The Beer connoisseur thread

[RunDownHouse]

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I tried to be cool for awhile and drink connoisseur beer, but it's not cool to fake yourself out. Bottom line is I don't really like ale - I don't care for any bitterness.

I like Budweiser. I admit it. I also like Molson, Heineken, Grolsch, Moosehead, Labbat's, etc. Any other recommendations along those lines welcome. I guess I like lager or pilsner, not exactly sure what the difference is.

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My first comment would be to drink what you like, and take small steps outside of those boundaries to explore areas new to your palate. Beer is, without question, an acquired taste; be active in acquiring it. Outside of drinking what you know, also try to appreciate the differences. Get a Czech Pils and then a German Helles, and try to find the differences in taste. In general, Euro Lagers run really close in taste; they're very delicate and thus have subtle differences. There's a chance that what you're looking for is a crisp, clean flavor that's often missing in American micro ales. You want something that washes the palate, not hits it with a sledgehammer, gives you a feeling of slight mixed sweetness and bitterness, and then goes away. American micros have always tended towards ales, and have lately trended to hop-bombs. Try getting some Brooklyn lager or Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold. Both are exemplary beers in the Euro lager style. Once you move on to loving ales, but still don't appreciate a pound of hops in your bottle, look for rye beers. Rye gives the beer a very dry finish; Terrapin's Rye PA, which is great and won a huge award in 2005, was specifically designed because prospective costumers said they didn't want to taste their beer after they finished it. Rye lagers are sort of rare, especially in the US, but its something to keep in mind once you expand your palate.

Most of the time, what throws people off craft beers is the hop flavor. Malt sweetness and hop bitterness are the backbones of beer flavor, and just about no one says that something has too much malt sweetness. To get your feet wet with craft ales, maybe try some brown ales or even hefeweizens. The flavors of these two beers are really different. Brown ales have a big dose of malt sweetness, a sort of bready, earthy, sugary taste, with low hop bitterness. If you drank a Brown right now, I doubt you'd ever utter the word, "bitter." Hefes are light with a big dose of fruity flavors, from banana to orange to clove, and also have low hop bitterness. If you had a hefe right now, I doubt you'd utter the word, "malty." However, both are lighter on the palate than an APA or Porter or typical American Micro, both are low in hop bitterness, and the two can give you an idea of the range of flavors available in US micros. If you're really looking to find out the range of flavors beer can provide, and you don't want to quaff something you don't find appealing, there are still a ton of styles out there for you. Its a matter of identifying what you like about the beer you currently drink, what you don't like, and then which styles provide most of the positives with the least of the negatives.

Identifying those factors may be daunting, but an almost universal truth about beer nerds is that they love to talk about beer. Call your local micro - better yet, stop in - and ask for a rec. If you've got a regular liquor store with great wine guys, ask them about beer. They should be pretty straight with you about whether they know beer or not, or know anyone who does. There are tons of ways to find beer geeks, and once you do, look out: they may make an overly long post telling you what to do.

[The Bus Driver]

Anybody coming to Denver for the Great American Beer Fest?

[jeffnc]

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There are tons of ways to find beer geeks, and once you do, look out: they may make an overly long post telling you what to do.

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RunDown, now you've gotten me interested in beer. I'm the kind of person who "gets into" something. Like a couple years ago I really got into wine and learned all I could about it. I'm satisfied I learned what I wanted to know, and I learned that while I like wine and enjoyed everything I learned, I'll never be a real wine snob and don't quite care about all the subtleties like true wine lovers do. But I'm really glad I had the experience and have some good knowledge of it now. Saves me a lot of time and money when dining out or buying a bottle for home, and I almost always like what I drink rather than rolling dice all the time.

I feel a similar endeavor coming on for beer before too long... :-)

[MrWookie]

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Has anyone had trois pistoles? It is one of my favorite but I have only found it in a couple of places.

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This is my second favorite brew from Unibroue, which isn't to say it's anything less than awesome. This is a great beer. Have you had anything else from Unibroue?

[Don Key E37]

Duvel is very good but very very expensive when I go to the beer distributor. Like $9 for the 20oz bottle or whatever it is. Or they have a 4 pack of smaller 12oz ones cant remember what that cost but also expensive.

Just wanted to see what anyone who has tried it thought of Kilkenny beer. I can't find it anywhere in the U.S, and only had it 2 nights on my last trip to ireland but it was SO good. All beer seems to taste better in Ireland but this was just a bit lighter than guiness and just so good. Of course you can never go wrong with a pint of guiness in ireland either but if your there give this one a shot.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

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Duvel is very good but very very expensive when I go to the beer distributor. Like $9 for the 20oz bottle or whatever it is.

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I rarely buy Duvel or Chimay anymore, b/c some 'domestic' brewers are making similar styles that are nearly as good, or sometimes better, and for much less money. I'm a huge fan of most stuff from Berwery Ommegang in NY. For instance Ommegang Abbey Ale should cost you about $5 or $6 for a 750ml, instead of $9 for the imports, and is pretty damn close to Chimay Blu.

[Neko]

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Has anyone had trois pistoles? It is one of my favorite but I have only found it in a couple of places.

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This is my second favorite brew from Unibroue, which isn't to say it's anything less than awesome. This is a great beer. Have you had anything else from Unibroue?

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I have a couple of empty La Fin Du Monde on my desk right now. Such an awesome beer.

[bmwguy525]

Hey guys I'm tryin to find out if anyone's had any Croatian beer. I just got done watching the Croatian episode of Three Sheets, and I saw a beer on there that I'm really curious about: Ozujsko Pivo.



I'd really like to get my hands on some here in the States, but can't seem to dig any up online. If anyone has had this or knows how I can get some, speak up!

[Potvaliant]

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All,

This was mentioned above, but I tried the Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout yesterday. I think it was $8 for 4 bottles at Whole Foods. Enjoyed it a lot. It was very rich and smooth, I think people who haven't tried a lot of stouts would probably enjoy this one as well.

http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/ras.htm

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The Old No. 38 Stout by the same brewery is good as well. Not as rich, obviously (it's not an Imperial), but it has more roast/malt flavor than most dry stouts and it's very well-balanced imo.

I wouldn't say it's better than the Old Rasputin, but if I was having more than one or two I'd probably prefer it.

[El Diablo]

All,

Today got some Stone Ruination IPA. $13.50 for a 6-pack at Whole Foods.

Very hoppy, but not overpowering. Way more flavor than a normal IPA.

I thought it would be more bitter, but it was actually very easy to drink. Then again, I like drinks like peaty scotch, so maybe I'm not the best judge.

It seems a little bit on the strong side, but not too big a punch. I'll have a couple more and see I guess.