Have you ever noticed that a beer can taste much better or much worse depending on the beer you had before and how it affected your pallet? I just had an Oatmeal Yeti, and then I had a Sam Adams Boston Lager, and it's seriously the best Sam Adams Boston Lager I ever had. I don't know what it is about just drinking an Oatmeal Yeti that makes the Boston Lager taste better, but this is seriously excellent. Has anyone had a similar experience that one beer makes another taste better, or can anyone explain this phenomenon?
I've had many similar experiences, but I sure can't explain it. Pretty much all the experiences I remember were much like yours, except going from stout to (insert any IPA here). There's just something magic about going from a stout right into something hoppy and pale malted that really ramps up the flavor quotient. I believe there was a thread on this a little while back if I'm not mistaken, too, which might be a good read.
Everyone experiences similar things, just not everyone realizes it is happening to them. The tastebuds are slow to recover from being stimulated. When one beer has a definite flavor profile the tastebuds gradually adapt over time and lose some of their sensitivity. Switching to a beer then with a different flavor profile then calls into play some relatively fresh tastebuds who get to play now as well, while some of the others continue to be used but are less responsive than the tastebuds that haven't beer exercised as much by the first beer. Example: This is why you want to drink an IPA after rather than before a less strongly flavored beer. Example: This is why some beers and some foods go well together and others don't.
Conversely, a beer can taste much worse depending on what you had before it. It's not just the beer you had that will influence your perception of the next beer, but the other things you've had as well.
Couldn't dig up the thread I was thinking of that may or may not existed . I may have been thinking of a recent custom beer blending, which had quite a few recommendations for stout+IPA blends - no coincidence.
For me it's the opposite, I can't go from a stout to an IPA or the IPA tastes awful. I have to start bitter and then go to sweet.
Nothing jumps to mind beer-wise, but I'm sure it's happened if I think hard enough. Definitely happens with food and beer regularly
Need to try this - I've done it the other way around - next stop - expo stout followed by some hop-bomb!
I've definitely experienced this. Without palate cleansing, I'd say it takes about 1/3 of the current beer to have the flavor stop being affected by the previous beer. I guess I could keep track of when it's positively affected and maybe come up with an order of beer styles to have an even more enjoyable drinking session. Party. Bonus.
I think this is all about contrast. Hence why many people like a coffee after dessert. That's why I can rarely have the same beer in a row. I'm almost always starting with crisp and/or hoppy and ending with malty/roasty. Maybe I should try it backwards!
