. 4/5

Value: Priced typical for the style, neither too high or too low. 4/5

Total: 37/50

OVERALL: 71/100

It was fight for a bit but Beer 2 pulled away at the end there! Beer 2 is the victory, claiming a 71-61 victory!

But what was Beer #2?.....

WINNER: O’SO HOP DEBAUCHERY!!!