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How do you figure out what you like in a beer?

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A little disappointed with the Kawartha Lakes raspberry wheat, can't tell it's ever seen a raspberry. As a beer it' not too bad but it's got a bit of an upper-palate bitterness, tolerable because it doesn't linger. I'd saved this one for last, I'd really hoped it would actually taste likeraspberry.

<urp> Oh, there's the raspberry. That is so not fair, only getting it on the repeats!

Actually I can kind of taste it on my tongue after the beer's long gone. Makes me wonder if it was real raspberries or some extract or something, real raspberries don't linger like that.
 
Tried a Sam Adams Rauchbier last night...

UGH! Awful! Gave me headaches too!

I might have to pour the remaining bottle down the drain so I can re-use it for home brewing, it was -that- bad.
 
So since I'd run out of my first batch fo beer, I went and got another load, a dozen differnt types but a total of 17 bottles/cans. Don't ask... For research, of course.

I just cracked open the London Porter and it's really nice. "This historic style of beer has a smooth rich chocolatey character which makes London Porter a fine after-dinner drink." - back of the can.

I was a bit apprehensive about the bitterness I got on the first mouthful but I think it's sweet enough to counter that. I'm detecting something coffee-like in it, presuming that's from the dark malt. I think I will enjoy this one to the end. It sort of coats the mouth in a faint bitterness but it's not unpleasant and doesn't build the more I drink. Every time I put it down for a bit then take another sip, it's startlingly bitter but then eases you into it. Leaves me with a coffee aftertaste. Whaddaya know, it's a winner, thanks to Commonsenseman for the suggestion to try Fuller's!

I also got a sixer of the Mill St Coffee Porter and I DO have some vanilla ice cream I've been hiding from my hubby so beer float, here I come.

Got a mixed six from Ontario Craft Brewers that contains Great Lakes Brewery's Crazy Canuck pale ale, Wellington Brewery's Silver Wheat, Beau's Lug Tread, Lake of Bays Brewing Company's pale ale, Trafalgar Brewery's Elora Grand Lager and Mill Street's Belgian Wit, which I'm really looking forward to, this six-pack has got tasting notes right on the box, that one's got orange peel and coriander.

Also got singles of Hockley Dark English Ale (brewed in Ontario), Polish Lech, Great Lakes Brewery's Red Leaf, I found another raspberry called Coeur Brisé (broken heart) from a brewery in Montreal, and Great Lakes Brewery has a 650 ml pumpkin ale that I couldn't resist. They also had a smoked oatmeal stout ubt I wasn't sure about that one. Maybe next time.
 
This thread has been a delight to read, CG.

Beer is my first love and it has been really cool reading about someone entering the beer world in an almost blog-like fashion.

To barley and hops (among other things)!
 
Hehe, glad you're enjoying the read! I'm enjoying the discovery... but then, who WOULDN'T want beer for homework?

I should be drinking something tonight but I forgot to put any of it in the fridge and I don't think I like warm beers. Off to refrigerate something to try tomorrow night while squashing more damned apples.
 
Smoked beers

Loadnabox said:
Tried a Sam Adams Rauchbier last night...

UGH! Awful! Gave me headaches too!

I might have to pour the remaining bottle down the drain so I can re-use it for home brewing, it was -that- bad.
Click to expand...

Have you had Schlenkerla Rauchbeir before? I haven't tried SA Rouchbeir yet but have two in the fridge. Just wondering if you had the original and if so what you thought of the style in general.

CG, glad you liked the Fullers. I have been rediscovering porters this fall and really enjoying them. When chilling your beer be careful not to chill it to much or you will not get all the flavor. Bud light is served "Ice cold" so that you can't really taste it. The better the beer the more nuances you will get with it warming up. Many good belgian beers have a recommended serving temp of around 55 deg F listed right on the bottle. I usually nurse my beers and enjoy the different tastes I pick up as it warms.
 
brktrt-18 said:
Have you had Schlenkerla Rauchbeir before? I haven't tried SA Rouchbeir yet but have two in the fridge. Just wondering if you had the original and if so what you thought of the style in general.

...
Click to expand...

I have not had the original, despite my current bad experience I wouldn't let it spoil my opinion of the style until I've tried a few more :) In other words, bring on another Rauchbier!
 
brktrt-18 said:
CG, glad you liked the Fullers. I have been rediscovering porters this fall and really enjoying them. When chilling your beer be careful not to chill it to much or you will not get all the flavor. Bud light is served "Ice cold" so that you can't really taste it. The better the beer the more nuances you will get with it warming up. Many good belgian beers have a recommended serving temp of around 55 deg F listed right on the bottle. I usually nurse my beers and enjoy the different tastes I pick up as it warms.
Click to expand...

Unless it's Bud (ugh) or Blue or something else best drunk as cold as possible as fast as possible, I tend to find out what my beers taste like warm anyway, but thanks for the tip.
 
Rauchbier

I am drinking the SA Rouchbier right now. While it isn't a drain pour I think the smoke is to forward and there isn't enough malt finish to balance it. Schlankerla is much better.
 
Mill Street's Coffee Porter. Yup, it is as good as I remembered it. Definite coffee aftertaste and I get a hint of the bitterness one should expect from coffee but it isn't forward and what there is doesn't linger long. Mmmmm :)

... but I still want to make an ice cream float with it. Maybe next time, I did get a 6-pack ;D
 
Brew in a bottle Mexican Cervesa - roommate thought it tasted reminiscent of Corona. Friend says he can't belive this came out of a 2-litre bottle (I think I'm gonna get him a few bottles for his birthday;D), hubby says it's not bad (considering he dislikes beers other than Alexander Keith's IPA and Guinness), and I find it's very sweet with no bite at all. I think it actually might need MORE hops.

Edit: other friend just got here and thinks it's pretty good (she's the one who brought over the apricot one because she doesn't like most beers).
 
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Tonight's homework - Lech, a Polish beer.

Not bad at all. The hops are definitely present but they don't last too long and aren't too bitter.
 
Great Lakes Brewery's Red Leaf. "Hints of caramel, nuts and toasted malt resulting in a fully-flavoured yet deceptively smooth lager. A well-balanced body makes it a perfect year-round beer...." from the label.

Nice, easy-drinking, but I think I should have eaten anything other than a chocolate bar before cracking this open, I don't think I'm getting its full effect. I can't tell if it's body from the beer or coated tongue from my Big Turk bar ;D

The bitterness doesn't linger at all, I think that's why I like it. Thing is, I'd have to do a side by side taste test with one of the more boring beers that I like (Blue or something) to determine what the differences are.

You know, if you DO get used to hops and find them lacking when there's not enough once you're used to it, I may have to go back and sample some of these stronger, hoppier ones again :) Darn.
 
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I know how you feel about the hops, the first time I tried a real over-the-top IPA I could barely drink it, and now I purposefully seek out higher and higher IBUs and if not that, then hop taste and aroma...
 
Tonight's homework, Hockley Dark "traditional English ale" "mild, light body, full flavour".

Any hoppy bitterness doesn't linger, there is something reminiscent of coffee bitterness at the back of my tongue, but there's a weird aftertaste to the burps. Which may have something to do with supper (roasted chicken with veggies and dumplings), but I'm still not sure about it. I'd drink it again...

This aftertaste is reminiscent of something, but I can't put my finger on it... I bet once I can't edit this post, I'll find words for it :p
 
Coffee Porter ice cream float!

Well, it's warm enough that I've got the windows and doors open at 11 pm and am still not feeling a need for pants, so I went ahead and did it...

Mill Street's Coffee Porter with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. And a bendy-straw.

And I've gotta say, it's frigging amazing, I've never gotten a whole beer into me that fast in my life. After the ice cream dissolves it's kind of like an alcoholic iced mocha with lots of foam. Wow. I am so making sure I have a six-pack of this stuff around at all times next summer.
 
Wellington's Silver Wheat Ale from Wellington County Brewery in Guelph, ON.

Quite nice, actually, for something with very little residual sweetness that I can detect. I can taste the hops but they're not bitter, it foams up on the tongue so I can't tell you much about the mouthfeel, maybe by the end of the can it'll de-fizz enough.
 
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