Whats your favorite beer?

[Mike Kavanagh]

I'm looking for some beers to try. I haven't had very many but right now I prefer hard alcohol or mixed drinks to beer.

So far I've tried

Miller light - Hated
Coors Light - Hated
Yingling - Too drunk to really judge it, but the girl I took it from I handed it back and told her I don't want her Chinese beer. (P.S. I know it's American made.)
Budweiser- No. Though my Great Uncle makes redneck airplanes out of the empty cans.

Never had anything else. I guess I haven't found the right one yet...

What are some of your favorites?

 

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[ScottyMoll]

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA is my fav, but any IPA (India Pale Ale) will do. Lots of hops, which produces a great flavor.

 

[dknise]

Beer really comes down to your local Micro Brews. I know the majority of our local favorites which are ordered well over 50% of the time compared to like Bud Light and stuff aren't available very far out of our state. When I travel to the East coast, I'm always super excited to try the local brews.

Beer comes down to two types, ales and lagers. Within each is a huge subset of more beer types. Everytime you pick up a six pack just grab a new kind you haven't tried!

As far as a good beer that's probably served everywhere, Blue Moon is a white-belgium wheat ale which goes great with an orange slice in it.


edit: I just realized I sound like a sophisticated drunk... as I drink a liter of Marzen out of my Oktoberfest glass hahaha

 

[H. Palmer]

Dommelsch.

 

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[nevergiveup]

I prefer Bud Light, but a Blue Moon here and there is good. I've tried the lager's, but could never get used to the taste.

 

[stranger]

I like strong beer and i've tasted over 200 beer brands. If you didn't drink Utopia beer from Boston, you should do it.

As for me, i prefer Guinness, but it's not strong enough. Russian Baltica 9 is good and strong stuff enough.

 

[rocksolid]

Most Samuel Adams beer is pretty good. I also like Beer with the Lime slice so a corona with lime or bud that already has it mixed in is good. I just tried the Bud Black crown and that is also good. My friends like Stella and Amstel Light.

 

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[Get Right]

With your beer background try these first:
Blue Point Toasted Lager
Session Premium Lager
Goose Island IPA
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sweetwater 420

Cheers!

 

[JAJT]

Sounds like you haven't acquired the taste of beer yet. I doubt many suggestions will blow you out of the water until you get used to the taste of this style of alcohol (beer). At that point you can then pick up the world of different flavors and style differences.

I only say this because you say you hated miller and coors. Which in "beer speak" is like saying you tried water and hated it. Those beers literally taste like nothing once you 'get over' (or acquire) the alcohol bite that beer has.

If you want to get an idea of stronger tasting beers though, try:

Stout - Guinness, for example. Very thick, dark, malty, FULL of flavor, and really doesn't even taste like "beer" (in the sense that most people talk about the taste of beer).

IPA (India Pale Ale) - Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada have some great examples. IPA's are "super hoppy". Hops give beer bitterness so any IPA worth it's salt is going to be strong tasting and bitter. Beer lovers tend to LOVE this style. They are my favorite as well. IPA's range from "Is there any beer in this bottle of hops?" to "they call this an IPA? (Alexander Keiths, in Canad is a great example, and they should be F*cking ashamed).

Cream Ale - They tend to have a "smooth" or "silky" mouthfeel. I can't stand them because of this but they are very well loved and worth a try if you haven't had one before.

Wheat Beer - Blue Moon is a widely available example. Fruity, citrusy, light, cloudy color, refreshing taste. Perfect "patio beer".

English Bitter - Some great beers. Despite their name they tend to NOT be bitter but very flavorful, dark, malty and generally very awesome.

Brown Ale - Newcastle Brown is a great example. FULL of toasted flavors. Very malty. Almost no hoppiness.

German/Euro Lagers - Heineken Or Stella might be okay examples. I don't like German beers very much. They are SUPER crisp tasting, almost no malty or hoppiness to them and have a kind of "bite" to them I don't care for.

Go to a well stocked beer store and pick up one of each. You should have a really, really solid understanding of major types of beer after that. Whether you'll like any of them I can't say, but almost all other styles fall very close in line to one of the above.

 

[Tom.V]

Blue Moon for a night out on the town, not too heavy, tasty, and just potent enough. I'll throw back a strong locally brewed IPA every now and then, but I much prefer a good scotch or whiskey to beer. Crown takes the cake in terms of affordability, taste, and overall experience.

 

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[johnp]

Rootbeer.

 

[Likwid24]

For me it's Guinness. Sam Adams Oktoberfest is by far my favorite though.

 

[exige]

Guinness, Newcastle brown ale, corona...for mainstream brands. Various local craft brews at other times. Although my wife and I don't really drink very often, I cook with beer all the time.

Edit: I also like the orange Heinekin you can get in Europe.

 

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[Breaking Free]

Find a store near you that sells singles, so you can make your own six pack. That way if you hate a beer you have five more to try.

That being said, I'm a beer snob. Anything by Abita or Wasatch gets my vote.

 

[PopEmersen]

Sam Adams Cherry Wheat
Abiza Purple Haze

 

[JAJT]

Also - as other have mentioned, craft beers are really some of the best beers you can buy out there.

They are designed by beer lovers for beer lovers and don't particularly care what the "Lowest Common Denominator in the North-American Palate" enjoys (which is flavorless lager, basically).

They do "crazy" things like super hoppy IPA's, sour beers (interesting, to say the least), oatmeal stouts, seasonal favorites, and other stuff you just can't find in the nationally known brands.

 

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[Vick]

wine

 

[Lakeview]

Whats your favorite beer?

FREE

Preference is red wine or good scotch.

 

[Cloaked_Isotope]

Some people never develop a taste for it. If you cant handle the beers that you mentioned above, you may need to keep trying it or switch to trying craft beers. I skipped the bud/coors/miller/mgd stage. Try some ciders or Leinenkugel fruity beers and see if you can work up that way.

Currently (being from MN) I prefer Surly Furious, but I do enjoy a good draught Guinness as well. But there really aren't too many beers I don't enjoy. Depends on the occasion and season.

 

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[Atown512]

The most awesome thing about beer is that ANYONE can find a style they like. We can make just about any flavor you can imagine! From a sweet and tart sour lambic all the way to a vanilla coffee stout. As a matter of fact, I just finished brewing a test batch of our new B-52 Breakfast Stout. For a good example of what this beer would taste like, try Founder's Breakfast Stout

If you could tell me a little more about what kinds of flavors you are looking for or what kinds of drinks you like, I could give you some better recommendations more suited to your tastes. Another good tip is to check the ratings on beeradvocate.com to see what brands are popular in different styles. One of the best ways is to sort by the top rated breweries overall, and see what beers you can find. You can also read up about each different style and scroll through the top rated beers in each to find something specific.

I would be careful to say that you don't like any one particular style though, because there is wide variation in how they all taste. Also, if you decide to try out a hoppier variety, make sure to check the date codes, and don't buy anything hoppy that is not in a cooler. Hop aromas and flavors break down pretty quickly over time, ESPECIALLY when they are stored outside of a cooler.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

I think the next beer I'm going to try is blue moon. It's highly recommended on here so far. A couple family members like it too. They also like corona.

Though a little more about my drinking history
I'm a shots and mixed drinks kind of guy. I will drink whatever hard liquor you put in front of me.

My 21st birthday was ridiculous. 15 shots in 2 hours and about 4-5 mixed drinks in between. Supposedly I drank the 4 horsemen and followed up with 151.
I didn't want to drink ever again after that night but I like going out and don't want to be the wierdo who doesn't drink. I don't like paying $9 for an 8oz. drink especially when the bartender doesn't get it right. Kind of hard to screw up a beer.

 

[Steele Concept]

I like Murphy's Irish Stout. Pretty simple stuff with a bit more roast than Guinness.

I used to work for a brewery and brew my own beer. I wrote a free easy ebook on home brewing that can be found at:

http://www.steeleconcept.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Bestwaytobrew.pdf

The sample beer I use in there is O flanagain standard stout. That is my favorite home-brew recipe.

 

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[JAJT]

If you don't like Coors I don't think you'll enjoy corona. It's another super-light lager.

FYI, lager trends to be extremely light bodied and mild flavored. Ale is where you get most of the really flavorful beers. This is super general though, but if you want an idea of style knowing nothing else but this fact its not a bad rule of thumb.

One Major mass market exception is Sam Adams Boston Lager, which tastes basically like an ale despite the lager classification. It is also one of the best mass market beers out there IMHO. Put it high on your to try list.

Anchor Steam Beer is kind of a reverse example. It's an ale that tastes more like a lager and also comes very highly recommended on the lighter side of things.

 

[JAJT]

My bad, Anchor is a lager made similar to an ale, not an ale made like a lager. Still lighter and highly recommended though.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

Well, I'm definitely going to try Blue Moon first. Is there a way to curb the curve to actually liking the taste? The whole thing I don't like is the after taste. The first half of a sip is fine, the second part ruins it completely.

 

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[JAJT]

Is there a way to curb the curve to actually liking the taste?

That is the "acquired" part. It completely disappears when you get over it.

And yes, there is a way to get rid of it quickly. Go buy a 24 of whatever you can stand the most right now and drink a few of them each night for a week. Just choke them back each evening one after another. By the end of the week you will very likely be completely used to the taste.

The idea with acquiring a new taste is exposure which causes desensitization. This is why some people "never acquire the taste". Because they drink 1 beer every 5 months at the party-du-jour and go "gross, I've tried beer SOOOO many times and I just don't like it, I can't acquire it! Tee hee (and such)". You can't acquire a taste very easily if your exposure to it is limited and spaced out.

 

[Get Right]

Well, I'm definitely going to try Blue Moon first. Is there a way to curb the curve to actually liking the taste? The whole thing I don't like is the after taste. The first half of a sip is fine, the second part ruins it completely.

Eat something hot...extinguish with beer.

Or, work in the yard for a few hours...cool down with a brew.

 

[nitrousflame]

I didn't drink at all until I was 21 and never thought that I'd start thereafter either. I tried little sips of various beers/wines/cocktails and always thought it was disgusting, but somehow I was still curious. "There has to be something to it," I thought. Then I realized that the majority of the beer that I had tried up until that point was, like you, all different brands of the same flavor. It's like hating Coke, and then trying Pepsi and RC Cola.

As others have said in this thread, you really just have to go out and try different beers. I'd recommend finding a local liquor store that lets you create your own six packs and then try a new beer until you find one you like. Take note of the style of the first one you like, and then create more six-packs with beers of that same style.

Also note that your preferences can, and likely will change drastically over time and throughout the seasons. For instance, my first "real" beers that I enjoyed were Blue Moon and Newcastle, but I no longer really care for either of them. I used to despise hoppy beers like IPA's, but now one of my favorite beers is Sierra Nevada's Torpedo. Also, it's hard to beat a nice thick oatmeal cream stout next to a fire on a cold day.

Annnd now it's 9:30AM and I'm craving a stout, haha.

 

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[Gsuz]

Erdinger Weissbier

 

[JAJT]

Sierra Nevada's Torpedo.

That's some seriously good stuff. Had it for the first time on vacation a few weeks back. We don't get any Sierra Nevada stuff up where I am. Don't have blue moon either for that matter.

Luckily Canada DOES have a very active craft scene. I think my city and surrounding area alone has almost a dozen microbreweries.

One of my favorites up here is Mill Street's Tankhouse ale. Very, very tasty beverage, that.