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verbal

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I want to go to the store later this week and get different styles of beers to see which I truly truly find to be the best, so I know what to make. I would like to pick up different ypes of beers, but am not sure which ones really have what flavor to be the most astound? If that makes sense...Like What beer is more malty then hoppy, whats the best IPA, kolsch, hefe, stout,altbier,strong ale etc.? Any opinions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Also, whats is there a recipe for a very VERY light beer with a big abv kick?

thank you thank you thank you

EDIT: What is everyones favorite style of beer? Which characteristic makes it your favorite? (i.e. malty, hoppy, sweet, creamy, etc.)
 
Thanks for the link, but I was hoping to get more of everyone's opinions on various types and/or brands.
 
I'll try this one.

For every kind of beer on the shelf, there are enough people drinking it to keep that brewery open.

For a straight up n00b who really does want to learn, go get a mix and match six pack of these six beers, or a sixer of each or whatever, to find out what STYLES you like.

Once you know what styles you like you can start workling on what is your favorite brew in the style.

Go drink a Guinness. Just do it. If you think it is "heavy" after you actually drink one jst hang it up, homebrewing is not for you.

Go try an American Pale Ale, like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Try any English Pale Ale, like Bass.

Try an Imperial Pale Ale, like red Hook Long Hammer or Dog Fish Head 60 minute.

that is four.

AFTER those four go back and have a Natural Light by MIller and last a classic Budweiser long neck or Bud draft.

Not trying to be a Richard, I am trying to help. Once you get through that, you can say- hmmm, I like this about those and that about these and we can then provide more specific help.

FWIW (one of) my favoirte thing(s) about homebrewing is all the different beers I get to try in the name of research. My "favorite" beer is whatever style I am in the mood for right now. It will be a different beer tommorrow. Learnthe style, broaden your horizons.

/rant, and thanks for listening.
 
Well, I know some brands that I love, but not sure what recipes out there match up with them. I have had guinness, love dogfish head, love sierra nevada, the only beers i truly dislike, are "light" beers such as miller, naty light, bud, coors, etc....yuck... I am just not good at pointing out what I like about the beer, I suppose. And I also was just kinda curious of the overall boards favorites.

Also, mainly trying to figure out which commercial beer I could relate what Ive made at home with, to give people an idea....guess I worded it weird.
 
OK, we're getting somewhere now! If you're a fan of Dogfish Head and a Sierra Nevada's various pale ales, then you are on your way to being a hophead. Here are a few more to try. You might not have all of these in your area. Such is the craft brew market, just move onto the next. Also, you mentioned HIGH alc content, but still pale. In that case, you should look into a belgian Tripel.

Great Divide Brewing Co - Titan IPA, Denver Pale Ale
Oskar Blues - Gordon Pale Ale, all Oskars' brews are tasty.
New Belgium - Trippel, Fat Tire, many more, they're all really good.
Avery - IPA
Anything from Stone Brewing Co, especially Ruination or Stone IPA
Anything from Rogue Brewing Co

Now for some imports, because let's face it, not ALL good beer is from USA:

Newcastle Brown Ale
Guinness EXTRA Stout (Not the normal stuff, look for a "old fashioned" brown paper label)
Boddington's Pub Ale
Anything from Samuel Smith's
normal Warsteiner - also try Warsteiner Dunkel.
Hoegaarden
Pilsner Urquell
Kulmbacher - Any variety
Spaten Optimator

Really, you could pick up almost anything in the Import section besides Heineken, and get a unique experience. Hell, you could even pick up Heineken if you want, I'm not a hater. :)


But in short, you are asking us for the impossible. If you can tell us "I really like xxx style, Can you suggest beers from other craft breweries that match this style" then I am sure you'll get a million replies. (Well, not a million, per se.)

Honestly, since you are still feeling out what you like or don't, I recommend just grabbing whatever you see. Try everything possible. After all, you don't know till you try it. Every beer on those shelves is just a little different from every other beer on those shelves, that's why this is such a glorious world to get into.

Best of luck.


As far as the board's favorite? Go to Beer Advocate and display the full list of every beer known to BA's site. That's about the approximation I can give you of our tastes.

Some of us like DFH60, others prefer DFH120, others like Three Philosophers, or HeBrew Bittersweet Lenny's Rye IPA or Hop Rod Rye, and then some of us like Mephistopheles and Pliny the Elder and anything with the word "Double" amplifying the strength. Then, there are guys like Biermuncher that prefer to drink session beers, many of which are even under 4% alcohol. Some of us like Guinness, some of us even like Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller High Life.

It seems like a large number of people on HBT really like Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. As for why they like it.... well, that's a long story.
 
You may also want to consider reading the BJCPstyle guidelines. When you find a style that sounds like something you'd like to try, then go find one of the commercial examples that is listed as being representative of that style.
 
I don't think opinions on the brews people like best will do you much good. Just start sampling and see what you like.

This is what I use brewfests for personally. When I go I pick out a style or a couple of styles and sample the various brewers offerings of this style. That way if one particular brewer happens to make a brew you don't care for in a certain style there might be another that does, so it doesn't turn you off from atttempting a particular style.
 
Joker said:
I don't think opinions on the brews people like best will do you much good. Just start sampling and see what you like.

+1

After all, before I started getting into "real" beer, nobody could've told me that the banana esters that are common in weizenbocks and some hefeweizens make me vomit. Or certain Belgian esters for that matter.

Or the really weird one, if I am drinking an IPA over about 7%, and I get too persistent of a head, and I drink all the beer, and I try to swallow the last 1" of foam that is left over - that makes me vomit too!

So it's all about your own tastes. We can't tell you what your tastes are, because they're not our tastes!
 
*mental note* if Chriso comes to drink brew at the house we should drink outside.
 
Awww, c'mon, don't laugh at my persistent head, I'm sensitive about it!

And besides. I know both of those areas are weaknesses for myself, so I just deal accordingly. If it's a double IPA and I've got 2" of foam left after my beer's gone, I know not to try to slam it. If it's a banana-y weizenbock, I know to take a polite sip (just to check) and ask if anyone else wants mine. If it's a tripel, then I give it a try, I've had tripels that don't bug me, and those that do. Oddly enough, it seems to be New Belgium's that bug me the most, in this category, because I've had Grimbergen Dubbel and loved it. Even within New Belgium, the Tripel bugs me some of the time, the Abbey bugs me all of the time. Weird, eh?

Besides, I mostly drink wheats, bitters, porters, stouts, and pale ales.... None of these set me off. Even if I'm really pounding them back. Wanna race? :D

Does anyone else have that "one" style that they just can't stomach???



Back to the question at hand, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=42416 <- HERE'S proof that us HBT'ers aren't even too much of an EAC to crack open your average mega-swill occasionally. But only when necessary. The general consensus seems to be if it's gotta be swill, give us a PBR or a High Life.
 
Yuri_Rage said:
I like beer. I like almost all beer. I try a new beer every chance I can.
'


I am the same way.

Trying as much beer as possible is the only true way to figure out what you like and don't like, as well as finding the best beers of each style. Once you find that best beer, you'll probably want to copy it or perhaps even change something to make it uniquely your own.
 
I keep a relational database of every beer I try (so far only up to 500). I give it a rating, a review and keep track of the style, etc. Then I can query it to find my favorite styles.

It was a bit of work to set up, but it's really nice to a) have a record of every beer I've tried b) know exactly what I thought of it and c) keep track of my favorite breweries/styles/purchase locations, etc.
 
chriso said:
Does anyone else have that "one" style that they just can't stomach???

.


Pale ales. The after taste makes me think of what a wet dog smells like. Then I feel like I'm drinking water off a dog. Then I get the heevie jeeveys.
 
styles is a great question. Those on this site should have a more informed opinion than your typical Coors Light drinker (or at least we would like to think that - no offense to Coors Light Drinkers).

There are a ton of beers out there. I say find a local grocery store that has a bunch of choices and get what they have on sale. They usually rotate the beers they put on sale. Try some of the brands that have familiar beers, but try their not so famous beers:

Anchor Liberty Ale
Guiness Smithwicks
Red Hook Longhammer IPA
Shiner Bock
Paulaner Oktoberfest (any Paulaner)
Full Sail - LTD
Anchor Christmas Celebration
Kona Brewing - Long Board
Kona Fire-Rock
Sam Adams (!)
Bass Ale
Samuel Smiths Tadcaster
Samuel Smiths Anything (!):ban:
 
chriso said:
Does anyone else have that "one" style that they just can't stomach???
Does American lite lager count?
Actually I can drink just about anything but there are some beers that I will dump out rather than finish. Lindemann's Framboise was the most recent one. A friend said he had just tried one recently and love it. I tried it and it tasted like bad koolaid to me. The artificial flavors and added sugar do no go well with beer to my tastes. At some point I will break down and get a "real" lambic but the only one I've found so far was $13 and also from Lindemann.
Craig
 
Poindexter said:
Not trying to be a Richard,

Hey now I take Offense to that!:D But to get back to the post +1 on mix matching and trying new things, Personally my fav beer is steam beer which Anchor steam is the best commercial representation of it. but there are a lot of styles and try as many as you can.
 
Thanks everyone for all of the replies. I appreciate it. Also, for not scolding me to bad, on my repetitive, too vague, hard to answer, stupid of a question.:cross:
 
We don't want to "scold" you at all - but we just wanted you to know that we were trying as best as we could, but needed more info to really give you "the" answer you were lookin' for. :D

Glad we could help! Now get ta drinkin' them beers!
:mug:
 
maltMonkey said:
I keep a relational database of every beer I try (so far only up to 500). I give it a rating, a review and keep track of the style, etc. Then I can query it to find my favorite styles.

It was a bit of work to set up, but it's really nice to a) have a record of every beer I've tried b) know exactly what I thought of it and c) keep track of my favorite breweries/styles/purchase locations, etc.

There's no need to set up a spread sheet or database or the like. You can do this relatively easily and for free at eitherRateBeer.com or Beer Advocate. Both have tasting tutorials, and the like. You'll find a lot of the information you're looking for at those sites.

As for what I think is the best beer in the world (essentially the question in this thread), Bells Hopslam IIPA. Not sessionable, very aggressive, and balanced well. Tasty. The question, in an of itself has no real answer. My favorite beer today, as previously stated, probably won't be the same tomorrow.

+1 for trying everything you can get your hands on, but I think keeping record of it is just as important. I'm not saying to become a beer critic. Just making notes stating whether or not you liked it, and a quick why or why not.

IMHO . . . :mug:

Cheers,
 
IndyPABrewGuy said:
There's no need to set up a spread sheet or database or the like. You can do this relatively easily and for free at eitherRateBeer.com or Beer Advocate. Both have tasting tutorials, and the like. You'll find a lot of the information you're looking for at those sites.

True, but I can't query their database the way I want. That's why I set up my own (actually I wrote my own PHP/MySQL website). For example, I have a feature on my site where I can print off a PDF of all the beers I've tried, grouped by brewery (I take this to liquor stores with me because I can't always remember everything I've tried) I can filter a group of beers by style, then sort by brewery, then my rating in reverse alphabetical order.....can't do that on one of those sites!

I do visit BA quite a bit, but I could care less what other people think about the beers....I just like keeping my own notes ;)

IndyPABrewGuy said:
+1 for trying everything you can get your hands on, but I think keeping record of it is just as important. I'm not saying to become a beer critic. Just making notes stating whether or not you liked it, and a quick why or why not.

I agree--I'll never be a beer critic, but I'm really glad I've kept track of everything!
 
maltMonkey said:
For example, I have a feature on my site where I can print off a PDF of all the beers I've tried, grouped by brewery (I take this to liquor stores with me because I can't always remember everything I've tried)

Doesn't work for all people, but I have a photographic memory so I just memorize the label of each beer when I drink it. :D
 
chriso said:
Doesn't work for all people, but I have a photographic memory so I just memorize the label of each beer when I drink it. :D

I wish I had that!

Actually I remember most of the beers I've tried, and I actually get crap from the wife about how I never pay attention to what she says yet I have 400+ beers memorized.

Hard to argue your way out of that one....
 
verbal said:
Thanks everyone for all of the replies. I appreciate it. Also, for not scolding me to bad, on my repetitive, too vague, hard to answer, stupid of a question.:cross:

Another way to go about this is to look up the brewery and see how they describe the brews. From there you can figure out if the description sounds like something you want to spend money on. However, the best is still going to be going to brewfests and gettting samples.

Ya got some drinking to do. :tank:
 
chriso said:
Does anyone else have that "one" style that they just can't stomach???

I don't have this problem with any beer. I even enjoy an ice cold budlight with a squeeze of lime on a hot day. (That's right, I said it). However, any hard liquor, straight, will give me this exact same problem. I dunno what it is, once it gets in my stomach it isn't staying there so I also avoid it. I do enjoy whiskey now and again so I mix it with soda water.

With all that said, I agree there is no best style or flavor. I think it's all relative to your preference as well as your environment and company.
:mug:
 
Poindexter said:
I'll try this one.

For every kind of beer on the shelf, there are enough people drinking it to keep that brewery open.

For a straight up n00b who really does want to learn, go get a mix and match six pack of these six beers, or a sixer of each or whatever, to find out what STYLES you like.

Once you know what styles you like you can start workling on what is your favorite brew in the style.

Go drink a Guinness. Just do it. If you think it is "heavy" after you actually drink one jst hang it up, homebrewing is not for you.

Go try an American Pale Ale, like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Try any English Pale Ale, like Bass.

Try an Imperial Pale Ale, like red Hook Long Hammer or Dog Fish Head 60 minute.

that is four.

AFTER those four go back and have a Natural Light by MIller and last a classic Budweiser long neck or Bud draft.

Not trying to be a Richard, I am trying to help. Once you get through that, you can say- hmmm, I like this about those and that about these and we can then provide more specific help.

FWIW (one of) my favoirte thing(s) about homebrewing is all the different beers I get to try in the name of research. My "favorite" beer is whatever style I am in the mood for right now. It will be a different beer tommorrow. Learnthe style, broaden your horizons.

/rant, and thanks for listening.
Well put

If you can't appreciate a Guinness, homebrewing may not be for you.
 
I bought some Pyramind Thunderhead IPA and it was barely drinkable....it was quite awful really. I bought some Pete's Wanderlust Cream Ale and I loved it and also Real Ale's Brown, Pale Rye, and Pale....all great beers. I enjoyed the Wanderlust the most though a little tad bit mroe hops would be great. What makes a cream ale, a cream ale?
 
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