Stout tasting...too much?

Or you could come to Chicago! We never get any good beer around here

 

i guess it all depends. personally, i don't obtain beers of that caliber all too often, so my take is - especially if all are coming from my cellar - i wouldn't want to tear through my 4 or 5 crown jewels in one night (epic though the tasting might be).

 

Will be keeping an eye out in the regional forum

 

If they aren't used to imperial stouts, perhaps start with something like Guinness/Beamish...etc to help them learn the differences ?

 

My friends and I just did a side by side of Black Tuesday and Chocolate Rain. DO NOT do it. By the time we got to CR, we were on decadent stout overload. You will not get the full enjoyment out of those.

My advice: those are all great stouts. Save them for their own nights. Maybe have them with a couple of other beers, but let them be the only stout you have that night.

 

Hey me too! We could throw in some ORF to get some local love in there.

 

The funny thing is I drive 3.5 hours to Chicago (or WI or MN) for a beer run because we never get anything here in Iowa!

I would probably add a couple more casual impy stouts like Old Rasputin in just to see how they hold up against the bigger beers. Sour as a palate cleanser always works and I also like to mix impy stouts with sours after you have tasted everything a couple of times. Crackers, pretzels and water are also good. We sometimes mix a pilsner in as a palate cleanser as well. Don't forget to post your results, always fun to read how these tastings come out.

Cheers

 

Ames still has Juliet and Lolita on the shelf. Not sure how close you are to them

 

Why share a '07 Abyss when you could drink it yourself?

 

I am going against what others are advising. It is your beer and your graduation. Enjoy it with your friends. Please do not be the elitist beer snob who thinks they will not "appreciate" it just because they are not into craft as much as you.

 

I'm with Bishop.
I like to share my special brews with my friends regardless of their knowledge of craft beer.
But you should definitely give them a taste before pouring a glass. Some people don't like certain stronger beers.

Besides, it's good karma to share good beer. I won't remember that 120 minute IPA that I hoarded to myself, I remember having a good with my friends drinking special beers and playing soul calibur.

 

They were on tap in CR along with a bunch of other GI stuff so I lucked out there

 

Looks like a great tasting to me. That's over a bottle per person. I've never had any palate issues with stouts.

 

I like sharing really good beer with friends that aren't crazy BA's like us, so I think this is a good idea. One thing I will say is that you might want to hold back a bottle or two of those great BA stouts and replace them with really good shelf imperial stouts. Your friends won't know the difference and it might highlight what BA can do which is pretty cool for newbs. Plus, you'll have some of those great stouts in your cellar too.

As for a sour as a pallet cleanser, I'd grab a few bottles of shelf Geueze. Mix in some cheese and crackers and you'll be all set.

 

Since you're in NC too, here are a few shelf stouts you can get now that would be great but allow you to hang on to a few of your high caliber bottles:

*Weyerbacher Heresay (BA'd)
*Hoppin Frog BA Boris
*epic big bad baptist
*nebraksa black Betty

I'm sure there are plenty of other options that I'm forgetting.

 

Sounds like you are going to have an excellent time with your friends! Enjoy it!

 

I love to have beer tastings, but in my opinion, Imperial Stouts just are not designed to be sessioned one after another. I did an Imperial Stout Tasting back in February of 2010. It was a lot of fun for sure, but in all honestly, the style is way too rich and heavy to really appreciate one after another. After the first one, they all pretty much taste similar, even with a palate cleanser. I have done 10 beer tastings, all different styles, and I think Imperial Stout was everybody's least favorite in my tasting group. In case you are interested, this is how we ranked our Imperial Stouts in our tasting:

1. Bells Expedition Stout
2. Great Divide Yeti
3. Founders Imperial Stout
4. Dark Horse Plead the 5th Stout
5. Thirsty Dog Siberian Night
6. Great Lakes Blackout Stout
7. Hoppin Frog BORIS The Crusher
8. Nogne O Imperial Stout
9. North Coast Old Rasputin
10. Arcadia Imperial Stout

I have a Saison tasting upcoming this Friday. Can't wait!

 

Mine is bigger.

Wait, what are we talking about?