serving order?

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400d

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I have some people coming over to try my home made beers. They are not so into beer, except they probably drank a swimming pool of cheap, bland euro lager in last month. So they like beer, but I think they don't know anything about it except it causes a hangover :)

But anyway, they're all nice and good friends.

So, what I have bottled is: Sweet stout, Kolsch, Amber Ale, hefeweizen and some barley wine. These beers are all really great, but I'm concerned about the order of serving....

I want them to try all of them (and what is more important THEY want to try all of them :) ) but wouldn't like if one beer ruins the other, if you know what I mean. They drink fast....

So in what order would you serve this beer?

(there will be some finger food, definitely)
 
I would suggest the Barleywine well after the rest. You'll want to disengage the roasted flavors from the stout before having them try and taste the barelywine. There are some very interesting subtle flavors in a barleywine that might be missed if they don't cleanse the palate very well.
 
I would suggest the Barleywine well after the rest. You'll want to disengage the roasted flavors from the stout before having them try and taste the barelywine. There are some very interesting subtle flavors in a barleywine that might be missed if they don't cleanse the palate very well.

I'll try to make them eat something before the Barleywine....
 
Another consideration should be sample size... A few ounce taste should be more than enough. After the tasting is over is then time to drink pints (er, appropriate glassware) of whatever they liked!
 
same order i came up with. good idea to have a little something to eat before the barley wine, something light to cleanse the palate.
 
Whether you are talking about sushi, wine, beer, cheese.. anything... the rule of thumb for not ruining your pallet is to go from "lighter" to "darker" in terms of taste.
 
hmm is the kolsh reaaly light enough to serve before the hefe?

Yes in fact I personally feel it would be a crime to serve the hef first. The yeast profile is much more prominent in a hef and you will basically not taste the yeast character in the kolsch if you do it the other way around.
 
Yes in fact I personally feel it would be a crime to serve the hef first. The yeast profile is much more prominent in a hef and you will basically not taste the yeast character in the kolsch if you do it the other way around.

+1 The Hefe should have that yeast character that might make the Kolsch seem bland. But if the Kolsch was done right, after drinking it, you should be able to still taste and compare the Hefe flavors.
 
Yes in fact I personally feel it would be a crime to serve the hef first. The yeast profile is much more prominent in a hef and you will basically not taste the yeast character in the kolsch if you do it the other way around.

agreed.
 
Have some bread or minimally flavored pretzels to further cleanse the pallet. After a yeasty hefe the amber might hide flavors as well.
 
Another consideration should be sample size... A few ounce taste should be more than enough. After the tasting is over is then time to drink pints (er, appropriate glassware) of whatever they liked!

well said! After all, no point in getting them too familiar with one before moving on to try the next. When I'm having family do blind tests of various beers, I serve them in 2oz shot-glasses. Its enough to get the taste/flavor, but not enough to 'brand' them.
 
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