Proper Order to Drink Beer

There are two conflicting ordering schemes for deciding when to drink which beer:

• The first method is to start with lighter, less flavorful beers, before moving on to darker, more intense brews, like drinking white wine before red in a tasting. This avoids ruining your palate.
• The second method, which has its own merit, is to drink the good beer first. The latter (worse) beer will thus be improved, and you won't mind the lapse in quality:

My advice is to practice a mixture of the two, depending on the beers available and the sort of evening planned.