Introducing Noobs to Stouts...

I could pretend to be a stout noob and come drink those for ya! Awesome lineup. I got my nephew started on stouts by introducing him to Young's which is nice and light and chocolatey. Slowly he's moving up the ladder to more kickass ones. Have fun!

 

Not to be a dick, but I wouldn't waste those beers on people that aren't craft beer diehards. It does sound like a good lineup overall.

Edit - If you know your friends like stouts, then yeah, it's a good idea. But if you have no idea if they're going to like those beers or not, then maybe you should get some different stouts for them to try first.

 

Ditto with this. I've wasted a lot of expensive beer on newbs who are 'repulsed' by stouts or double ipas. What ends up happening? They chug the entire glass to quickly move on to the next beer.. After having several of these heart-wretching moments, I think it's best to share the good stuff with people who appreciate it but do a beer tasting of several beers and include a stout to see what they think.. I think that a variety of different beer styles and ending with stout really works.. I've been starting with hoppy DIPAs and pale ales, switching over to Belgians (both sours and tripels/quads) and then 'graduating' to an imperial stout. I like to use a more easier to find ba stout like Central Waters Peruvian Morning. The KBS and especially the BCBS has been way too 'rough' on my newbie friends.

 

I did something similar on Easter with 4 family non craft guys. I Ended up drinking a BB Old Rasputin, and a He'brew 15:15 basically alone. The only thing they said was drinkable was an Epic Brainless on Peaches

 

Don't do poker, the beer I've all had, but...mmm!

 

I also agree with this. A few months ago, I gave just one bottle of Two Hearted to my cousin and waited in anticipation to see what he thought of it. Later his reaction was that he didn't even try it, gave it to his wife and she didn't like it. I still won't get over that one and it was an easy to find beer! If I was going to introduce people to something like that I would go more with some porters and such and maybe the strongest I would go would be, maybe a Founders Breakfast Stout or something. DFH Indian Brown is a nice light beer that is close to a porter or coffee beer. But dude, to start them off with almost all Bourbon beers? Don't think so... If you do decide to, just prepare for the worst and don't expect a good reaction.
Founders Porter is what actually started me off on Stouts and I didn't even like my first bottle. I bought a sixer of it, then had to bear with it till it was gone. After that was gone, I wanted more and the ride began!

 

I know you planned to do this last night, but one of the easiest drinking imperial stouts is Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout and is definitely a good brew to start with. (Just a side note, Firestone Walker XV is not a stout, it's a blended ale or American Strong Ale, etc). Other good choices would be Founders Imperial Stout, Dark Horse Plead the 5th (if you can find it), Hoppin Frog's offerings, Great Divide Yeti, and Stone IRS. Although, all the brews you mentioned are delicious, except Dragon's Milk which is "meh" IMO, none of these would be stouts, I'd start with.

Are you showcasing one kind of stout e.g. American Double/Imperial Stouts, Russian Imperial Stout, etc. or are you trying to expose them to a few varieties of each? I also would not include any BB stouts like BCBS. For a seasoned big stout drinker these brews are very palatable, but for someone not used to drinking this style these could be very big, heavy, and far too strong and boozy.

 

Yeah- those are great beers, so I would go to the store and pick up some easier to find ones- 2012 Dragons Milk, Founders Breakfast Stout/Imperial Stout, Bells Kalamazoo Stout, that sort of thing. If they like them, next time break out the good stuff. If you just want to crack 'em open, then that's awesome, I'm sure they'll like some of them at least.

Or just bring them to my house instead- that's an option too.

 

My first two stouts were Guinness and Young's Double Chocolate. Start them out small, and work their way up. I regularly bring home Dragon's Milk, Founders' Imperial, all sorts of really strong stouts (and even had a BCBCS and BCBBRS not too long ago), and my sister-in-law, who lives with us, and occasionally some friends we have over, will say "Whatcha drinking there?" I hand my glass over to them with a shit-eating grin, because the reaction when they drink something that heavy and strong when they're used to piss water like Miller Lite is priceless.

At any rate, the moral of the story is that if they're noobs, don't waste the big shit on them. Save it, maybe age it a little bit to give them a real treat once they've worked up the ladder. Start them out with something like Guinness or Young's, maybe even Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout.

 

I feel the same way... I used to host 'Beer Tasting' with co-workers however everytime I got something that was rare and enough of them to pass around, I didn't want to waste it on people who I knew wouldnt appreciate it. As a result I've been just getting a lot of limited, but still 'B' squad beers for everyone to taste.

 

I'd recommend getting a few crappy stouts to start off with to gauge if they are enjoying the beers. If not I wouldnt waste the good stuff on them

EDIT: By "crappy" I mean cheaper, easier to find, non-imperial stouts.

 

Newbie stouts (and 1 porter):

Breckinridge Vanilla Porter
LeftHand Milk Stout

 

I actually had Lefthand at my last one since I had travelled to Ohio recently.. That was definitely a favorite for them.

 

Lefthand's Nitro Milk Stout is awesome, Kalamazoo Stout, Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald. I'd try something along those lines, similar to what others mentioned. I've wasted many a beer thinking that people will like the same stuff I like. Ease them into it, its rare that they'll like the heavier stuff right off.