Vertical- which way to go?

In my opinion: newest, followed by oldest moving forward. You can keep the newest on hand for reference as you go, as well as what's left of the older ones.

 

I agree. You want to know what it tastes like without aging in order to better understand the effects of aging on the beer. If you start with the oldest, you might confuse the qualities that came from the aging with qualities that are inherent to the beer.

 

Newest to oldest. The whole point of a vertical tasting is to track the effects of aging. The only sensible way to do that is in descending order.

 

@bkbergen how was the vertical?

 

I would pour them all at once for comparision

 

I know I am late to the conversation, but I always prefer oldest to newest. Leaving some left for reference at the end is nice too.

How'd the vertical turn out?

 

That's the way I've always understood a vertical should run. It was explained to me that the aged version is typically mellower and subtle flavors can be missed if not on a fresh palate. I guess there's no right or wrong answer though, whatever works. When doing a tasting I always go from mild to strong.

 

@HopVol exactly my reasoning.

 

I prefer to serve them all at once so the tasters can compare different years and save their favorite for last. I also start with oldest and work my way forward on the initial taste of each.