[6 April 2012] It will no doubt be tomorrow's meme.

[Adrishiana]

I'll try a sip of just about any beer or wine if offered, but I just seem to lack both the taste for alcohol and the inclination to develop one (although I do find some wines on the more pleasant-tasting side), and I don't like the way I feel if I get more than slightly buzzed. More for everyone else!

[strangled]

Man I love shit beer. I think the most expensive beer I've ever had was like a Magic Hat. I don't usually drink it, but when I do, gimme dat Miller High Life, the champagne of beers (c)!

But c'mon Sara, it ain't that bad. Or it wont seem so bad in comparison when you're taking shots of $10 vodka out of the measuring cup that comes with your Nyquil.

[svenman]

To put in my € 0.02's worth, both beer and wine were definitely a taste I had to acquire at some period in my life, but nowadays I like to enjoy either, depending on the occasion. Of course, with my being based in Germany, my beer drinking experience will probably differ from the one many of you on this forum have had.</bragging>

Never got into drinking or liking the taste of coffee, on the other hand.

[Doc Harleen]

Ick, Budweiser. I know there's been some criticisms for Guinness, but I used to be a strictly-Guinness-only beer drinker. I've since branched out, and am rather partial to Innis & Gunn, Weihenstephaner, and McEwan's Scotch Ale (if you can find it - our liquor stores seem to have stopped importing it). Rickard's Red will do just find in a restaurant, though, and I also will enjoy cider from time to time.

Heineken is the worst thing I've ever tasted. Blech.

(Just figured I'd pitch in to contribute to the number of ladies who do enjoy beer, adding to the diversity of the sample set of data for sgtrock.)

[sgtrock]

Can I just chime in here as a long time beer drinker? Have you ever noticed that the split between beer lovers and haters is largely gender specific? This thread is a pretty good indicator of that. More than half of the people who have responded that they don't like beer are women, while the beer lovers are more than half men. While I've observed this for several decades, I've never seen a good explanation of it. A female acquaintance of mine back when I was still a sailor put it down to the fact that men are inherently idiots, so OF COURSE we'd prefer to drink swill.

Also, those who think that American beer is all terrible simply hasn't visited a liquor store here in a very long time. I think the variety and quality stacks up against the best beer anywhere else in the world.

While there's been a good selection available since the Germans and Belgians first emigrated here in the mid 1800s, Prohibition put a damper on things until about the 1970s. After that, though, there's always been a pretty decent selection here for those who were willing to look. Heck, even Walmart carries a decent selection these days.

A very, very small sampler of American brews that I really like:

I will concur that American craft brews stack up against the international scene quite nicely. However, that's not really what people are talking about when they reference "American beer" (as in, "How is American beer like making love in a canoe? They're both fucking close to water!").

Rather, they're talking about the mass-market beers--Budweiser, Miller and so forth. It's the convenience-store comparison, not the 'specialty liquor store' comparison. Walk into a convenience-type store in both countries. Pick a brand largely at random, buy and drink. I can guarantee that 9 times out of 10, you'll have a happier look on your face after the test in Germany or Ireland than you will in America.

I can walk into any liquor store in Minnesota, whether mom and pop run, municipal owned, chain, attached to a grocery store, anywhere that has a liquor license and find a selection of decent brews. (I don't think gas stations can sell booze here, so your basic convenience store doesn't have beer or wine.)

Besides, Walmart's not a convenience store???? Kidding. Sort of. But when Walmart starts selling craft beer, I contend that decent beer has gone mainstream in a HUGE way. It's way past time to drop this tired old meme.

[Trefle]

This is a question from an unenlightened person, as far as beer are concerned;

how...different are the taste of each beers? What are the differences? Are we talking about different qualities (like say, convenience store beer vs gourmet, 10-times-the-usual annual beer?) or just individual differences inbetween similarly-priced beer?

[AngFdz]

Well some of them taste kind of like bubbly water that's been... peed in... (like pabst) Which is okay when it's cold, but when it's warm it really does just taste kind of like... metal?

And some of them taste like bubbly....grains... like if oatmeal was alcoholic. But richer? Ugh it's a hard flavor to explain.

But yeah there's a pretty big difference between beers that has to do with the prices. Beers that are higher priced are generally better, and those in the same price range have differences that are more subtle. Picking between those beers really comes down to taste.

But... I'm saying this from my limited experience so I'm probably wrong about some of it.

[oenone]

Some are kinda mellow and sweet -- there's a coconut porter out here that's pretty good, and some raspberry ones that are ok as well.

@SGTrock

lol you must not know the same women I know -- pretty much every girl I know likes beer, except for me and my other friend who's gluten intolerant... and she actually does like beer, and she goes for gluten free ones, like some bardic dragon gold one.

[AmberBeth84]

There's a huge variety of different taste profiles depending on the style. American light lagers (Bud, Miller, Coors, Pabst, basically whatever you think of as 'American' beer) are like fizzy water with a terrible aftertaste. Those are related stylistically to Pils, which is probably the most popular style of lager (Heineken, Amstel, Pilsner Urquel, Stella Artois, etc) are slightly sweet, lightly hopped (meaning there's not much bitterness) and very carbonated. If I'm in Europe and can't get any other style of beer, that's the only time I'll drink a pils. Those two are the only styles I don't like.

Wheat beers (hefeweizens like Weihenstephaner and Franziskaner and Belgian witbiers like Blue Moon on this side of the Atlantic) tend to be fruity and taste a little like banana and clove for a hefeweizen and wits have an orange and coriander taste. (Earlier this week I brewed five gallons of hefeweizen.) Darker ales tend to have more of a bread-y type of flavor. There are also beers, like fruit lambics that taste like candy. I'm not joking on that. A bottle of kreik lambic tastes exactly like cherry candy and can satisfy just about anyone's sweet tooth. Then you have the beers that I truly love, the IPAs. These are loaded with hops and when you take a whiff of them, they smell like flowers. The best flowers ever. They're dark and rich and usually high in alcohol and so very very bitter. In fact, most of the highest alcohol beers are IPAs. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA weighs in at 20% ABV. Not a beer that can be drunk in a hurry. And there are many many other styles I could try to describe. Each and every one has it's own flavor profile and is best suited to different occasions. Like I find it wrong to eat Mexican food without a Viennese lager (Dos Equis Amber or Negra Modelo) and on a summer day after mowing the lawn, there's nothing as satisfying as a kolsch (style native to Cologne, and a lot of American breweries are making versions of it.)

Some of these different styles will have the same prices. Especially Stella. For some ungodly reason, that's regarded in the US as a premium beer and demands higher prices than several much better locally produced craft beers. You can find excellent beers for under $10 a six pack and sublime beers for about $6 a bottle (Rochefort Trappistes 10, one of the most amazing things I've ever tasted). That's much more expensive than an American light lager, but the six packs around here are similarly priced to European pilsners, which many people on this board have said are awful. Basically, just know what you like and what makes you happy and drink it.

[sgtrock]

[snip]Then you have the beers that I truly love, the IPAs. These are loaded with hops and when you take a whiff of them, they smell like flowers. The best flowers ever. They're dark and rich and usually high in alcohol and so very very bitter. In fact, most of the highest alcohol beers are IPAs.

Bwuh? That's not quite right. While IPAs do tend to be pretty well hopped, they aren't necessarily stronger. Summit IPA, for example, is only 6.4%, which is more or less in the middle of the range for ales. If anything, it's a bit low when compared to a traditional stout.

Further info from that fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia:

Hodgson's October beer style clearly influenced the Burton Brewers's India Pale Ale. His beer was only slightly higher in alcohol than most beer brewed in his day and would not have been considered a strong ale; however, a greater proportion of the wort was well-fermented, leaving behind few residual sugars, and the beer was strongly hopped.[12] The common story that early IPAs were much stronger than other beers of the time, however, is a myth.[13] Moreover, porter shipped to India at the same time survived the voyage, and common claims that Hodgson formulated his beer to survive the trip and that other beers would not survive the trip are probably false.[14] It is clear that by the 1860s, India Pale Ales were widely brewed in England and that they were much more attenuated and highly hopped than porters and many other ales.[15]

[AngFdz]

Everyone should drink Golden Monkey though. 10% alcohol and tastes not too bad. Good times.

[AmberBeth84]

[snip]Then you have the beers that I truly love, the IPAs. These are loaded with hops and when you take a whiff of them, they smell like flowers. The best flowers ever. They're dark and rich and usually high in alcohol and so very very bitter. In fact, most of the highest alcohol beers are IPAs.

Bwuh? That's not quite right. While IPAs do tend to be pretty well hopped, they aren't necessarily stronger. Summit IPA, for example, is only 6.4%, which is more or less in the middle of the range for ales. If anything, it's a bit low when compared to a traditional stout.

Further info from that fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia:

Hodgson's October beer style clearly influenced the Burton Brewers's India Pale Ale. His beer was only slightly higher in alcohol than most beer brewed in his day and would not have been considered a strong ale; however, a greater proportion of the wort was well-fermented, leaving behind few residual sugars, and the beer was strongly hopped.[12] The common story that early IPAs were much stronger than other beers of the time, however, is a myth.[13] Moreover, porter shipped to India at the same time survived the voyage, and common claims that Hodgson formulated his beer to survive the trip and that other beers would not survive the trip are probably false.[14] It is clear that by the 1860s, India Pale Ales were widely brewed in England and that they were much more attenuated and highly hopped than porters and many other ales.[15]

That's a fair point. Most IPAs are about 6-7%, but I guess I was more thinking about double IPAs and especially the stuff from Dogfish Head and Three Floyds which tends to be extremely hopped and therefore a higher alcohol content because of the extra malt used during brewing to balance the flavor so the hop taste isn't overwhelming. The Three Floyds Dreadnought is 9.5%, the 90 Minute is 9%, 120 Minute like I said is close to 20% and while there are other styles that are high alcohol, like Belgian strong ales, and barley wines that can get over 10%, most stouts are only about 7-8%.

[Valerie]

Have to weigh in with all the Budweiser hate. Most American beers, to me, taste like badly flavored water, and Bud's no exception. The richer beers (Guinness Extra Stout for one... blehhh, liquid mud) tend to be TOO rich for my palette. One of the few I've ever found satisfactory is Smithwick's ale... and I'm gladder than I can say that it's become easier to find on this side of the Atlantic.

Also, uh, hi all. Been a long time lurker, having stumbled onto Penny and Aggie around the time of Penny's rainbow dream, thanks to talk on LiveJournal that one of the Waltrip brothers, favorites of mine thanks to the Robotech comics way back when, was doing a web comic with yuri themes. Pleased to be here, greatly appreciative of the creative team)s)... and mildly amused that talk about BEER, of all things, finally prompted me to say something here.

Welcome to the board. <3

Also, five pages of beer, guys? I know we all fit the "misunderstood genius" stereotype, but there's a little too much love for booze here.

[sgtrock]

Have to weigh in with all the Budweiser hate. Most American beers, to me, taste like badly flavored water, and Bud's no exception. The richer beers (Guinness Extra Stout for one... blehhh, liquid mud) tend to be TOO rich for my palette. One of the few I've ever found satisfactory is Smithwick's ale... and I'm gladder than I can say that it's become easier to find on this side of the Atlantic.

Also, uh, hi all. Been a long time lurker, having stumbled onto Penny and Aggie around the time of Penny's rainbow dream, thanks to talk on LiveJournal that one of the Waltrip brothers, favorites of mine thanks to the Robotech comics way back when, was doing a web comic with yuri themes. Pleased to be here, greatly appreciative of the creative team)s)... and mildly amused that talk about BEER, of all things, finally prompted me to say something here.

Welcome to the board. <3

Also, five pages of beer, guys? I know we all fit the "misunderstood genius" stereotype, but there's a little too much love for booze here.

In the words of that great philosopher of our time:

"To alcohol! The cause of... and solution to... all of life's problems."

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

Have to weigh in with all the Budweiser hate. Most American beers, to me, taste like badly flavored water, and Bud's no exception. The richer beers (Guinness Extra Stout for one... blehhh, liquid mud) tend to be TOO rich for my palette. One of the few I've ever found satisfactory is Smithwick's ale... and I'm gladder than I can say that it's become easier to find on this side of the Atlantic.

Also, uh, hi all. Been a long time lurker, having stumbled onto Penny and Aggie around the time of Penny's rainbow dream, thanks to talk on LiveJournal that one of the Waltrip brothers, favorites of mine thanks to the Robotech comics way back when, was doing a web comic with yuri themes. Pleased to be here, greatly appreciative of the creative team)s)... and mildly amused that talk about BEER, of all things, finally prompted me to say something here.

Welcome to the board. <3

Also, five pages of beer, guys? I know we all fit the "misunderstood genius" stereotype, but there's a little too much love for booze here.

In the words of that great philosopher of our time:

"To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

He also said:

"It takes two to lie. One to lie, and one to listen."

So perhaps he's not the best source of wisdom...