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Author Topic: How many beer years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?  (Read 4571 times)

Offline 1vertical

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« Last Edit: May 21, 2011, 05:10:22 pm by 1vertical »
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: How many years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #1 on: May 21, 2011, 03:34:15 pm »
I don't think it's actually defined anywhere :)   I think 3 makes some sense, although 1 works if you're trying to be funny. ;)
Tom Schmidlin

Offline 1vertical

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Re: How many years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #2 on: May 21, 2011, 03:39:12 pm »
I don't think it's actually defined anywhere :)   I think 3 makes some sense, although 1 works if you're trying to be funny. ;)
I was trying to be "Vertical"  I got 3 yrs of Bigfoot Barleywine....gonna wait one more yr. for
the main tasting, but I have an extra 2010 and an extra 2011 to go now....
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: How many years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2011, 03:41:21 pm »
You're not trying to be 1vertical? :)

I think 2 is still vertical enough, especially if that's all you have.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline tumarkin

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Re: How many years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #4 on: May 21, 2011, 03:44:47 pm »
vertical enough, huh? can you be 'more' vertical?
Mark Tumarkin
Hogtown Brewers
Gainesville, FL

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: How many years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2011, 03:53:07 pm »
It depends on what the definition of "is" is.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline a10t2

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Re: How many years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2011, 04:03:59 pm »
You only need two points to describe a line in 3-space. Of course, you have to define your axes, or "vertical" is a meaningless qualifier.
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Offline 1vertical

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Re: How many years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2011, 05:05:14 pm »
does that mean you can have a horizontal qualifier? :P
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Offline weazletoe

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Re: How many beer years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2011, 11:02:18 pm »
I would think any beer you drink would be considered a Verticle tasting.  :-\
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Offline 1vertical

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Re: How many beer years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2011, 11:05:49 pm »
ROLF  ;D   da weaze!
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Offline thomasbarnes

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Re: How many beer years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #10 on: May 22, 2011, 02:13:49 am »
Well ???

Not trying to be a smartass, but at least two.

The whole point of a vertical tasting is that you're trying to get a sense of how the same beer recipe ages over time. For that, you need two different batches, or one batch aged under different conditions (e.g., one kept at 32 F for a month, one kept at room temperature).

For big beers which develop slowly, it's more useful and more fun to have a flight of at least 3 to 5, though.

Offline 1vertical

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Re: How many beer years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #11 on: May 22, 2011, 08:09:48 am »
Thank you thomas, I can see that the more the merrier applies here....
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Offline MDixon

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Re: How many beer years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #12 on: May 22, 2011, 01:05:56 pm »
It all depends upon the beer...I kinda like 10 for beers that might stand a chance at holding up that long...at least 4 IMO...or if the beer might be heading downhill, 3...
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Offline 1vertical

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Re: How many beer years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2011, 01:59:37 pm »
It all depends upon the beer...I kinda like 10 for beers that might stand a chance at holding up that long...at least 4 IMO...or if the beer might be heading downhill, 3...
I could see that perhaps my Avery Beast could make it that long, but sheesh 10 yr old beer.  I think beer
is made to be consumed.  Ah I got to wait 2 more for that Avery Beast to get ripe...then prolly gonna have
a taste just because.  That is not a vertical taste either....just a reserved special bottle.
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Offline jeffy

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Re: How many beer years does it take to qualify as a Vertical Tasting?
« Reply #14 on: May 22, 2011, 02:49:20 pm »
It all depends upon the beer...I kinda like 10 for beers that might stand a chance at holding up that long...at least 4 IMO...or if the beer might be heading downhill, 3...
I could see that perhaps my Avery Beast could make it that long, but sheesh 10 yr old beer.  I think beer
is made to be consumed.  Ah I got to wait 2 more for that Avery Beast to get ripe...then prolly gonna have
a taste just because.  That is not a vertical taste either....just a reserved special bottle.
At GABF a few years ago, Alaska Brewing was doing vertical tastings of their Smoked Porter.  They had 4 different vintages each session.  I was there on the Thursday night session and enjoyed a 10 year old sample compared with more recent ones.  It was the highlight of the evening for me.  The oldest example was pretty vinous (winey), but it was cool to taste the progression.
Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
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