Between intent and absentmindedness I've managed to put together some fairly long verticals (OldStock 05-current, Temptation b1 - current, LaFolie 07 - current, etc). Some, especially the Temptation are really imposing to open; can you really taste 10+ versions of an assertive beer? How do folks address longer verticals? A couple of sessions on the same day? Sequential order? 1,3,5 then 2,4,6? Multiple sessions on a long weekend?
I like to go from the most recent to the oldest and ,depending on the beer ABV and depth of the collection; I wouldn't want to be too palate weary to taste the next offering... Spread over several days with good food and friends, it could be epic!!
Earlier vintages (cork & cage, which is up until 09 I believe) were not pasteurized. That said, just because a beer is pasteurized does not mean it won't change; it just limits the types of changes that occur. For the OP, I'd recommend going oldest to youngest. If it's a long/challenging vert, split it up over many hours or days and take good tasting notes and pictures.
I have done both orders in the past and I'm not sure tasting order matters if you have had the beer before. That being said, youngest to oldest shows the affect of age more clearly in my opinion. With as many years as you have, I would suggest getting a group together and doing one of the verticals. If you are having a few ounces of each and water in between, you should be fine with a few people. Taking down one of the those verticals alone would be a task.
I'm kind of torn when it comes to verticals. I have a lot of verts in my cellar and I've done some good ones. A few years ago we got a group together and did a 13 year vertical of Anchor Our Special Ale, everyone getting between 1-2 ouces of each year. It was great. On the down side of doing verticals, a particular vintage of a beer may be classified as inferior to some of the other vintages, when in reality, if consumed by itself would be considered a great beer from the cellar. So, while verticals are fun and lend to easier comparison, sometimes I like to do a vertical by drinking just one vintage a day and letting each stand on its own.
Anything after the corked and caged versions of La Folie taste identical...FYI. Haven't had a corked and caged version in about a year a half. I did a Supplication vertical from batch two not too long ago, and the older version had fallen off quite a bit. Just my two cents.
Yeah, that's a lot of my concern... If batch 6 of 10 is just fantastic, will anyone be able to tell anymore? I love being able to do side-by-side comparisons when there's 3-4 bottles but 10+? Just impractical. So you either end up with a large group and people getting ~1oz of each batch or small groups and it goes from exciting to tedious pretty quick. Sounds like I should stop thinking of the whole set as a series, as hard as it is for my inner completionist to stomach.
I think La Folie after 2009 when they went to cap, will pretty much have no changes to it, since it is pasteurized. There's no point in really cellaring those I don't think anymore. Edit: This^^ ...Too late for my comment
