All, So a buddy of mine (one guy and me) have amassed a pretty sizable amount of BA Bwines and are looking to figure out a way to taste them all without getting hammered and still being able to appreciate them all. We'll likely have to do this over 2 or 3 nights as we're anti-social and don't want to open it up to a huge tasting. So, the question is -- how should we do it? I have the list of beers below as well as the quantities -- maybe we open 3 one night, then mix in the best of the previous night, etc... I don't know, open to suggestions and order. We're probably good for 3 bombers total, MAYBE 4 if it's over the course of many hours. All suggestions much appreciated (and if anyone wants to trade for "must haves" that I'm missing off my list -- open to local trades too!)! King Henry (x2) Bligh's (x1) MoaS (x3) Kuhnhenn BBBW (x2) BA Naked Evil (x1) Arctic Devil (x1) CW BBBW (x4) Abacus (x1) Commander (x4) Thanks! Erich
I would defiantly do all the barrel aged stuff on its own night. Probably the last night. All of that bourbon flavor will jack your pallet and you won't be able to appreciate the rest of the great Barleywines you have.
ALL of these beers are barrel-aged...so that won't exactly work. Great lineup, though. Not a bad one in the bunch.
I would recommend picking up a bunch of something like this (but closer to 12 oz would be preferable). Then, as you are opening the beers, you can just fill the bottle to the top with half of the contents of the bomber, seal it up, and label it with a sharpie. Once that is finished, pack all of the marked bottles in a box and send them to me. Problem solved! Everybody wins!
Very nice list; some of my favorites and bests in the style. To be honest, I don't think the order you do them in will matter in terms of "pallet fatigue" at all, as they are all English BA barleywines in the 10-14% ABV range (aside from CW's being an American BW, though it's still over 10%). I would suggest one of the following: 1. Do it blind. Either blind the bottles in the same way or have someone pour them for you, and see which one you really like the most without bias. 2. Go lowest to highest ABV. 3. Break it up into 3 groups; what we want to try the most/think will be the best, your second tier wants, and the rest. For instance you have 7 of the top 10 English barleywine's listed, and 1 of the top 10 American barleywine's. You could do 1-3 one night, 4/5/9 the next night and then 10/#7 American barleywine/Commander the third night. Personally I think the first option would be cool, but any way youo go about it I think you're in for an awesome weekend! I'd definitely suggest some water/bread in between beers and maybe a 12 oz. bottle or two on an IPA as well to help break it up. Enjoy!
Start in the morning; keep taking breaks --- eat, wait, drink water, coffee; back to beer. Do them all the same day... keep them on ice or something so that they don't get too warm. Anyway, that's how I would do it. Send me a video of the bottles being poured; usual **** doesn't do it anymore after all these years.
You should be fine with a 2 day split. We did something similar the other day but with 5 guys we added a couple non barrel beers and a couple growlers and did it over 4-5 hrs. Should be fine. With all those, just have at it. Pick one and go!! Cheers!
