All right, so I'm a newbie, both to BA and to really starting to taste/compare beers; i.e., you don't have to get too snarky/a-holeish in your responses. Anyway: For lack of a better term, I'm wondering about what I'm calling "beer sequencing." A couple of nights ago I went from a Sucks to a Hopslam (drank the whole Sucks before moving on), and I felt like the Hopslam was completely lost to me. I'd had the Hopslam a month or so before, and I really tasted all the honey/citrus notes, etc. Tonight, I started with an Enjoy By (4/20) and moved onto another Hopslam, and this time I really got off on all the Hopslam subtleties. So, my question is: do you think about how you sequence your beers, and do you have rules of thumb to make sure you're getting everything you want to get from beers you drink one after the other? J.
Save the real extreme shit for last. ie: super hoppy or super palate wrecking sour. I personally like to alternate sours in between every other brew I have if drinking various brews in one session and then end with whatever is the most extreme.
I Never had a problem with different IPA's flavor profile should be similar enough that it shouldn't really affect it but if it does try drinking some water in between beers it's good for you anyways.
Malt first, hops last. I VERY much think about this because I'm trying to learn on the fly, so I drink 3-4 different styles a session during the weekend. The only hard and fast rule I've come up with so far is if you are going to drink a big hoppy beer, save it for last. I haven't figured out where to insert stouts or super dark/stout/quad-like beers. So far it hasn't seemed as big an issue as the big-hop American double IPA, which for me simply must go last.
As a general rule of thumb try not to go from a more hoppy beer back to a less hoppy beer. I feel like I can go back and fourth a bit now that I am used to what to expect. But I still feel like during my craziest hop binges I can't appreciate anything subtle. After I got into craft beer I went straight for the hops like most people but it wasn't till a couple years in when I unexpectedly got a little bit sick of hops and calmed down on them that I started to appreciate pilsners, kolsch, hefeweizens etc. Another rule of thumb I use is drinking the beers I havn't tried before first with a fresh palate.
It really depends on a lot of factors, mainly whatever mood I am in. I often like to start with an IPA even though many prefer them last. Certainly if I am drinking multiple IPAs I like to start with the least hoppy one, if you start with the strongest one first you won't get as much out of the other ones. If I have something new or special I usually like to start with that first before the alcohol hinders my senses. But if I have something really special sometimes I may start with something simple just to kind of prepare my taste buds, and to get them acclimated to smaller flavors so the bigger flavors will be more intense. I generally switch styles with every beer, I usually don't plan ahead too much, I just drink whatever I feel like drinking as the time comes.
Interesting . . . not to make too many generalizations, but it seems like the conventional wisdom (as far as what I read on BA) says that the "evolution" of one's palate goes toward stouts and porters, that IPAs and pilsner/kolsches are somehow less interesting/sophisticated. I like the idea that lighter beers can be appreciated equally, especially since I can just barely tolerate the IBVs of many IPA/DIPAs at my age. Thanks on the cool, thoughtful responses so far . . .
Fair question and no one has the 'correct' answer. I try to add a more neutral beer in between the extreme beers just to transition my pallet rather than shock it. This is sometimes unavoidable at good tastings and while drinking water in between beers I usually dont have much of a problem. Worst case, set the beer off to the side and come back to it later. I dont think there should be any guideline for what style to drink first or last.
Me, too! I like to go from Cantillon to Crooked Stave to Armand to Hanssens to Cascade to RR... Oh, wait. You mean to work in something other than sours. Never mind.
