I'm trying to like beer...really I am.

Cafe Society
#1

So I mentioned to someone how much I loath beer. Absolutly hate it. He suggested Blue Moon, saying that I might hate it less. The last time I took a sip of beer was probably about 6 years ago. I figured it was time to try it again. Looking around on the Dope and the rest of the internet (googling “I hate the taste of beer”) I purchased a six pack of…Hoegaarden, Point Pale Ale and New Glarius Spotted Cow. I put one of each into my fridge along with a Lienie Berry Weiss and a Corona.
I figured the Hoegaarden (being a wheat beer) would be my best bet. I opened it, poured some of it into a chilled glass and…nope still didn’t like it. I choked down maybe a quarter of the bottle and called it a night (for the beer anyways). I still have a few others to try. Oh, and if anyone has suggestions, I’m open to them. I should mention that as far as I can tell, it’s the hops I really really really don’t like. It’s not the alcohol, it’s the bitter.
I think I forgot one crucial step though. In addition to finding a palatable (to me) beer, I think I need to have a drink or two first, ya know, to ‘loosen up’ my taste buds. I compleatly forgot about that step.

Well I guess it’s back to Smirnoff Triple Black. Hey, technically it’s a beer.

PS Normally I wouldn’t just go out and spend $25 on specialty beer I know I probably won’t like, but I’m in the middle of pouring a patio and we’ll probably have a get together when it’s done, so I should have some friends over that will help finish it up in the next few weeks.

#2

I think it is mostly an acquired taste. When I first started drinking it I absolutely hated the stuff. But after about a year of forcing myself to drink it I love it and actually get really thirsty for the stuff.

#3

Beer tastes like moose piss. You’re better off for disliking it.
It’s called “common sense”.

#4

More for the rest of us.

#5

It’s definitely an acquired taste. I never liked and it’s still not my favorite drink, but when I was in grad school I was kind of stuck drinking it for the most part - it was cheap, and my guy friends kept their fridges stocked with stuff like PBR (blech) or, if they were being extravagent, Goose Island. After drinking it for the past year I like it better than I used to. I still prefer cider though.

Berry Weiss is actually pretty good. So is Blue Moon. Especially with oranges.

#6

Brother, I will find a beer you like if it harelips every man in Bear Creek,

Seriously, my job is to drink beer. Tell me what you like and I will find a beer for you.

#7

Heh. I accept your challenge, kind sir.

#8

Hmm… picky drinker? I say that about mushrooms and that makes me a picky eater, so it’s only fair. :stuck_out_tongue:

#9

Okay. LOUNE. Even without any information about your tastebuds, I charge you with finding Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. It is fairly readily available in the U.S. If you don’t like it we’ll work from there.

#10

Sweet girlie drinks Smirnoff Triple Black, Margaritas, Vodka, Gin, Taquila anything but beer. But I really would love to be able to go to a bar and order a friggen beer. Not only would it be easier (and cheaper) but, it’s tough to not fall of the bar stool when I’m having vodka tonics and the person I’m with is having beer.
Oh, and I know myself well enought to know that if I could just find that beer I liked, I could eventally make it to ‘regular’ beer. I did the same with liquor (started with Margaritas, then Jack Daniels (those little bottles of koolaid tasting stuff) and on to light easy mixed drinks and now I can drink vodka rocks if I so choose.)

#11

Exactly.

August, I was just being a brat. If I happen to be in the same room with a Chocolate Double Stout, I’ll give it a whirl…in the name of science.

#12

I’ve never met anyone who liked beer from the start. When I was in college I absolutely hated the stuff, but that’s all anybody ever had at parties. It was just a matter of finding ONE that I liked and then go from there. My favorite right now is Yueng-Ling (sorry if I spelled that wrong, but I’m too lazy right now to get up, go to the fridge, and check.) I also like Blue Moon with the orange. The absolute best beer I ever had was Blue Moon Honey Blonde Pale Ale, and be damned if I can find it anywhere around here. I’ve searched for almost 10 years now. Beer is definitely an aquired taste, so if you want to like it, just keep trying. I’m working on liking wine right now.

#13

Someone gave me some of that for the first time about a month ago and I thought it was awesome. I need to get some more but I think I’ll have to cross over to South Carolina to get it.

#14

Definitely an acquired taste. I spent the start of my junior year of college in a small town in Bavaria, and we used to buy the dark wheat bear at the local bar, for the simple reason that it cost the same as other beers but you got 1/2 liter instead of 1/3. More bang for your buck. But after a month of drinking it, I got to really like it; now I seek out dark wheat beer wherever I can find it (which is almost nowhere, dammit).

On the other hand, people always told me Scotch was an acquired taste, and all my efforts resulted in…bupkus. Scotch still tastes like ass to me. So something’s being an acquired taste doesn’t mean you personally are capable of acquiring a taste for it.

#15

Magic Hat #9.

#16

I tried to like beer for fifteen years, but never succeeded. No matter what brand it was, one gave me a headache and more than three made me throw up, so I gave up on the whole thing in the late '80s. I guess I’m just not cut out to be a drinker. More for you guys.

#17

I’m with the OP.

I’ve tried dozens of beers (bottled and draft) on three different continents, and i’ve also worked as a waiter and bartender on three continents, so i’ve plenty of opportunity to try quite a variety. And i really don’t like the stuff. I’ve tried the mainstream big brewery beers, and the boutique beers that everyone tells me will change my mind about beer. Nope. It all tastes like crap to me.

I guess there’s a possibility that, if i kept drinking it for an extended period, i would develop a taste for it. But i’ve never understood why i would want to do that. Why keep drinking something you don’t find appealing in the hope that one day you might like it? Life’s too short for that, IMO.

#18

A life without beer is not worth living. :frowning:

#19

Forget domestic North American beer, it’s garbage.

Get your ass over to the Czech Republic and get yourself a pint of Budvar (sp?) for perhaps a dollar a pint. Now that, my friend, is beer. And that quality/price ratio has enough leverage to put a man on the moon.

Otherwise, yea, beer licks.

#20

Bah. It really is taking longer than we thought. There is plenty of perfectly delicious NA beer available. To say otherwise is snobbery bordering on obnoxiousness.

That said, either you like it or you don’t. If not, I’m with silenus: more for the rest of us.