tspilker
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2009
- Messages
- 203
- Reaction score
- 1
I can really thank you all for helping me develop a taste for beer. If it weren't for brewing, I would still be ordering tea or soda with dinner!
I used to believe that it was not possible for someone to enjoy drinking a beer that wasn't ice ice cold, on a 105 degree day. This is of course to simply only tasting the swill that was served at various parties years ago. Once entering the ranks of "beer snob" as everyone has come to call me, first with Porters, Stouts and Brown Ales, then with IPAs, I*IPAs, I^14*IPAs and the like.
My question is about getting into hard liquor.
My only experiences with the hard stuff has been polishing off an entire bottle with a friend for the sake of getting schnockered. Mostly taking large shots, and not truly appreciating the drink. I think having a well stocked bar (since I love mixing drinks) would be a great way to expand my drinking pallet. This would also be nice because some of the bars I frequent with friends only serve 4 varieties of BMC and have full bars on top of that. So I tend to just enjoy a water until our next spot.
The other night I had a Grey Goose on the rocks when my girlfriend's dad was making screwdrivers (blech... screwdrivers) last week. It was surprisingly mellow compared to the old bottles of Monarch that buddies and I would slurp on. It had an almost vanilla quality about it, so I asked for some cocacola and mixed the two together. I'll be damned, the thing tasted like a vanilla coke.
I looked online and couldn't find a common name for Vodka+Coke, so I think I might have a drink I can try at bars (assuming it doesnt taste like garbage with well vodka, I'd hate to have to blow $10 a drink getting GG)
I figured vodka was a good starting place, since the stuff is supposed to be "flavorless" for the most part.
Ultimately, I would like to get into single malt scotches. I saw that scotch is made with malted barley, and assuming that some of that flavor passes into the drink, I might be able to enjoy it based on a common flavor profile with beer (correct me if I am wrong). I found that grape nuts taste amazing since I started brewing (if I can get over the sore jaw from chewing), so malt is a winner.
There is a distillery in town (it was the first in Washington state [dryfly]) and they make a Gin and a Vodka using Washington wheat (junipers and apples for the Gin). They have done several releases of a whiskey they have made, all of which sell out within 2 hours of opening on release day, and I would like to get a bottle of this coveted elixer, but I would like to like it first... you know?
Let me know where you think a good starting off point would be for getting into the harder stuff. Something to cut my teeth on. What do you like to drink, how do you like to drink it, when you aren't enjoying delicious homebrew that is!
(*Sorry to the Imperial Stout fans)
I used to believe that it was not possible for someone to enjoy drinking a beer that wasn't ice ice cold, on a 105 degree day. This is of course to simply only tasting the swill that was served at various parties years ago. Once entering the ranks of "beer snob" as everyone has come to call me, first with Porters, Stouts and Brown Ales, then with IPAs, I*IPAs, I^14*IPAs and the like.
My question is about getting into hard liquor.
My only experiences with the hard stuff has been polishing off an entire bottle with a friend for the sake of getting schnockered. Mostly taking large shots, and not truly appreciating the drink. I think having a well stocked bar (since I love mixing drinks) would be a great way to expand my drinking pallet. This would also be nice because some of the bars I frequent with friends only serve 4 varieties of BMC and have full bars on top of that. So I tend to just enjoy a water until our next spot.
The other night I had a Grey Goose on the rocks when my girlfriend's dad was making screwdrivers (blech... screwdrivers) last week. It was surprisingly mellow compared to the old bottles of Monarch that buddies and I would slurp on. It had an almost vanilla quality about it, so I asked for some cocacola and mixed the two together. I'll be damned, the thing tasted like a vanilla coke.
I looked online and couldn't find a common name for Vodka+Coke, so I think I might have a drink I can try at bars (assuming it doesnt taste like garbage with well vodka, I'd hate to have to blow $10 a drink getting GG)
I figured vodka was a good starting place, since the stuff is supposed to be "flavorless" for the most part.
Ultimately, I would like to get into single malt scotches. I saw that scotch is made with malted barley, and assuming that some of that flavor passes into the drink, I might be able to enjoy it based on a common flavor profile with beer (correct me if I am wrong). I found that grape nuts taste amazing since I started brewing (if I can get over the sore jaw from chewing), so malt is a winner.
There is a distillery in town (it was the first in Washington state [dryfly]) and they make a Gin and a Vodka using Washington wheat (junipers and apples for the Gin). They have done several releases of a whiskey they have made, all of which sell out within 2 hours of opening on release day, and I would like to get a bottle of this coveted elixer, but I would like to like it first... you know?
Let me know where you think a good starting off point would be for getting into the harder stuff. Something to cut my teeth on. What do you like to drink, how do you like to drink it, when you aren't enjoying delicious homebrew that is!
(*Sorry to the Imperial Stout fans)