So I am just getting into craft beers. Bought 4 of them from the beer shop(pe) today, costed $22! Bit pricey, but I have high hopes. The lady asked me what my preferences would be, I didn't really know. I don't know much about beers...I said something with a nutty roasted flavor, or a heavy oat-y flavor. Then she asked do I prefer a stout or porter? I was like uh. No idea. Lol. So what ARE all the types, what's the major differences? I saw stuff like ale, porter, stout, pale ale, lager, ipa, and probably a few others. Also, on beeradvocate.com people rate beers based on the beers' "head", "body", "lacing", and people regularly mention hops and the nose. IE: Light aromas of chocolate and dark malts are present in the nose. It poured with a thin tan head that quickly died down, leaving some wispy lacing on the surface I want the thick body and with a name like Drake's crude it should be thicker. Anyone wanna educate me?
Idk what your asking but if you want a real beer drink Guinness. Pour it out of the can and into a cup/mug Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Idk all the differences but I do know I like myself a good IPA or pale Ale From the taste IPA's are a little more bitter and Pale Ales are more smooth.
I'm asking what the differences are, and what head, lacing, body, nose etc are. I've just figured out IPA is "India Pale Ale" and that ale is similar to lager, the difference is the strain of yeast used during fermentation. I guess lager and ale are lighter beers, and stouts/porter are heavier.
The descriptions on Beer Advocate are a little useless until you taste a lot more beers. Stuff like lacing and mouth feel probably don't mean much to you right now. As for what beer to get, since you want nutty or roasted flavors dark beers will be a better choice. Porter will probably be your best choice, they have the roasted malt flavor you want and they're usually smother than a stout. Try a Breckenridge Vanilla Porter. Another good choice would be to try dark or black ales or lagers. They are a twist on the traditional styles that taste more like porters. Personally I choose IPA or Double IPA over any other style. They are usually very hoppy, sometimes with citrus or pine notes and commonly finish bitter. I love them because the flavors are usually complex but not too overwhelming and the alcohol content is typically fairy strong.
Head is the foam that accumulates when pouring the beer. It affects the flavor and smell. Lacing is the foam that clings to the glass as you drink it. A beer with no lacing leaves nothing, while one with high lacing will leave lines on the glass of foam. typically very high hopped beers like IPA have lacing. The nose is just all the smells you get when sniffing the beer, the detailed notes that develop as you experience it. Body is kind of like the heaviness of the beer. A porter or stout will have a more heavy body than a lighter style like a pale ale. Mouth feel is pretty self explanatory, it's just the sensation you get while drinking. Some beers are very dry while others are very smooth and there are plenty in between, and other types of mouth feel as well.
Excellent! Thank you. Yeah I haven't tasted too many, but I have bought a few craft beers in the past few months. Haven;t tapped into these yet, gotta pick the kids up first lol but I'm excited to taste them! I will have to try Breckenridge Vanilla Porter if they have it next time I go. This time I bought He'Brew Bittersweet Lenny's RIPA, Weyerbacher Insanity (apparently this is a barleywine...not so so sure if I'll like it), Drake's Crude Oatmeal Stout (excited about this one), and some other I can't remember lol. IIRC IPA and ale in general is pretty bitter. I feel like I should have bought one of the beer glasses they had.They were only $4. Just gonna use some glass mug. Thank you for the info though. Very valuable. I am really getting into this craft beer stuff. I don't think I'll ever go back to Corona or Colt 45 or anything lol
Get a stout- espresso stout is awesome! They are dark but awesomely light. Elysian makes a milk stout with espresso. Or is it the other way around? Oatmeal stout is good, too! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
They actually had some stout espresso at the shop. Thought about it but decided against it for whatever reaosn haha I try 'er next time! That store is so expensive. There were plenty of beers that costs $20+ a BOTTLE like damn
That's pretty high! Local grocery stores seem to have a good selection, too! And not so spendy Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Beer gets me drunk, that's all I care about. As far as good tasting beers, try blue moon, amber bock, and my favorite... Newcastle
Now, this is my kinda thread. I pretty much like all kinds of quality beers. Domestic brews don't count. Microbrews are where it's at! I've been drinking the White Ale by Alaska and Snapshot from New Belgium lately. Both are hefeweizen...my favorite type of beer. I also like a good IPA. Stouts are good, too.
It is pretty high. But this is the only game in town for legit microbrews. There is a Harris Teeter next door to it and it has an okay selection of craft, but I would rather give my money to the mom and pop shop even if it is a bit more expensive.. the ones who have put a lot of time and care into it I probably will once I taste around a bit and find which style I like best. After I take this gov't final exam I'm going to crack these suckers open. I have a feeling the stouts are going to be my favorite...over the ale anyway. Beer hardly gets me drunk anymore...but I'm somewhat of an alcoholic lol. I actually bought a 5th of some whisky just in case these 4 brews tonight don't get the job done even though 2 are 11% and 2 are 8.9% fairly strong beers I did try Blue Moon once, I don't think I liked it. Or maybe it was Shock Top...don't remember lol. I agree microbrews > all. You can just taste the time, effort and care that goes into them. I haven't had anything by Alaska, but I'll keep an eye out next time I go shopping. I love New Belgium though. Their Winter Seasonal/Snow Day brew is a-mazing. I had a Barrel Trolley Nut Brown Ale a few weeks ago that was great as well. Would love to have that again. I'll be taking a webcam selfie with my brews tonight haha why? Cause I'm lame and want to remember what I got...and I love seeing myself in pictures with beer lololol.
Been into craft for about 15 years. One you dive in, it's a rabbit hole, just like weed. You can go as deep into it as you want. Beer advocate (been a member since 03) is a decent place to learn. But like anything else is rife with a lot of opinion, which can sometimes be very contrary to fact. Two good places to start on BA are the Beer 101 section, which explains a lot of what you asked in your post regarding terminology and reviews. http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/ And the beer styles section if you are wondering about different types of beer, or if you see a style in a store you're not familiar with. http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/style/
Craft beer ftw. Big ipa fan. Gotta try a lot of stuff to begin to see where your taste is. It's a fun experiment though