Greetings! I donated a beer tasting as an item for my choir's gala last year, and it's finally happening tomorrow. In your professional opinion, what should the order be? Surly Furious Surly Coffee Bender Lindemann's Cuvee Rene Founder's Double Trouble Green Flash West Coast IPA Cascade Kriek Mother of All Storms Saison D'Erpe-Mere I have my own ideas, but I'd like to see what y'all come up with. Thanks in advance - hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend!
Keep the coffee brews for near the end as well. Those bitter, roast flavors tend to linger and overwhelm the subtler stuff.
Mix in a lager like Summerfest or Sixpoint Crisp. Then move up the ladder in ABV. Great idea for a donation!
First off - cool idea and I hope you scored some decent scratch for charity. Hopefully you will have some water and palate cleansers as well. You have a fairly diverse line-up, so I would suggest using the maltier beers to help reset things between the IPAs and Sours. In my opinion, you don't want to necessarily start with IPAs and Sours, but you want to intersperse things. You also probably don't want to follow an IPA with a Sour or vice versa. If you have perhaps one more malty beer, I would consider swapping that out for one of the IPAs. Maybe: Saison D'Erpe-Mere Green Flash West Coast IPA Founders Double Trouble Surly Coffee Bender Surly Furious Cuvee Renee Mother of all Storms Cascade Kriek
I tend to go most complex to simplest. Since I haven't had several of those beers, the order is up to you, friend.
Is the Cuvée Rene Kiek or Geuze? Some of the appreciation of the tasters will depend on their level of experience with unusual beer styles. Here's what I would suggest for a diverse group of tasters: Saison Surly Furious Green Flash West Coast IPA Founder's Double Trouble Lindemann's Cuvee Rene Surly Coffee Bender Mother of All Storms Cascade Kriek I originally had the coffee before the IPAs but think it might be a nice bridge between the earlier beers and the MOAS instead. Cheers!
^This is exactly how I'd do it (although maybe move the Double Trouble after Bender, but definitely eat some saltines after every beer)
I'm with this ^ (moreso than Saltines) - compare the two, maybe you'll agree - beyond that, and having water on-hand, I agree with going from lighter to heavier beers.
And if you don't like the dryness of crackers, or don't know what water crackers are, just grab a French baguette, and keep the butter away from it.
