Do you guys often have a beer to "pop the palate" before having the one beer you really want to drink that evening, or do you just dive right into the good stuff? I'll be having Parabola soon and was wondering if you guys would recommend having something before or just going right in. Perhaps some sort of food paring? I don't know.
I usually have something light like a pilsner before opening the good stuff. Just light enough to stimulate the senses, yet not heavy enough to overwhelm. Did a Summerfest before a sculpin last week.
Nope, quite the opposite for me. I wish I could find more palate cleansers. I like having a beer best when my palate is completely blank.
I like going to the good stuff that I have been looking forward to first. After that I start hitting the low abv pilsners, milds, ESB's, pale ales, etc.
Don't muddle the palate, go right to the main attraction. If you want to pair it with food, pair it only after you have already begun to enjoy the beer.
For the really special beers (and I'd consider Parabola one of these) all I drink beforehand is a little water.
I don't usually bother. People have this really odd habit of saving the best beers for the end at a tasting (I know you're not doing a tasting, but still) and it has always confused me.
I've never understood this either. Whenever I have a tasting with my friends, we always open the best beers first before everyone is too sloshed and full of beer to really enjoy them
If I'm going to have a beer that's new to me, that's usually the first one. I like having new beers with clean taste buds.
I try to refrain from huffing gasoline on days I plan on opening a special beer. Other than that, I just open them and drink them.
just use some water to cleanse the tongue taste buds, then a little food later in the tasting, if its a special brew i want to taste it and enjoy it
