Priming the pump?

The only time I designate an order is if I think drinking one beer will greatly influence and kill my palate for the next beer. For instance I don't like drinking pilsners after drinking hop heavy IPAs.

 

I'll start out the evening usually with something with low abv. It's due to still being busy,cooking,walking the dog and other things. When I can actually sit down with nothing to do I'll pull out the higher abv which coincidentally are usually my favorites

 

Lately I've been going IPA->Sour->Stout. If I have lighter beers on hand, I'll start with them. ABV is also a factor but I usually look at flavor intensity of the style.

 

If I know I'm going to have more than one, I like to follow the old proverb
"Hard to light party all night, light to hard puke in the yard"
So I start with a strong one.

 

I agree with your point and I admit to priming the pump. I usually try to make my first beer < 6%. I have found when I start with a larger beer the effect is immediate, and not usually what I am going after. So not sure if this is mental, but I save the high ABV's for later in the night (or until I get home if I am driving)

 

If I'm having a variety of beers I try to stick to tasting them in ascending ABV but will occasionally say "fk it!" and go with what strikes my fancy at the moment.

 

With pale ales and IPA's, yes. It's very tough to taste a pale ale after drinking a DIPA.

 

And here I was going happily along without direction and you guys had to put this pattern idea in my head.

 

If I know I'm having a couple/few beers in one sitting, I generally save what I expect will be the bigger flavors for the later rounds. Pilsners before BBA Barleywines -- that sort of thing. Wouldn't necessarily call it priming tho.

 

Not as "strict" about this when at home, but when I'm out I definitely look and the beer menu and pretty quickly determine an order. Usually starts with a lager then into a couple IPAs then a stout or sour or something out of the ordinary like a rauchbier.

 

I absolutely do this. I start from low ABV and low hop bitterness and move to high ABV and/or high hop bitterness. The only instance in which I don't do this is if I'm participating in a bottle share in which there is something REALLY special that I or someone else wants to share, then we start with that beer in order to fully appreciate it before our palates get dull.

 

Completely random for myself as well depending on what I'm in the mood for. If it's a special beer, it will usually be first and on a clean pallet.

 

I think this can be problematic as I find "first beer bias" to be a real thing, in that my first beer of the session almost always tastes better than it should because it is my first beer.

 

I don't think this is a thing unless you are either drinking the same beer in multiples (1st is always the tastiest) or you are drinking too many beers in a session and your desire for beer begins to fall off towards the end.

 

I think it's just because I'm so damned excited to drink that first beer.

 

I'm usually a one and done type (translation: lightweight), so there's no pattern in particular beyond what I feel like having. On the rare times when I'm "having more than one" (OK - bonus points for old ad slogan recognition available there...), I actually tend to stay with one beer throughout, maybe follow up with a "heavy hitter" sitting around later. Exception would be hotel beers while travelling where I generally miscalculate and end up with more beer than I need and end up just going through them one after t'other...bored in a hotel room is not a good thing for me

 

Since I keep cans of Polar seltzer in the fridge by the beer cans, I could definitely surprise and maybe slightly disappoint myself with this approach.

 

Once this becomes obvious, that beer consumption needs to sort of be planned, you'll be doubting yourself for good. It's an ugly spiral of orderliness. Even so, If I drink higher alcohol beers it's almost always later and after a while of already having had a few...............He cracks his second Duvel of the afternoon.....Nah.

 

I start with beers new to me. Usually 2. After that I drink my current stash because I can't accurately think about a beer at that quantity. I'm a fast drinking. I'll down 3 I'm 15 minutes so I need to do it this way.

 

Not really. But I do start with beers that build upon each other so I don't kill my taste buds. Example, I wouldn't start with an dipa and roll into a pale ale.