so i'm pretty sure i don't like beer...

i don't understand what i like, and don't like about beer. i've been sheltered my whole beer life, and had very few brands/styles of beer untill about the last month.
and i've found that i really don't like the majority of the beers i've tried.

i tried a chocolate stout-hated it. tasted like i was drinking month old coffe grounds.

i tried a beer called hopslam-hated it. tasted like i was eating a tree.

i tried alpha kings three floyds pale ale-hated it. tasted very bitter, also like coffee.

i tried a local micro called gnaw bone pale ale-hated it. had the same bitter coffe nasty taste.

now on to what i liked, and why.

tried sam adams hefeweizen. i really liked it. very smooth, and easy to drink.

tried hoegarrden. i loved it. it was like blue moon, but a little bit better to me.

tired some india pale ale, forgot what brand. i really liked it. it was also smooth, and easy to drink.

tried a local micro called razzwheat and really liked it. kind of fruity, and good to drink.

tried red stripe and i really liked it. tasted what i would call "normal".

so am i just a ******? i really want to get into different beers, i have always just drank pbr, dos equis amber, blue moon, high life, etc.

i was very interested in homebrewing, just because i'm a diy kind of guy, and i love learning new things, and taking pride in things, but i'm beginning to wonder now if i made a mistake, because i'm having trouble finding beers that i like, and what it is that i like about the ones i do like, etc.

Outside of the one IPA you liked, it sounds like you enjoy beers with very low levels of hopping. You would probably like English brown ales (such as Newcastle or Sam Smith), but not many American brown ales which often have higher levels of hopping.

If you like Blue Moon, then there are a ton of Belgian beers you might like...just start working your way down that shelf at your beer store.

Nothing wrong with brewing hefes and wheats and the like if that's what you enjoy. Keep trying different things - it could be that you like real malty brews like Oktoberfests and maybe some different brown ales. Plus, your tastes may well change over time - hell, I think everybody's do. It took a while for me to really appreciate hops, but now I love nothing more than a good IPA.

For now, brew what you like - things like the Hoegarrden - and keep trying commercial versions of different styles. No one says you have to like (or brew) everything - hell, there's a good number of people here who would rather choke on vomit than drink a hefe

Just because a beer is a micro doesn't necessarily make it good, there are a lot of micros out there that suck. It sounds to me like you DO know what you like, just do more research (drinking lots of different beers). Once you have a few favorites, get the clone recipes and brew those. You can expand your own list of favorites from there.


Keep drinking and you'll find something you'll like.

I also prefer sweeter belgians over hoppy ales, but sometimes I get sick of the sweetness. You'd probably like a lot of the brews in my signature.

You probably aren't going to like every type of beer. There are alot of homebrewers that only brew certain styles and are content with that. Personally, I haven't tried any style yet that I haven't liked, although I can only handle about one IPA at a time because I can only take so many hops at once.

Brew what you like boss.

thanks for the reasurrance! so is the sam adams hefeweizen remotely close to a german hefeweizen?

that's one of the great things about homebrewing: you can make whatever you like.
My tastes are just the opposite of Cheesefood's. I like the bitter, hoppy styles and dislike the Belgian styles.
It's like cooking, in a way. Think of how many recipes there are out there that aren't being made in local restaurants. That's what is at your disposal here.

the_bird said:

Nothing wrong with brewing hefes and wheats - hell, there's a good number of people here who would rather choke on vomit than drink a hefe

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Translation: If you brew wheat beer you won't have to worry about me drinking up all your production.

What you described is finding your own taste. Hefes were what turned me onto how a beer could be totally different, but damned enjoyable. It just kind of went from there.

Keep sampling!

What everyone ^ said...

Everyone likes something different, and don't be surprised when your tastes change. I used to really like IPA's and wasn't a huge fan of Hefe's, and despised Porters and Stouts. Now it's exactly the opposite. (LOL and yeah Hefe's still fall in the middle )

And that's the beauty of brewing your own. You can make what YOU like. Welcome to the hobby/obsession/way of life.

Brew on. :rockin:

Ize

Hmmm, my beer is safe, your beer is safe, we could hang out. We would just need to bring our own beer...

*Amen*



Most people will rarely like every style. It is very rare. I am not terribly fond of the Imperial category (although I am going to brew an Imperial Stout in a few weeks hopefully), nor am I fond of really hoppy beers. Don't get me wrong, if they are a good example of the style I will probably not turn one down. But, I tend toward maltier, darker styles but also really dig wheats, wits and most of the Belgian ales I have tried. Finding out what you like is a big part of the experience. Then you begin to brew in that direction. Like I said "Brew what you like. Do this, and you will find your inner Brewer".

Here is a recipe for a beer that I bet you'd like. It's a Grand Cru.

had a tilburgs dutch brown ale tonight. it wasn't too bad. not my favorite, but definately drinkable, and i could taste the hops, and didn't mind it.

the_bird said:

- hell, there's a good number of people here who would rather choke on vomit than drink a hefe

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hear, all ye good people, hear what this brilliant and eloquent speaker has to say!

Actually, I prefer hefes to vomitus (lambics), but I don't like them or most fruit beers. If hefes and Belgians were the only choices for beer, I'd probably go back to drinking wine and cider and mead and ...

Repeat after me, "That's an excellent example of the style, but not really to my tastes." Then spit. Homebrewers get upset if you spit first. Although, on one occasion, my "Mr. Clean!" reaction was met with, "Yah, I used too much spruce extract, do you think it will mellow?"

brian williams said:

i tried a chocolate stout-hated it. tasted like i was drinking month old coffe grounds.

i tried a beer called hopslam-hated it. tasted like i was eating a tree.

i tried alpha kings three floyds pale ale-hated it. tasted very bitter, also like coffee.

i tried a local micro called gnaw bone pale ale-hated it. had the same bitter coffe nasty taste.

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Just like me

I bet that you will like German styles of beer. They tend to be more balanced towards the malt and are never really roasty (with a few exceptions) especially the Bavarian styles.

Kai

I know what you mean about really hating some beers. I had Chucks Goat Scrotum Ale. Hated the juniper berrys. Thought I was drinking Nyqil Cough Syrup.

I hated the smell from 3-4' away after the pour....

I hated beer when I started out...but my tasters grew to love it. Then I tried Micro brews and hated them...then began to love them. My most recent change is towards IPA's. I never liked IPA's, but my palate has grown since I got serious about my beer and now I can't get enough of the stuff. Some beers are just good, pure and simple...and some beers require an adjustment period. My guess is you will start with your base beers that you like and eventually will branch out and begin to expand your tasters to enjoy more varieties.



Dan

Flyin' Lion said:

Just because a beer is a micro doesn't necessarily make it good, there are a lot of micros out there that suck. It sounds to me like you DO know what you like, just do more research (drinking lots of different beers). Once you have a few favorites, get the clone recipes and brew those. You can expand your own list of favorites from there.


Keep drinking and you'll find something you'll like.

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Amen to the part about Micros not neccesarily being good, I tried some beer at this place called Liberty steakhouse and brewery in Mytle Beach South Carolina, they had one good beer out of five or six, and even it wasn't anything special. I do however like most microbrews so in general they are good beers imo.

I used to only like bud light, then i worked at a micro brewery and that all changed. I love just about anything now. Stouts,IPA,porters,wheat beers, and anything else. The only beer i still dont like is German wheat beers. I love American wheat, but something about the German one's i dont like.

Newbie here, but I have a similar taste profile to yours, as far as I can tell from your list; strongly hopped beers with lots of bitterness generally don't please me.

brian williams said:

thanks for the reasurrance! so is the sam adams hefeweizen remotely close to a german hefeweizen?

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Not really. If you want to try a type-accurate german hefe, look for any of the following at a "better" beer store (or local bar): Paulaner, Franziskaner, Schneider-Weisse, Weihenstephan. Hefes are my favorite variety of beer, and those are all good examples (though slightly different from each other) and readily available here in the US. The only commercially available US-brewed hefe I've ever had that was anything like a "real" German hefe was Brooklyn's Brooklyner Weisse, which is very hard to find in my experience.