Tasting Order

[Hefty]

I've read a few books of late, the main one being "The Brewmaster's Table" by Garret Oliver of Boston Brewery, which talk about matching beer with food but also about tasting beers in a logical order in terms of flavour.
I've also taken up the practice recently of buying two beers I've never tried before each time I go to a party so I can learn a little more about different styles.
I'm going to my sister-in-law's 30th tonight and I've bought a Baron's ESB (Dan Murphy's didn't have many notable actual English ales) and a Weihenstephan Traditional Dunkel.
So my question is what would you do?:
Would you try the ESB first and then the Dunkel because it will likely have a stronger and fuller malt character?
Or,
Would you try the Dunkel first and then the ESB as it will likely still have a reasonably strong malt character but also a greater hops bitterness?

So, let's see who can sway me?

HABAHAGD! :icon_cheers:
Jono.

 

[Fourstar]

Generally go go from light coloured/low hopped to dark coloured/heavy hopping.

As the ESB is light in colour but highly hopped compared to the dunkel which is dark coloured/low hopped i'd go the dunkel 1st.

If you have the ESB then the Dunkel, you're palate will be confused by the high hopping rates of the ESB and you wont get the full flavour of the dunkel. Much like brushing your teeth and having Milk or OJ.

 

[Pennywise]

I bought those exact beers from DM's last friday night, unfortunatly I drank them the other way around so I didn't get much from the Dunkel, deff go that first

 

[Hefty]

Cheers guys!
Yeah, I was already leaning towards the Dunkel first in my head. You're spot on Fourstar, the lighter colour of the ESB threw me a little.

HABAHAGD :icon_cheers:
Jono

Edit: spelled my cheers icon code wrong!

 

[bum]

Or you could enjoy a palette cleansing lemon sorbet between drinks and then the order doesn't matter.

And no one will look at you like you're strange.

 

[Hefty]

Well, I've gotta say the Dunkel wasn't what I expected.
It was good, don't get me wrong, but just not what I expected. Maybe I'm putting too much faith in written descriptions of style. I read the 2008 BJCP style guidelines and it gave me more of an impression of malt sweetness It actually uses the word 'sweetness'. I know melaniodins are supposed to be more of a bready-biscuity malt (and I definitely got that) but was still expecting more sweetness as well. It was more of a toast, almost burnt toast, sort of flavour.
I guess that's why I'm trying all these different styles. Words just aren't the same as tasting the real thing.

Jono.

 

[Fourstar]

Weihenstephaner Bavarian Dunkel IMO is slightly over-roasty than the style expects. I had one as a comparison to my Dunkel to check how she was aging last Friday. My expectation was also skewed. The aroma you get is also quite roasty, not breadcrust/melanoiden rich. To me, its starting to lean towards being a Schwarzbier as the 'roast' overtones are muting the melanoiden richness.

Ive had it before and will have it again. I don't think style wise its a 'great interpretation,' but its a decent Dunkel otherwise.

 

[Hefty]

Well, that makes me feel a little better! Maybe my taste buds are more closely attuned to my understanding of the particular descriptive words they've used than I thought.

cheers Fourstar!
HABAHAGD! :icon_cheers:
Jono.