I’ve tried beer on several diff occasions, and haven’t found it much to my liking. The last was about a year or so ago with Guiness, which I tried because it has a reputation for being a “good” beer. I didn’t care for it much at all. Before that I’d tried several American varieties which just made me feel nauseated. Does anybody have recommendations for beers that I may enjoy? Or at least tips to help me better enjoy beer?
What type of flavors do you enjoy? There are hundreds of different beer styles.
Do you like caramel or toffee flavors? Try a German Doppelbock
Roasty/Chocolatey? Maybe a porter
Sweet and fruity? Try a fruit lambic from Lindemann’s, they are like fruit champagne
Acidic and tart? Try a more authentic lambic like Boon Geueze
Give me an idea of what you like and I can be of more help.
Sea Dog Bluepaw Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale. Sweet, light, smells and tastes like blueberry muffins… but it isn’t a “girly drink” like Zima and all those trendy malt beverages. Read a review here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_1964875908
I also recommend some of the fruit lambics and Belgian ales, all of which have more flavor than your typical American lagers (and should be easier on unprepared tastebuds than Guinness).
Well, for someone who doesn’t like beer I’d normally suggest a Budweiser, which is about as close as you can get to beer without any of that off-putting beer-like flavour or body. Since you say you’ve tried several American varieties, though, I assume that Bud would have been one of them – which puts me at something of a loss.
What is it about the beers you’ve tried that’s put you off? That might help.
Then again, maybe you just really don’t like beer – there’s no particular reason why you should.
The tried and true college method of developing a taste for beer is to start out drinking copious amounts of bad beer. Natural Light, Busch, Southpaw, etc. Then you work your way up to decent beers: Bud, Miller, Michelob, etc. Once you make it this far, everything tastes great by comparison. After that, it’s a matter of taste. You may have to start seeking out microbreweries and rarer things to find something you like. If you don’t like Guinness, which is understandable, I would recommend you try a Killian’s Irish Red. It’s a pretty mild beer. My girlfriend hates most beer but she digs Killian’s. Michelob Amber Bock is another dark beer that’s pretty good. Sam Adams is a good, light lager, but watch out for the weird, special brews.
I would avoid Mexican, Chinese and Japanese beers for the time being. They always seem skunky to me. Canadian beer’s okay.
If you’re feeling dangerous, Pete’s Wicked Strawberry Blonde is an interesting beer, if somewhat hit & miss. Avoid Pete’s Wicked Ale. That’s all I can think of now. I’ll get back to you again later.
These are two very good “middle of the road” beers that a lot of people end up liking, even if they don’t like Bud or Miller or the heavier stuff like Guinness. I enjoy them very much myself, and I’d add Honey Brown and Newcastle to that category as well. Newcastle is more expensive than Killian’s, Amber Bock, or Honey Brown, though.
Anyone who says flat out that they don’t like beer is being very close minded.
Beer can be as complex as vintage port, as refreshing as a tart lemonade, as bland as a glass of water, etc. There is practically no limit to the range of flavors in beer.
Give me someone who claims that they don’t like beer for one week and I will find a beer that they will love.
I agree that knowing what you don’t like about beer would help give a proper recommendation. But my instinct is to tell you to go with a wheat beer - like a Hefewiezzen (sorry, spelling) with a lemon in it. Or something simple like Spaten Lager.
If you can find it, Dogfish Head Raison d’Être is a very flavorful and smooth beer.
When I first learned to like beer, Killian’s was one of the ones I could drink. My first beer that I really liked, though, was Widmer’s Hefeweizen, an American wheatbeer best served on a hot day with a slice of lemon. (Be warned that it tastes nothing like European wheat beers, and very few people like both styles of wheat beer in my experience). It’s made in Oregon, I think, and may be hard to get in Murfreesboro; I’ve only seen it here in Asheville in the last couple years.
DO NOT DRINK ZIMA. I have never tasted any liquid marketed for drinking that was half as vile as Zima. It tastes like the water in a vase of flowers that’s sat there decaying for a week or so. Indescribably nasty.
One other one that you might want to try, given your proximity to Atlanta, is Sweetwater’s 420 Pale Ale. It’s a good beer with a very crisp flavor.
Daniel
ps…sorry for the double post but I couldnt’ figure out how to edit and I wanted to say…
I’m now quite thirsty…is it beer:30 yet?
For my money, Coors Light is as close to water as beer gets. Not that I don’t like a Coors Light once in a while. If you’re looking for something without the ‘beer’ taste, an ice-cold can of Coors Light is pretty close.
I’d suggest a hard cider. Similar kick to beer, but very different taste.
It’s always beer:30 for me, but then I work at a brewery.
Can beers taste to me like metallic stale soda water: like water, only worse. I figure if you’re going to learn to like beers, whatever taste it has should be pleasant.
Cider’s a good suggestion, though!
Daniel
I like cider too - good call.
lucky dawg!!
Oh, I think that’s a little unfair. Love beer though I do, I fully appreciate that there are some people who simply can’t develop a taste for it. Everybody’s different… boring world if we were all the same… etc. Come to think of it, I’ve occasionally had the odd pint that didn’t agree with me either. Usually the fifth or sixth, I think.
And Big Bad Voodoo Lou, much as my heart swells with Geordie pride, I’m not sure I’d recommend Newcastle Brown Ale as a tipple for the inexperienced: I’ve seen plenty of evidence of the effects it can have on the unwary.
Oh, and I’ll second (fourth?) Pleonast’s cider suggestion, if beer really isn’t your thing.
Heineken is a pretty tame beer. I don’t particularly like beer, but when I do drink it I like it only slightly chilled and a little bit flat.
I can’t imagine starting on Guiness…no, wait, I can. I tried it early on in my beer career and about gagged. I teethed on Michelob Ultra, which has almost no taste at all. After a while I moved on to Blue Moon. Wonderful stuff, mild and tasty. From there I moved on to almost every type, Guiness, Bass, Killians, my current passion is Berghoff Dark. Mmmmm, I love everything Berghoff. I still can’t stand any lager that’s not Berghoff, so that’s probably why it took me so long to like beer, almost all big American beer is lager.
My dad hates all kinds of beer, except Corona. I think it tastes like ass, but hey, give it a shot!
Thanks to you, I am now craving a beer and a blueberry muffin.
To the OP: It doesn’t surprise me that you didn’t like Guinness. Guinness Stout is extremely strong (to me, it tastes like cold coffee … nasty!). You might try Guinness Draught, which is now available in bottles. It’s much milder, I think. Corona with lime is always nice on a hot day.