Beer Tasting

[jldc]

I have been asked to organize a "Beer Tasting" to benefit a local charity. It will be for about 24 people who presumably are not beer-experts. My guess is that the majority will be BMC drinkers although it wouldn't surprise me to find a few who like microbrews.

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking no more than two beers per person as this is a "tasting" not a "drinking." That's 8 six-packs. I live in east Texas and the supply of microbrews at the local stores isn't that great.

1. Typical American Light Lager
2. Basic Microbrew, ie Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
3. IPA - DFH 60 min?
4. Wheat Beer - American vs Heffe
5. Stout - likely Guinness
6. Belgian White
7. Other Belgian - Dubbel?
8. Oktoberfest?
9. ESB?
10. ??

Suggestions as to category or specific brand as well as other ideas would be great.

L

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

Dark Lager or Amber

 

[Genjin]

Looks like a good list and I like the suggestion of a dark lager. Some British stuff would be good like Fullers ESB or anything by Samuel Smith. A Saison might be nice as well.

The order of the tasting is very important as well. I did a tasting and did a very bitter pale ale before an Irish Red. The pale ale overwhelmed our palates and ruined the red for us.

 

[malevolent]

I have been asked to organize a "Beer Tasting" to benefit a local charity. It will be for about 24 people who presumably are not beer-experts. My guess is that the majority will be BMC drinkers although it wouldn't surprise me to find a few who like microbrews.

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking no more than two beers per person as this is a "tasting" not a "drinking." That's 8 six-packs. I live in east Texas and the supply of microbrews at the local stores isn't that great.

1. Typical American Light Lager
2. Basic Microbrew, ie Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
3. IPA - DFH 60 min?
4. Wheat Beer - American vs Heffe
5. Stout - likely Guinness
6. Belgian White
7. Other Belgian - Dubbel?
8. Oktoberfest?
9. ESB?
10. ??

Suggestions as to category or specific brand as well as other ideas would be great.

L

1. Fine
2. Basic Microbrew? What?
3. In terms of IPA DFH 60 minute vs. 90 minute would be an interesting comparison for their taste buds
4. Wheat get a few styles, ie basic Hefe and maybe a dunkel
5. Guinness as an example of a stout? Depends what type of stout you're trying to pour. Considering you have no other big beers on that list I'd go with a nice roasty Russian Imperial Stout instead of Guinness.
6. Allagash White is quite the beer if you can find it down in Texas.
7. Trappist could be fun to serve, though they can get pretty pricey. Chimay Blue is a favorite though.
8. A taste of the seasons would be kind of cool. Get some of each of the seasonals and see how they are different from each other.
9. Not gonna lie, ESBs are not really in my repertoire
10. Barleywine or a sour of some sort. Pretty Things Our Finest Regards is a damn good Barleywine, and a Lambic like Lindemans Framboise is a pretty good intro to sours/spontaneously fermented beers.

 

[jldc]

2. Basic Microbrew? What?

I think of SNPA as the go-to microbrew for bars that want to add some diversity to their selection of beers. It's available lots of places, very drinkable, and not too much for a lot of BMC drinkers.

The other suggestions are good, esp the RIS.

L

 

[Scoggin]

I think a good Amber would be appropriate, Denny's Waldo Lake is a great amber. you don't want to overwhelm BMC drinkers with something dark and boozy, or something too hoppy/bitter. i would choose a couple medium alcohol, not-too-light beers. but that's just me

 

[malevolent]

I think of SNPA as the go-to microbrew for bars that want to add some diversity to their selection of beers. It's available lots of places, very drinkable, and not too much for a lot of BMC drinkers.

The other suggestions are good, esp the RIS.

L

I hardly consider them a microbrewery. Being the 5th or 6th largest brewery in America hardly qualifies them. I just don't really see the point of a "quinessential microbrew" /shrug.

 

[VTDuffman]

I hardly consider them a microbrewery. Being the 5th or 6th largest brewery in America hardly qualifies them. I just don't really see the point of a "quinessential microbrew" /shrug.

I can't speak for the original poster, but I think I know what he was getting at...SNPA serves as an "introductory" craft beer for a lot of people.

 

[jldc]

I can't speak for the original poster, but I think I know what he was getting at...SNPA serves as an "introductory" craft beer for a lot of people.

Exactly. It's also a dependable, drinkable beer frequently available at places that don't have wide beer selections.

And "microbrew" is in the eye of the beholder. IMO if you're not BMC, then you're a step in the right direction. And frankly that has less to do with the taste of the beer than the efforts to stifle competition.

L

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

Even an ESB by redhook is a good starter.

 

[TarVolon]

If you're in Texas and looking for something tasty, easily available, and accessible to non-beer geeks, you could throw in Negra Modelo. Perhaps not the quintessential Vienna Lager, but it's the tastiest Mexican beer I've had and always a good one to have around in the summer. And I've never given it to anyone who's disliked it--including my sister who has hated every beer she's tried except for Negra Modelo and Eliot Ness.

For the harder to find but still absurdly tasty and accessible to non-beer geeks, I'd throw votes in for Sam Smith's Imperial Stout (I know it's Imperial, but trust me when I say it's super-accessible) and Allagash White.

 

[jumertens]

Koelsch, originally brewed in the Cologne area only, where I grew up.
It's a fresh, balanced blonde ale fermented between ale and lager temperature.