# Will I ever like beer?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** beer
**Created:** [March 1, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869 "2004-03-01T05:45:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/1 "2004-03-01T05:45:02Z")
I am 28 years of age and male, and I have never liked beer. I can drink it, and if I’m thirsty and the drink is cold enough, I may even enjoy it a little, if mostly for the fact that it consists of a large amount of bubbly water. But I’ve never _craved_ a beer.
After a pint my sensory system seems entirely clogged with the lingering bitter, stomach-acid-like taste and I can hardly drink another drop, at which point I begin to crave something sweet to extinguish the taste of beer.
So, readers: In your experience, is this something that tends to change with age?
And is there “a beer for people who don’t like beer”, or are they all the same in this regard? When I first discovered I was less than man _cough_ I mean didn’t enjoy beer, I started trying out different ones to see if there was any difference between brands. No luck so far, although my research shows that I have a slight preference for lighter brands, like Budweiser.
For the record, I don’t like red wine, either, nor do I particularly enjoy whiskey, brandy, port, sherry or other manly kinds of alcohol. I mostly like sweet drinks, sweet white wines, whine coolers, ciders. (I don’t like cars, sports or large-breasted women, either, but I _am_ straight, as far as I’m aware.)
How about mead, that’s got to be sweet _and_ manly, right?
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### Author:  [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/2 "2004-03-01T05:47:27Z")
> [@gentle](#):
>
> Is this something that tends to change with age?
Psh. I was hooked on the stuff when I was 16.
Seriously though, I find myself hating a lot of the “good” beer. Corona is one of my favorites. Nothing beats a steak and a Corona. Or anything salty and a Corona for that matter.
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### Author:  [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/3 "2004-03-01T05:52:12Z")
> [@gentle](#):
>
> And is there “a beer for people who don’t like beer”, or are they all the same in this regard? When I first discovered I was less than man _cough_ I mean didn’t enjoy beer, I started trying out different ones to see if there was any difference between brands. No luck so far, although my research shows that I have a slight preference for lighter brands, like Budweiser.
Go to a beer store with a good selection and ask if they have a good Czech pils. Make sure that they sell enough of it so that it’s fresh. Drink the whole six pack. If you still don’t like that, then just give it up. No sense in wasting your money and time on something you’re not destined to enjoy.
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### Author:  [@Coulbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coulbean)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/4 "2004-03-01T05:55:25Z")
I’m 20 (almost 21) and female. I don’t like beer either. It’s a bit uncomfortable isn’t it? For example, you go to someone’s house and they offer you a beer and you turn it down. But when you want to drink socially and enjoy the fun with everyone else, it’s a bummer. But I figure if you’re gonna drink, make it something you like. I won’t force myself to drink something just to get a buzz.
My favorite is creamy drinks, like white Russians and the ever-so-expensive Bailey’s Irish Cream.
You’re not less of a man, just a man with different tastes.
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### Author:  [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/5 "2004-03-01T05:57:10Z")
Well, I’m 45 and I don’t like any alcoholic drinks either. I used not to mind a beer at a particular bar, where they kept the glasses in the freezer, dipped in salt. They’d pour you a draft that was so cold it was almost frozen. On a 95-degree day, that was heaven. But I gave up on drinking a long time ago, and don’t miss it. I also have no interest in cars or sports, and I’m straight. I’m sure. My wife is sure.
Anyone who would question your manliness based on whether you drink or like sports or cars is not worthy of your time.
And there _is_ a beer for people who don’t like beer. it’s called Coke (or tea, or orange juice, or coffee, or what-have-you…).
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### Author:  [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/6 "2004-03-01T05:57:22Z")
Aside from when I had a sip or two when I was a kiddie (hey, I grew up in Wisconsin!), I’ve always liked beer. So I guess I can’t help you out too much. Since you say you like sweet drinks, maybe try sweeter beers, such as Leinenkugle’s Berry Weiss or Sam Adam’s (I think) Cherry Ale? Some people consider them to be “girly”, but at least they’re beers (as opposed to "malternatives). You might also do well with wheat beers (especially if they’re served with a lemon slice) or other summer beers, such as Bell’s Oberon. Maybe even a Blue Moon (that comes with an orange slice). On the other end, there’s stouts, which are more rich than anything. Have you had Guinness? Bell’s also makes a Java stout, which has a big coffee flavor. I think it’s one of their winter seasonal brews.
Stay away from the big brands–Coors, Bud, Miller, etc. Yes, they’re mostly tasteless, but that’s not good beer! Micro-to mid-size breweries produce a greater variety of beers, and I’m sure you’ll be able to find something you like. Stay away from India Pale Ales (I.P.A.'s), as those have extra hops, which tend to produce that bitter taste and aroma that some beers are famous for.
Just out of curiosity–do you like coffee, or do you find it to be too bitter?
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### Author:  [@CadburyAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CadburyAngel)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/7 "2004-03-01T06:01:32Z")
Well, what have you tried? Go check out the best beers thread in IMHO for some good recommendations.
I was not a big beer fan when I first started drinking alcohol, preferring screwdrivers and the like. I made the conscious decision to at least know what sort of beer I disliked less, and so tried various high-end sorts. Now I can take sips without making a weird face, although it certainly doesn’t have the nice flavor of OJ and Absolut. I do enjoy one beer now and then, usually every few weeks, although the flavor is not one I precisely enjoy, I do enjoy the beer _gestalt_ somehow.
Make sure you’re not trying the beer after eating something sweet, that ruins the whole thing.
And if you simply don’t like beer, then you don’t like beer. No skin off anybody’s nose, so don’t let people give you crap about it.
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### Author:  [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/8 "2004-03-01T06:02:13Z")
The Czech beers are definitely good. You might also try some Belgian beers. They’ve got like 300 varieties.
Really though, if you don’t like beer, why bother? Shit’s pricey and fattening. That diet/low carb beer is disgusting.
It is an aquired taste. Not so much age related, I think you just have to keep drinking it 'til you get used to it. The first time I tasted beer I thought it was worse than piss. Not that I’d ever tasted piss, but I was pretty sure beer must be worse. Same thing with wine & coffee, actually. Hated 'em at first, then tolerated 'em & now I like them.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/9 "2004-03-01T06:09:35Z")
I, too, am a 28 year-old male who hates the taste of beer. I can stomach weak, American beer, but the heavier stuff makes me gag. I’ve found hard cider to be a good compromise, though. Looks like beer, gets you drunk, doesn’t taste like gardening loam.
Although, like **Cadbury Angel** said, nothing beats vodka mixed with fresh squeezed orange juice.
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### Author:  [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/10 "2004-03-01T06:15:57Z")
If you are 28 I’d say probably not.
18-22 is too early to write it off, IMO. I know plenty folks who came around in their mid 20s but if you have made it this long, you may never like it.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/11 "2004-03-01T06:23:23Z")
> [@gentle](#):
>
> I am 28 years of age and male… When I first discovered I was less than man _cough_ I mean didn’t enjoy beer…For the record, I don’t like red wine, either, nor do I particularly enjoy whiskey, brandy, port, sherry or other manly kinds of alcohol. I mostly like sweet drinks, sweet white wines, whine coolers, ciders. (I don’t like cars, sports or large-breasted women, either, but I _am_ straight, as far as I’m aware.)
There is much weight in was in not said, Grasshopper, as there in what was. But that which was said bears weight as well, often more than was intended.
Brandy? Port? Sherry? These are absolutly PU\*\*Y drinks! Don’t like cars or sports? You are merely “aware” that your are straight?
Dude! You sound like my brother! Regular Egyption Royalty!
Sit back and re-evaluate. Try a Negro Modelo Beer (from Mexico). If you still don’t like beer, follow the flow…
😃 I’m just funnin’ with ya! Beer is like escargot or Blue Cheese. Gotta get used to it to fall in love with it. Once you do, you can’t do without it.
Try that Negro Modelo or a nice Sapporo. Too dry? Try Newcastle or Bass. They are like candy!
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### Author:  [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/12 "2004-03-01T06:32:39Z")
Wow, thanks to everyone so far.
I have tasted a bunch of national beers, so mentioning those would not be helpful, but I have also tasted Budweiser (American), Lapin Kulta, Corona and Budweiser Budvar (Czech).
**Coulbean** , right on. Plus, beer is cheap. At most clubs here they are about $7 per pint, whereas drinks/cocktails are $10 and upwards. Sure, the drinks may have a tad more alcohol content, but they don’t last as long, and they get you drunk faster. (Which, to me, is a _downside_.)
**easy e** : No, I don’t like coffee, either.
Also I have never heard of, or seen, any of those American beers you mention. There are some pubs that take pride in importing huge numbers of foreign brands and serving them in the “native” type of glasses, but these are not places I visit. In addition to local brands, pubs and clubs in this country typically serve things like Carlsberg (Swedish), Corona, Budweiser, Miller, Heinecken, Guinness, Kilkenny, Lancaster Brown Ale and Beck’s. Among those I have tasted, I think I like Bud and Beck’s the best, and the stouts and ales the least, so clearly I am a light-beer guy, even though I’m not actually a beer guy.
**CadburyAngel** : “_I do enjoy the beer gestalt somehow._” Exactly. I guess I have beer envy.
When I was a kid I saw people drinking beer and I thought it was this thick, creamy, delicious thing, and I still sort of have a mental idea of what beer _should_ taste like; unfortunately, reality does not seem to agree with me.
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### Author:  [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/13 "2004-03-01T06:34:53Z")
> [@gentle](#):
>
> … , Kilkenny, Lancaster Brown Ale …
That should be Newcastle Brown Ale.
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### Author:  [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/14 "2004-03-01T06:52:30Z")
Try a Trappist ale.
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### Author:  [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/15 "2004-03-01T07:01:11Z")
> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> It is an aquired taste. Not so much age related, I think you just have to keep drinking it 'til you get used to it. The first time I tasted beer I thought it was worse than piss. Not that I’d ever tasted piss, but I was pretty sure beer must be worse. Same thing with wine & coffee, actually. Hated 'em at first, then tolerated 'em & now I like them.
I’ll second this. Back in my first few years of college I didn’t like beer much, and preferred sticking to shots. But after a while, if you drink enough of it you get used to the taste and eventually love it. I think positive thinking is important as well. I decided that I loved Guinness before I had tasted it. Which is good, because that first glass of stout is pretty potent.
I think you might like Newcastle Brown Ale, Honey Brown, or Killian’s Red. Those are all pretty light and tasy beers.
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### Author:  [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/16 "2004-03-01T08:09:33Z")
I hated beer when I was younger, I didn’t like anything about it. When I got to be about 35 I started to like it, I really don’t know why. Now it tastes like ice cream 🙂
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/17 "2004-03-01T08:18:46Z")
Try zima or one of the flavored malt coolers… for some reason flavored malt isnt bad … Also try mike’s or spikes hard flavors
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### Author:  [@the\_O-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_O-man)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/18 "2004-03-01T15:29:11Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#):
>
> I hated beer when I was younger, I didn’t like anything about it. When I got to be about 35 I started to like it, I really don’t know why. Now it tastes like ice cream 🙂
I always hated beer. Didn’t like it remotely. When I was in my early 20’s, I tried Michelob Dark. That stuff was good. But I didn’t have more than one glass because _I wasn’t a beer drinker._ I understand it’s no longer made. I tried cider a couple of years back, and found that I liked that a lot. Stupid supermarket around here stopped carrying it. Kind tastes like apple beer to me. Just a few months ago, at the tender age of 40, I went back East to visit friends. They had their refrigerator stocked with ponies of Coors Light, Bud Light, and Corona. Since I was home during the day while they worked, and they told me they didn’t drink beer at all, I tried them. I actually found that I could get into them now. Now I lke to drink Michelob Ultra and Coors Light. It seems to be an acquired taste. I find that beers that most beer lovers like are the ones that I dislike.
So there’s still hope.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/19 "2004-03-01T15:59:32Z")
I’m 47, female, and I frigging hate beer. I’ve tried to acquire a taste for it, but it’s just not going to happen.
Try a martini. Or a scotch & soda or something. Or a Shirley Temple.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-i-ever-like-beer/231869/20 "2004-03-01T16:21:20Z")
You’re in Norway, huh? That’s an extra reason not to learn to like beer. It’s what, equivalent to US$7 or US$8 for a pint in a pub there, right? Not cheap!
I learned to like beer around the age of 20, and I’m very glad I did. Before I learned, all I could taste was the strong bitterness; once I learned, I could taste the flowery perfume of the hops, the nuttiness of the malt, the freshness of the yeast, and all the other yummy bits of the beer.
I learned by starting with hard cider and then moving on to a local fake Wheat Beer called Widmer’s Hefeweizen. It’s much lighter than a European wheat beer (I can’t stand any European wheat that I’ve tried), and is traditionally served with a wedge of lemon. When you’re doing yard work on a hot summer day and take a break to have a Widmer’s with homemade bread and cheese, there’s nothing finer in the world. But for normal drinking, I now find it only passable.
I’d recommend, if you want to learn to like beer, to get used to hard cider. From there, move on to pale ales, especially ones that are on tap at pubs with good reputations: that’ll make sure you’re getting it fresh. Have them with food, and also have water to drink with the food, so that the beer is a treat instead of an obligation. Salty, greasy food contrasts wonderfully with beer’s bitterness.
Or you could just stick with Aquavit :).
Daniel
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