# Some people don't like the taste of beer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [May 18, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633 "2022-05-18T19:28:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/61 "2022-05-19T15:12:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t think it’s an acquired taste, really; it’s a matter of learning what the different tastes are so you know what you like. Saying “I like beer” is like saying “I like vegetables” or “I like meat.” I think this is correct. Folks kind of look down on ‘acquired taste’ language, but it’s really not all that different from hating spinach or brussels sprouts when you were a kid because it was prepared poorly. Or having the proper expectation for what coffee tastes like. Because beer is alcoholic, a lot of people initial experiences are trying to get the cheapest, easiest to obtain whatever… and those generally aren’t going to be greatest representations. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/62 "2022-05-19T15:13:54Z")
Ah, missed that. ---
**Author:** ![OldManLogan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oldmanlogan/32/5237_2.png) [@OldManLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldManLogan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/63 "2022-05-19T15:14:57Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I don’t think it’s a “bitter” thing for me since I’m fine with coffee, dark chocolate and other bitter foods. In fact, I don’t know if I could pinpoint what I don’t like about beer without sitting down with one and trying to noodle it out and that’s not a great use of my time. This is me. It might be alcohol itself. The more alcohol I taste, the less I like it. I do enjoy Mike’s Hard Lemonade or a hard cider, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/64 "2022-05-19T15:17:55Z")
I have many acquired tastes: Avocado, Hummus, Strong Cheeses, Mushrooms, Coffee, and all kinds of Alcohol. I think all these things enhanced my life by the acquisition of the taste. I always try to say, “I don’t like this dish…yet.” I still want to like “Swiss Cheese” and I will eat it in a Reuben, but in general I don’t prefer it…yet. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/65 "2022-05-19T15:18:51Z")
I like beer, but every now and then I’ll get one that’s a bit too challenging for me, for whatever reason. In those cases, if I can’t give them away, I’ll “cut” them with a lighter beer like a High Life, or I’ll even use cocktail mixers in it: cola, ginger ale, Sprite, orange juice, lemonade, etc. something that I think would go well with it. Or even with just a regular macro beer I’ll fancy it up with one of those things. Upon visiting Germany during the summer a few years back, I learned they are quite fond of this sort of thing there, at least on a really hot day. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/66 "2022-05-19T15:19:52Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > Ah, missed that. Sorry, just a joke. I like beer too. Not so much the IPAs. Lagers and Pilsners. And the Mexican’s beers like Pacifico and Tacate. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/67 "2022-05-19T15:23:53Z")
None of that applies when you don’t like any beer because the flavor is always bad. Let me extend that to all malt beverages as well. I don’t want to drink that crap and it’s well established that without the alcoholic content almost no one wants to drink it. You could sell swill without alcohol that tastes just like any form of beer for a lot less money yet the demand is virtually non-existent compared to the alcoholic versions. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/68 "2022-05-19T15:24:18Z")
I think it really is one of those things where you have to acquire a taste for it. I know that in high school/early college I never really _liked_ beer. It basically was bitter, tasted kind of moldy, and some beers (ales rather than lagers) had additional funk on top of that. But social mores and norms being what they are, I still drank it. Eventually that moldy taste went away and the bitterness became tolerable, and I started tasting grain and hop flavors, and smelling hop aromas. Beer became pleasant, to put it simply. Except for hefeweizens; I can’t do that clove/bubblegum funk. Blech. Same thing with wine; it started out tasting like sour spoiled grape juice, with a bit of that moldy funk that beer had, but eventually it calmed down and I started appreciating it. Even coffee was that way; it tasted a lot like bitter dirt at first. But it was pretty much the only source of caffeine in sufficient quantity to keep me up for long nights in the computer lab, so I drank it anyway. Eventually I started liking it better. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/69 "2022-05-19T15:28:34Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Sorry, just a joke. Hey no problem. It also doesn’t thrill me that Trump is a big Diet Coke drinker; that is extremely disappointing and embarrassing 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/70 "2022-05-19T15:48:42Z")
Never liked beer. I’m a teetotaler anyway, but I did give it a try back in university, when many people I knew practically consumed it like water. In my life I’ve probably consumed, collectively, less than a bottle’s worth. The only alcohol I ever tried more than once was vodka, in cranberry-vodka drinks. Meh. Also don’t like Dr. Pepper, cream soda or root beer. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/71 "2022-05-19T17:04:13Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I think it really is one of those things where you have to acquire a taste for it. I don’t think so. For many, perhaps. I loved beer from the first sip of my dad’s Old Style when I was 5 years old. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/72 "2022-05-19T17:07:21Z")
Maybe for most people then. I had to acquire a taste for beer, coffee, and wine. Always have liked things like mushrooms, blue cheese, anchovies, sardines, olives, and other strong tasting foods. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/73 "2022-05-19T17:12:03Z")
While there are plenty of women beer drinkers out there I see personally there are way more females that dislike beer than there are who like it. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/74 "2022-05-19T18:19:36Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > Beer has the same disadvantage as soft drinks and other carbonated drinks - you can’t gulp it down in large quantities; at least, not without generating a huge belch. (Which, admittedly, has its own appeal…) > > You don’t _have_ to gulp down an entire beer in one go. But the end result [can be satisfying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2ClHNUp1IU). But after a hot, sweaty run in 80% humidity, I want to just open my mouth and pour in something ice-cold, until my guts slosh. Which means water or tea or chocolate milk; can’t do that with beer or Coke. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/75 "2022-05-19T18:35:09Z")
I don’t hate beer, not reasonably good beer, but it comes after iced tea, soda, lemonade, water and wine. And before hard alcohol. Cans of beer I buy when my German son-in-law visits stay there for years undrunk. I sometimes drink it at dinners at conference meetings, but I prefer wine there also. My father was the same way. He only drank beer when company was over because that’s what a man did in the 1950s. He never drank it between times. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/76 "2022-05-19T19:06:56Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > He only drank beer when company was over Funny enough, that’s exactly how I treat wine. I’ll drink it when company is over (though will have to run out real quick to get a bottle because we generally don’t have any around), or in a nice restaurant (though not always). But for every day drinking, it’s beer. I’d put it above ice tea and lemonade and water, but maybe not soda. ---
**Author:** ![PackerMan2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/packerman2/32/2894_2.png) [@PackerMan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PackerMan2)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/77 "2022-05-19T21:20:01Z")
Compared to regular beer, yes. But sales of non-alcoholic beer is growing quickly. > **[As The Non-Alcoholic Category Continues To Grow, Booze–Free Beer Will Be The...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/katedingwall/2022/02/28/as-the-non-alcoholic-category-continues-to-grow-boozefree-beer-will-be-the-space-to-watch/?sh=34fe7a4d6d5d)** > > In the 2022 dry January period, CGA estimated an on-premise sales value uplift of $295 million for non-alcoholic beers, spirits and mocktails. pulykamell listed serval options available. I have cut back on my consumption and have tried many of those and like a number of them. If I know I will be hanging out with friends who drink a lot, I’ll bring some of those and have just a couple of real beers. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/78 "2022-05-19T22:23:56Z")
I seem to recall keeping the beer from spending too much time on the back of my tongue…I thought that’s where the “bitter” taste buds were. I kind of cupped the front of my tongue and held the beer there. > In the 1940s, Edwin Boring redrew the figure for his [book](https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.52372/page/n465) on the senses and perception. It was simplified, misinterpreting and inadvertently misrepresenting Hänig’s original findings. Instead of showing the relative sensitivity to each of the basic tastes in each region of the tongue, the figure only listed the taste that each region was most sensitive to. The result was a figure showing a tongue with various regions highlighted and a single taste listed for each. This tongue map became standard in science textbooks, and unfortunately, students still learn about this myth today. > **[Do Different Parts of the Tongue Taste Different Things?](https://www.brainfacts.org/thinking-sensing-and-behaving/taste/2018/do-different-parts-of-the-tongue-taste-different-things-010319)** > > The popular tongue map showing specific areas for each taste is wrong. Something I just learned from the article: we also have some tastebuds on the roof of the mouth and the back of the throat. I’ve always wondered how dogs, who often swallow things whole, taste things. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/79 "2022-05-20T03:24:03Z")
I have a very random beer relationship. When I occasionally drink beer it is most often Guinness Extra Stout. I get a craving for it. So I pick up a pack and drink them over two days. More seldom, I will crave the taste of a regular light lager. Usually only in the hot summer. Also only drink a few over two days. When I want one, I really want one and enjoy it a lot. But very seldom. Rum and coke all the time. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633/80 "2022-05-20T13:16:49Z")
I have over 1300 ratings on [Ratebeer.com](http://Ratebeer.com) so you know where I come down on this topic. Fortunately for me my wife loathes beer. So when I cone home from work I know they’ll be just as many beers in the fridge as there were when I left, My parents were not big drinkers but did have a beer from time to time and would give us a sip and later on a small (3 ounce Dixie) cup of it. I loved when they had card parties because that meant I was going to get a taste of some beer. My first taste of beer was called Weber. Originally this was brewed in Waukesha but then moved to the Joseph Pickett brewing in Dubuque, Iowa. Came in 16 ounce bottles. My gawd it was so hoppy and bitter. Just plain damn good beer! That was also my moms favorite. My Pop drank Fox Deluxe, a beer that actually claimed to have vitamins in it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-dont-like-the-taste-of-beer/964633.md?page=5)