I'm having a Terrapin Moo-Hoo right now, which is a chocolate milk stout made with chocolate nibs. I'm enjoying it, a lot. The chocolate really comes through, along with some fruity overtones.
How do you figure out what you like in a beer?
- Thread starter Chevette Girl
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I'll have to keep an eye out for that one... I did not enjoy the last chocolate stout I had but I think my tastebuds demand a little residual sweetness when expected to enjoy chocolate, and this stout as I recall, didn't have enough. Of course, I think I'd just come out of a brief shock after splitting some knuckles (wooden sword training accident) so I may not have been quite in my right mind at the time. Although thinking about it, now I want to pop a Mill St Brewery Coffee Porter, although they're not chilled and I'm out of vanilla ice cream 
I haven't looked through all the posts in this thread so maybe it's already been mentioned, but a lot of Belgian style ales use coriander as a flavoring adjunct. New Belgium Brewing makes a Belgian-style Tripple with coriander that's pretty good.
Some of my other favorites are Deschutes' Mirror Pond Pale Ale & Black Butte Porter, Moylan's Scottish style ale (used to be called 'Kilt Lifter'), New Belgium 1550, and most of Stone Brewing's offerings: Arrogant Bastard, Ruination IPA, Cali-Belgique, and Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale which has a very piney hop aroma in the nose, but more of a robust malty flavor that's not really that bitter.
That should keep you busy for awhile!
Some of my other favorites are Deschutes' Mirror Pond Pale Ale & Black Butte Porter, Moylan's Scottish style ale (used to be called 'Kilt Lifter'), New Belgium 1550, and most of Stone Brewing's offerings: Arrogant Bastard, Ruination IPA, Cali-Belgique, and Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale which has a very piney hop aroma in the nose, but more of a robust malty flavor that's not really that bitter.
That should keep you busy for awhile!
I don't know if this has come up yet, but if you want to experiment a little go and pick youself up a bottle of Cantillon
:laughing4:
hehehe
Which one?? ;D
Figured this was a good place for some tasting notes on my homebrewing adventures.
Favorites beers of friends and family so far:
American Light Lager
Blueberry Wheat
Lemon Coriander
My Raspberry wheat could take the #1 spot for my wife, we'll have to see how it does with her family. Her family really liked the American Light Lager though. Didn't have enough of it last time (going to have to make some more)
My brother and sister-in-law placed the blueberry wheat the highest because it doesn't taste very much like beer. They're in the minority on this though.
I'm OK with the raspberry wheat, however I am discovering that I can taste a slight "chemical" astringency of the artificial raspberry flavoring. I'm not sure I particularly like it.
It should be noted that I'm rally the only beer snob in the family
I personally LOVE the Lemon Coriander (Just labeled some, then took a newly labeled bottle, drank it, pondered the irony and waste, then cracked open another cold one to place in front of me)
I'm also finding that attempts at carbing through priming sugar and the keg aren't working very well. The sediment at the bottom is also a major turn-off for most of my drinkers. I think I'll be sterile filtering and force carbing from now on.
Also need to get the one other beer snob I know to try these, see what he thinks.
Favorites beers of friends and family so far:
American Light Lager
Blueberry Wheat
Lemon Coriander
My Raspberry wheat could take the #1 spot for my wife, we'll have to see how it does with her family. Her family really liked the American Light Lager though. Didn't have enough of it last time (going to have to make some more)
My brother and sister-in-law placed the blueberry wheat the highest because it doesn't taste very much like beer. They're in the minority on this though.
I'm OK with the raspberry wheat, however I am discovering that I can taste a slight "chemical" astringency of the artificial raspberry flavoring. I'm not sure I particularly like it.
It should be noted that I'm rally the only beer snob in the family
I personally LOVE the Lemon Coriander (Just labeled some, then took a newly labeled bottle, drank it, pondered the irony and waste, then cracked open another cold one to place in front of me)I'm also finding that attempts at carbing through priming sugar and the keg aren't working very well. The sediment at the bottom is also a major turn-off for most of my drinkers. I think I'll be sterile filtering and force carbing from now on.
Also need to get the one other beer snob I know to try these, see what he thinks.
The lemon coriander really piques my interest 
although I'd probably still side with your brother and sis-in-law. I generally do like beers that don't taste like beer 
although I'd probably still side with your brother and sis-in-law. I generally do like beers that don't taste like beer 
"How do you figure out what you like in a beer?"
Drink. Lots. Of. Beer.
(But not so much that you can't/forget to take notes on what you're drinking and what you like/don't like about each one so you can talk to someone at your FLHS about them.)
Drink. Lots. Of. Beer.
(But not so much that you can't/forget to take notes on what you're drinking and what you like/don't like about each one so you can talk to someone at your FLHS about them.)
Go to local homebrewing club meeting and try an amazing amount of different beers, good and bad, homebrew and commercial, and see what interests you and works with your sense of taste.
This is good advice. It will also give you a chance to talk to the brewer, what ingredients they used, what flavours they were aiming for, what they think could improve it, etc. you might get some inspiration / ideas for your to-do list
Drink. Lots. Of. Beer.
(But not so much that you can't/forget to take notes on what you're drinking and what you like/don't like about each one so you can talk to someone at your FLHS about them.)
That's pretty much what I've been trying to do... but I keep my house at the legal minimum temperature (I have tenants) so I don't want to drink anything cold until it warms up, which is why I got behind on my "homework".
This is good advice. It will also give you a chance to talk to the brewer, what ingredients they used, what flavours they were aiming for, what they think could improve it, etc. you might get some inspiration / ideas for your to-do list
I'm a terrible procrastinator which is why I haven't done that yet, I know there's (at least) one in the city and I might even know a member or two... the other problem is, I'm sometimes a real lightweight when it comes to beer (I never know how it's gonna hit me till it's too late, sometimes I can't drive for two hours after a single beer and sometimes I have two and don't feel anything) and I wouldn't want to disgrace myself in front of people I'd only just met... or end up not being able to drive home...
A bunch of us are going to go to a freshly-opened brew pub with the intention of sampling everything, and when we do, I will definitely be bringin my notebook... but since all the rest of the bunch have kids and jobs and stuff we've been doing a lot of the "find the time" dance and not getting very far.
Chevette, if you have access to Great Lakes beers, try their Edmund Fitzgerald porter. It's a full-bodied porter with a nice depth of character and bit of residual sweetness. Not too bitter, but not a soft beer either. Their Nosferatu is a really good IIPA if your taste buds start to crave hops more; not over the top bitter though, just good hop and malt flavor.
Thanks, duly noted, I'm pretty sure I've heard of Nosferatu but I'll put Edmund Fitzgerald on the list next time I have the money to do another beer run.
Definitely!! Great brew from one of the first microbreweries. Try their Elliott Ness too.
I have been brewing beer for 7 years now, if you have any questions that I may be able to help with, feel free to ask. I am on a serious IPA kick now and have a bunch of new favorites.
Check this website out,
The results are in for the 2011 Best Beers in America Poll! For the past nine years, we've asked Zymurgy readers to share a list of their 20 favorite commercially available American beers. A record number of votes were cast this year; 1,306 different beers from 433 breweries were represented in the poll.
Hope this helps !!!! YUMMY BEERS !!!
Check this website out,
The results are in for the 2011 Best Beers in America Poll! For the past nine years, we've asked Zymurgy readers to share a list of their 20 favorite commercially available American beers. A record number of votes were cast this year; 1,306 different beers from 433 breweries were represented in the poll.
Hope this helps !!!! YUMMY BEERS !!!
