hate it when

Don't you just hate it when you WANT to like a beer you've heard a lot about, but just can't?

I recently had a hoppy amber on a trip and really liked it. Came back, did some research, found Bear Republic's Red Rocket online. Found a bottle of it on a trip to NC over New Years break.

Just finished my bomber of it and i really think i can't stand it. I struggled to finish it. I don't know what it was about it, but something just didn't taste good to me. Something about the finish...

Anyway, i just am really disappointed and bummed because i really did think i'd like it and i just didn't. There goes the plans to make a 5 gallon clone...

wow I love that beer and the Racer 5 is in my top 5 for IPAs The little we get here in NC from Bear Republic has been stellar. I just wish they would distribute more of thier great beers.

Better to find out now. I've never found myself wanting to like or dislike a beer ahead of time. Occasionally, a beer I wasn't expecting to like, based on people's descriptions turned out to be good.

What I hate, is when a beer I like gets reformulated to something I don't like. Bear Republic's Racer X seems to be good, bad, good, huh? (as in what happened).

i bought a 12 oz of the racer x in a mix six. I think i just liked the other version of a hoppy amber and figured that red rocket would be even better since it is so highly regarded. Something about it just seemed off. Maybe it was heavier than i wanted. The other version i had could have been lower in alcohol and therefore body... something to consider. Again, it's not the money or anything like that. I don't regret buying it. I just thought i'd like it better based on my previous experience with the style.

I agree with the dog in the bathtub. I make purchases based on recommendations, but I set expectations to zero. I like to objectively critique the beers I drink. Just because everyone seems to think Pliny the Elder is the greatest doesn't mean I'm going to assume that before I try it.

Everything tastes like dog **** until proven otherwise.

We're all different, and we all have our own tastes, otherwise there'd be one brand of beer, and man wouldn't that be boring

You may want to try another one just to be sure. I had heard great things about Ballast Point's Sculpin. One day I saw some 20's at the local beer store & grabbed one. When I drank it the next day I thought, geez, what a crappy beer to get so much hype. A couple weeks later I was at Home Brew Mart (in the BP brewery) and saw some in their fridge. I decided to give it another try.

What a difference! Definitely one of the top 5 beers in my line up. I guess I just got a bad bottle that first time - never had a bad one since.

i will likely give it another shot. Finding alternatives within the style will be difficult in the beer hell that is Mississippi.

I don't think i had overly high expectations for this beer. I guess i was more looking forward to drinking it and just disappointed with what it was. I could have just as easily gone in without expectation and had the same disappointment. I really didn't think it even met the basic criteria for an enjoyable beer to me. Which i find odd since i usually enjoy similar beers within a style, even if i don't love them.

There is a certain beer merchant in the Buffalo area where you can find year old bottles of DFH 60 min, or Weyerbacher Double Simcoe. What made me angry was the possible scenario you have found yourself in. If I had never tried that beer before I bought those, I would have never tried them again. Those beer companies are being misrepresented by a merchant who doesn't seem to know or care that beer is a perishable product.

I pay much closer to bottle dates when applicable. Find a known fresh bottle and try it again, that's a great beer.

In 2007, myself and a friend took a trip to the Grand Canyon. At one of the campgrounds along the way, we found that the guy in the campground next to us left a 12'er of PBR under his table. We threw it in our cooler and moved on to the next campground, Capitol Reef state park. It was mid-June and the six hour trip from our previous spot left us pretty well beat. Capitol Reef has a cool stream that runs next to it and we found ourselves sitting in the middle of the stream with the 12'er of PBR. At that moment, that was the best beer in the world. We were hot, tired and wore out. It was awesome.

Anyway, a few weeks after I got back, I picked up a 12'er of PBR because of how good it was! I couldn't stand it... Absolutely horrible. Most of that 12'er sat in the refrigerator for months before I could kill it....

Doc Robinson said:

I agree with the dog in the bathtub. I make purchases based on recommendations, but I set expectations to zero. I like to objectively critique the beers I drink. Just because everyone seems to think Pliny the Elder is the greatest doesn't mean I'm going to assume that before I try it.

Everything tastes like dog **** until proven otherwise.

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I laughed at "dog in the bathtub"!! I also agree whole heartedly about beer expectations, I make some purchases based on recommendations from others, but go at them with an open mind, I may love a beer that has been panned in reviews and may despise the golden-child beers everyone raves about. thats what makes beer so great, it is so subjective!!

i think one other reason i'm not pleased is that i was thinking of making something like red rocket as my next brew, now i have no idea what to brew and that is bothersome.

i think you can have expectation but still be fair. I didn't expect it to be my favorite beer ever, but i assumed i'd want to finish it. I almost didn't want to finish it was so unpleasant to me.

Another thought is that what else you eat and drink besides the beer can affect how it tastes.

I bought a sixer of Sam Adams cherry wheat, I was thinking about a growler of cherry wheat from the now defunct Rio Salado brewery I had a while back and was expecting similar joy out of this beer, I had half of one, poured out the rest of the bottle. and gave the other 5 to the guy at work who said I should try it. I would have rather hung myself with an extension cord than finish the other 5 beers. I now have zero expectations for a beer (even my own) until it has been tried.

Donner said:

i will likely give it another shot. Finding alternatives within the style will be difficult in the beer hell that is Mississippi.

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I feel for you, I'm originally from the Tupelo area.

azscoob said:

Sam Adams cherry wheat

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Had a couple in a sampler pack a while back, damn did I not like that beer.

chefchris said:

I feel for you, I'm originally from the Tupelo area.

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From Columbia and yeh we got some seriously screwed up beer laws. One more reason for Home brew.

MississippiSlim said:

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From Columbia and yeh we got some seriously screwed up beer laws. One more reason for Home brew.

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We had the same problem here in NC. But they changed the laws a few years back and up'd the alcohol cap to 14%. Now we get all kinds of cool stuff.

If you every head east for a trip, come visit Asheville, NC. We have more breweries per capital then any other city in the US. We were recently voted best beer city in the US narrowly beating Portland. So what if we stuffed the ballet box. Portland can suck it, were #1

maida7 said:

If you every head east for a trip, come visit Asheville, NC. We have more breweries per capital then any other city in the US. We were recently voted best beer city in the US narrowly beating Portland. So what if we stuffed the ballet box. Portland can suck it, were #1

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I thought you guys tied Portland.

I love Asheville. I went to school and lived there for a few years. Sadly, though, my journey into craft beers started right as I was leaving, and I didn't get to try nearly as many of the city's brews as I would like. They've also had several more breweries open since I left in 2008. I have got to make the trip up there soon.

Handle said:

I thought you guys tied Portland.

I love Asheville. I went to school and lived there for a few years. Sadly, though, my journey into craft beers started right as I was leaving, and I didn't get to try nearly as many of the city's brews as I would like. They've also had several more breweries open since I left in 2008. I have got to make the trip up there soon.

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Yeah there are so many brew pubs now that I have no idea how they are all gonna stay in business. I think 2 new ones opened in just the past few months. Not that I'm complaining