Start with “Lite” beers. They have little taste. 
[QUOTE=aerodave]
If the OP says he doens’t like hops, I might recommend a brown ale. Newcastle is readily available anywhere that sells beer, and is very low on the bitterness scale. A beer like that allows a lot more of the malty tones to come through, and isn’t overshadowed with bitterness or hoppy flavor.
I love beer, but I understand where the OP’s dislike of hops comes from. I don’t generally gravitate towards pale ales for that same reason. I like a moderate amount of hoppy bitterness, but beers that intend to overwhelm with hops certainly succeed with me. I love rich, flavorful beers, but I prefer them to be balanced.
[/QUOTE]
Seconded. I like beer, but those massively bitter uber-hopped up things that are all the rage now just don’t do it for me. And like you, I’ve gravitated towards dark ales. Newcastle is good, I really prefer Negra Modelo. Yeah, I know, shitty North American beer. Doesn’t taste like a hops stuffed skunk fell into the vat, either.
Here’s a news flash: I ain’t going to Europe for a beer. If I was IN Europe, I’d have one, but as far as going there just so I could get the OMFG-it’s-the-only-fucking-beer-worth-drinking, I’ll pass. Lowly old Shiner Bock is pretty decent if you just can’t see wrapping your precious lips around a Bud.
It turns out, my husbands best friend is a beer fiend. He’s taking my husband over to the World of Beers tonight and picking me out a few after feeling out what I might like to try.
He laughed when I told him my first beer was an Optimater, evidently, it’s a pretty heavy duty beer.
[QUOTE=buns3000]
I’ve had Coors, Bud, Miller, Rolling Rock, Samuel Adams and a fair few others I can’t remember the names of now.
[/QUOTE]
Which Samuel Adams? That brand covers 27 different beers, including seasonal ones.
[QUOTE=buns3000]
Just out of interest, have you been through Europe and drank draught beer there? I ask because I find it hard to believe that somebody who had done that would claim that US domestic beer is in the same ballpark with that stuff.
[/QUOTE]
I never claimed it was in the same ballpark, I only claimed it wasn’t shit.
And no I haven’t been to Europe, but I’ve sat down at a microbrewery or two here in the States. For good beer.
[QUOTE=buns3000]
Just out of interest, have you been through Europe and drank draught beer there? I ask because I find it hard to believe that somebody who had done that would claim that US domestic beer is in the same ballpark with that stuff.
[/QUOTE]
To add to Queen Bruin. . . I lived in Ghent for a year, and my neighborhood beer store was the Hopduvel, and the other local pub was het Waterhuis an de Bierkant. The local swill was Westvleteren and Gulden Draak and Delierium Tremens. That’s beer cred, I think you will agree. And the rest of Europe as well-- Kolsch and Fuller’s and the Czech pilsners and all the lovely lovely things they make in Bavaria.
I also lived in Portland for several years, and elsewhere here and there. North Coast Brewing, Deschutes and Rogue exist. Hair of the Dog “Fred” and Old Crustacean exist. 1996 Anchor Christmas beer exist(ed. Sigh! “When I was 24, I had a very good beer. . .”)). Not AS good, but it is “in the ballpark.”
[QUOTE=capybara]
…Delierium Tremens…
[/QUOTE]
They make a beer named after the alcoholic shakes? Really?
And a marvelous beer it is, too!
[QUOTE=buns3000]
I’ve had Coors, Bud, Miller, Rolling Rock, Samuel Adams and a fair few others I can’t remember the names of now.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve had Fosters, Heineken, Molson, some ghastly French stuff, Paulaner, St. Pauli, Becks, Tennants, Guinness (in cans and bottles!), Smithwicks, Watney’s, Bass, Harp, and many others. I feel confident, based on this sampling, stating that the variety and quality of beer available in the US is, thankfully, in a whole different ballpark. A good ballpark, with comfortable seats.
Sure, I’d much rather sit down to a Guinness draught in Kilkenny than try to choke down the crap they export to us (or any mass-produced swill, from either side of any pond you care to name), but I’d much rather drink a quality American craft beer in America.
[QUOTE=The Beer Hunter]
That the Germans no longer recognise the aroma of their finest hop is understandable. Their brewers scarcely use it any longer. Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops are expensive, not least because the variety is vulnerable to wilt and many farmers have ceased to grow it. Mittelfrüh represents only about 4 per cent of the crop. Many German brewers prefer cheaper varieties. “Any hops will do,” I was told recently by the brewer of one of Germany’s best-selling beers.
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[QUOTE=MJTBH]
There is no such place as Europe. Cultures may overlap in some neighbouring nations, but they remain separate countries.
I know of no brewery in Europe that matches skill and adventurousness in the manner of the Southampton Publick House (with its Eisbock and Saison, for example) or classic styles and an individual touch as Brooklyn or Victory do. I don’t think any European brewery is as committed to eclecticism as Dogfish Head or Hair of the Dog. If anyone in Europe is as enthusiastic about big, bold, flavors as Great Lakes or as stout-hearted as Kalamazoo, it is an extraordinarily well-kept secret. No European city has as many breweries as Seattle or Portland, Oregon
And where in Europe can I find Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Celebration or Big Foot?
I fly to America every other month on average. I have been doing this for more than 20 years, and have visited every state. I come here for the beer…and interviewers still don’t believe me.
[/QUOTE]
Inspired by all the beer suggestions, I went down to the local specialty beverage center to see what I could come up with. I didn’t find the Leinie’s shandy mentioned above, but I did find something called Shandy Carob, from Trinidad, that those of you who love sweet will absolutely love. It is flavored with ginger, and tastes like a good, snappy ginger ale, not like beer at all. Seasoned beer drinkers will not like it, as it is sweet, and it is too sweet for my taste, but, I repeat, those of you who like sweet will like this very much.
Get the ginger stuff, mix it with with regular beer, and over time vary the proportions until you are drinking regular beer and liking it.
Or not. Beer is the most fattening substance in the universe. Though medical folk now say that one glass a day can prevent diabetes.
<wistful sigh> Fond memories of college days, when I learned to like beer because of a beer-loving, Irish-descent boyfriend, and could eat lots of pizza and drink beer without torturing the scale.
[QUOTE=Tapiotar]
Though medical folk now say that one glass a day can prevent diabetes.
[/QUOTE]
Then I’m good through my next 3 incarnations!
[QUOTE=silenus]
Then I’m good through my next 3 incarnations!
[/QUOTE]
Ha! I can cure diabetes in others by entering the room and gesturing towards them imperiously!
[QUOTE=fishbicycle]
They make a beer named after the alcoholic shakes? Really?
[/QUOTE]
Really. They also have a pub here in Gothenburg with over 2000 (yes two thousand) beers from all over the world. My friends who are M.D:s are all over the t-shirts from that place. They have a lot of really strange beers at that pub but some gems also.
The Delirium Tremens logo, BTW, is hilarious:
Bottle Label: http://b-21.com/images/DeliriumTremens.jpg
Logo: http://www.redemptionblues.com/pictures/DeliriumTremens.jpg
They make a darker version called Delirium Nocturnum, and a Christmas beer called Delirium Noel or something (same pink elephant with a Santa cap)
[QUOTE=Kid_A]
Fruli is bad news. I tried it for the first time last weekend and it was like drinking strawberry juice. I couldn’t taste any alcohol, I can’t remember the last time I got drunk that fast.
[/QUOTE]
This sounds like a beer I might like. (Sugar. I like sugar. People gasp in horror when they see me pour sugar into my coffee, but I like the bitter/sweet combination. The many beers and ciders I’ve tried are far too bitter and nothing else for me.) Can I only get it in Canada? Can I get it anywhere in Canada?
Re: DT beer - it’s sorta funny, but it just seems so wrong on all kinds of levels. I’ve never seen a brewer acknowledge what his product is capable of doing to its consumer before. Or implying what it’s the cure for.
Sorry, didn’t mean to harsh your squee.
[QUOTE=amarinth]
This sounds like a beer I might like. (Sugar. I like sugar. People gasp in horror when they see me pour sugar into my coffee, but I like the bitter/sweet combination. The many beers and ciders I’ve tried are far too bitter and nothing else for me.) Can I only get it in Canada? Can I get it anywhere in Canada?
[/QUOTE]
Actually, I was in the States when I had it. New York City.
I’m not sure how widespread it is. Maybe someone else has a better idea.
Opal: If I could somehow ship you some Vermont Pub and Brewery Forbidden Fruit, I would, but 1) they don’t bottle the beer, only sold on tap, and 2) I think that’s illegal.
[QUOTE=buns3000]
Just out of interest, have you been through Europe and drank draught beer there? I ask because I find it hard to believe that somebody who had done that would claim that US domestic beer is in the same ballpark with that stuff.
[/QUOTE]
Not sure what you mean by “domestic beer.”
But in any case, been there, done that. I love a lot of great European beers. I usually like that beer better on tap over there, of course, rather than here after it’s been bottled and sat around for months before it gets to a store nearby.
I am 100% comfortable saying that you can get craft- and microbrews just about anywhere in North America that are absolutely as good as or better than European beers. If you’ve not experienced this yourself, than all I can say is you’re not even trying.
Not every craft- or microbrew you might try in North America is going to be great. Incidentally, that’s true for a lot of European beers as well. But greatness is there, and not at all hard to find you put forth even the slightest effort.
Badmouthing North American beers is nothing more than a pathetic display of pretentiousness and ignorance. Anyone who really knows about beer knows that there is A LOT of superb beer in America.
Keep looking, and enjoy. But do try to work on that ignorance a bit.
For those poor people who just don’t like beer at all, I’m very sorry. De gustibus… Drink what you like.
For me the other down side to beer: I have a smaller than normal stomach, and I have a low tolerance for carbonation. This means that for example, I can only drink about 1/3 of a can of soda before I have to put it away. So getting a buzz on beer would be, physically, a challenge for me.