Beer Tasting Gathering Advice Sought

My view is that strong beers do not lend themselves to tastings.
I regularly act as a judge and normally choose beers of around 4%ABV. Even at this strength every beer impinges on the taste of following ones and even with palate cleansers such as crackers and water it is very hard to do justice to a string of beers.
As an experience it is fun but there are limitations to any conclusions you might draw.

 

Whats the list looking like? I'm in West Seneca and would consider the drive

 

Dude just let it be, sounds like a hell of a party to me!

 

Yes, but who has to clean up afterwards?

 

Ah, just put a tarp down

 

I think we’re gonna need a bigger tarp

 

Every year I host an annual 12 beers of Xmas get together and everyone brings a couple of bottles (sometimes more) to sample.Initially we would rate the different beers but eventually found that to be too tedious so we abandoned that practice in lieu of a vocal assessment of the beers.

We use 3 oz sample glasses that I got from a local beer store, and even though that doesn't sound like much - after a couple of hours beer fatigue sets in as well as a bit of a buzz. I also find that the majority of people bring higher ABV beers since they typically buy more expensive beers.

Now we really get together as more of an excuse to catch up and enjoy some good beers during the holidays and it's a lot more relaxed and enjoyable not having to worry about rating the beers.