Can You Tell Me Why I Like The Beer I Like?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Thwizzit

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2008
Messages
318
Reaction score
2
Though I've been drinking beer for twenty-five years I'm just now taking an interest in it and learning more about it and now that I've finally decided to try home brewing (albeit the Mr. Beer route to start) I've observed that aside from Guinness, my favorite beers are Old Speckled Hen (and Hen's Tooth) Bass Ale and a brand new discovery Innis & Gunn which are all Pale Ales and I thought some experts here might be able to shed some light on what it is about those beers that I am attracted to so when I start brewing for real I know what flavors I like and why.

Thanks :)
 
It would seem that you like English style Ales( my favorites also), so you're tasting the English malts, the English hops and most important the English Ale yeast. The yeast gives it that somewhat fruitty background flavor.

If you have not purchased the Mr. Beer yet I would suggest finding a homebrew supply in your area and talk with the people there. The kits there or online will give you better beer to start and do not require a large investment in space or $'s

Edit: welcome to the HBT.......and if you could update your profile so we know where you are.
 
Softer carbonation with these styles as well:

Volumes of CO2

British-style ales 1.5 - 2.0
Porter, stout 1.7 - 2.3
Belgian ales 1.9 - 2.4
European lagers 2.2 - 2.7
American ales & lagers 2.2 - 2.7
Lambic 2.4 - 2.8
Fruit lambic 3.0 - 4.5
German wheat beer 3.3 - 4.5
 
It would seem that you like English style Ales( my favorites also), so you're tasting the English malts, the English hops and most important the English Ale yeast. The yeast gives it that somewhat fruitty background flavor.

Thanks for the reply. It's good to know why I like those beers because I've noticed that although I like those Pale Ales, i don't really care for India Pale Ale and I really don't like beers that are too Hoppy like a Dale's Pale Ale.

I already have the Mr. Beer befcuse it's $15 on the Bed Bath & Beyond Clearance rack so it's not like it was much of an investment and I get to see if I even like doing this at it's simplest level.


Edit: welcome to the HBT.......and if you could update your profile so we know where you are

I'm right here! Look towards New Joisey and you'll see me tipping a pint :)
 
Welcome!

A lot of us got started in brewing because of the 15 dollar Mr. Beer sales.

This is a great thread for Mr Beer info https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=46360

What recipe or can of malt came in your kit? If it's not English (I'm not sure they give you any english stuff it the kits, it's usually something like a california common recipe.) You probably wont like the beer that you'll make.

Rather than usuing it if you haven't already, perhaps we can tailor a recipe to the 2 gallon size of the mr. Beer for an English beer and you can get the stuff at a home brew store... It'll taste better than what came with your kit (It will actually have hops for example) and you can get your feet wet with the mr beer fermenter by honing your brewing process...then when you get to the point where you smack your forhead and say "Boy I wish I brewed more of this!" Then you can go get tools and stuff for 5 gallon batches.
 
Revvy said:
What recipe or can of malt came in your kit? If it's not English (I'm not sure they give you any english stuff it the kits, it's usually something like a california common recipe.) You probably wont like the beer that you'll make.

I didn’t make the beer that came with the kit, I’m making an Irish Stout from one of the Deluxe/Premium recipes that I bought separately because aside from the English Ales I like Guinness so i figured I'd give it a go.


Revvy said:
Rather than using it if you haven't already, perhaps we can tailor a recipe to the 2 gallon size of the Mr. Beer for an English beer and you can get the stuff at a home brew store

Sounds good to me. I definitely want to eventually make my own recipes so I’ll probably end up with a real kit but I figure while I’m “getting my feet wet with Mr. Beer and honing my brewing process” I can learn and take notes about things I read on this forum and when I’m ready to graduate I’ll feel I’m ready to move up without a big learning curve.


olllllo said:
Softer carbonation with these styles as well

Ahhh, very interesting. I actually prefer soft drinks (like Ginger Ale) a little flatter. I like them much better after the bottle’s been open for a few days. I’ll have to add that to my Beer Notes notebook.

Thanks, this is all very helpful :)
 
Thwizzit said:
Thanks for the reply. It's good to know why I like those beers because I've noticed that although I like those Pale Ales, i don't really care for India Pale Ale and I really don't like beers that are too Hoppy like a Dale's Pale Ale.
English Pale Ales are not much like IPAs other than in color. American IPAs use a clean yeast and over do the hops both in bitterness and in flavor/aroma (Not a bad thing in my opinion). English Pale Ales have a decent hop bitterness but low hop flavors. The style is more about malt and yeast flavors.
Personally I really like both styles but they are as different as Bud and Guinness.

Craig
 
Thank you CB, I'm finding all of this knew found knowledge fascinating. I've always just considered that if you like something you just like it but now that I'm interested in making it, I listen to some Zeppelin and often sit and wonder, how much there is to know...

Thanks again :)
 
You know I once said I didn't like hoppy beers, it wasn't until I started adding my home grown hops that I decided its got to be hoppy and have a good head.

I worked it up gradually though. :mug:
 
Back
Top