New to Beer..and BeerAdvocate..

Welcome.

Drink what you like and dont be too dead set on getting the hard to finds. Sometimes they just find their way to you. Plus there is too much amazing and readily available beer to only focus on the hard to get stuff.

 

Just try a bunch of different styles. So far you know you like porters, hefeweizens and imperial stouts. That's a great start. If you have a local BevMo or Total Wine, just browse the aisles and if they let you do a mixed six pack, just grab one from every style. Try an IPA, try some Belgian style ales and see which ones you like. When you find out what styles you definitely do and do not enjoy, explore within the styles you do like. BA has listings of beers by style.

Also, find out if you have any local breweries or brewpubs. Where do you live?

 

Looks like you've got some options. In Baton Rouge, this looks like it may be a good place to look for some beer:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11043/view=beerfly

As for Louisiana craft beer other than Abita, these two breweries look like good options:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22408
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18854

 

Welcome! Like others have mentioned, stick to what you can get locally for now. Try a wide variety of styles. Some you'll like, some you won't, but that's part of the fun. Be mindful of freshness, as an old IPA, pale ale, etc. could taint your perception of the beer for the worse. And make sure to check out the Beerfly directory for local brewpubs, beer bars and bottle shops: http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/

 

My advice is before you start trading for beer is to exhaust all your local resources first. Shipping is expensive and most beers are just not worth the effort and cost to obtain them. Except for style lessons and places database, I wouldn't even bother reading this site (forum or reviews) for a year or two so you can decide for yourself which styles, breweries, and beers you like, instead of being influenced by the hype and single think that occurs on sites like this. I wouldn't bother searching for "whales" or aging beer until you become familiar with beer available to you and get some clue to what kinds of beers have the potential to age well. And travel for new beer experiences and interact with actual people.

 

A good way to start is to look at this list:
http://beeradvocate.com/lists/fame

It lists the top reviewed beers of any style with 1000+ reviews. Some of these beers are still fairly hard to get, but many of them are off the shelf beers in a large portion of the US at least during season. I suggest reading some of the reviews and see the flavors people are mentioning to see if it's similar to your taste. Also try Buried Hatchet Stout, I see that is distributed to LA.

I also highly suggest going to a craft beer bar and talking with the bartender.

 

By the way, "what you can get locally" doesn't necessarily mean what's brewed and/or bottled locally; rather, just enjoy the usual distribution to your area, which I'm sure includes beer from around the country.

 

Agree - it took me 3 years of living and buying in San Diego before I reached out here for other things.

 

I agree, there's no better way to cultivate a smug sense of superiority. Welcome to BA!

 

Welcome! There is a ton of good information on here and once you really get into craft beer the good ones will continually find you. When I first joined I only used the site for the ratings which I would check on my Smartphone while browsing isles of various beer stores. There are so many beers that are distributed to your area you could spend years trying what it readily available without having to make a trade or ship beer.

 

Welcome to the dark side....remember when Neo chose the red pill? You just did the same thing, but no worries you did the right thing.

Ok, my advice. Start slow. Just because you like Old Rasputin, it does not mean that you will like all Russian Imperial Stouts or all Imperial Stouts. Slow. You liked the Franz Hefe, good choice as it's a top beer in the style and it's very easy to drink. Hefeweizens are very approachable and drinkable, so you should have no problem with others in that style. Seek out Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, very, very good. From there you can try some other wheat beers that will be similar too.

Then maybe pick up some great examples from other categories that will be easy to find. Seek out Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, that will give you a good indication if you like hops or not and pale ales in general and may lead you into liking IPAs. Try some good lagers like Sam Adams Boston Lager, maybe a pils like Prima Pils, and then maybe a Belgian or two. Good Belgians that are easy to find and are very good are Duvel Belgian Pale Ale and the 3 types of Chimay Ale. That will let you know if you are a Belgian yeast fan.

Then from there branch out into other IPAs, stouts, porters etc. Drink what you like and can get locally to start, worry about the harder to get beers later. Sierra Nevada, Stone, Dogfish Head, Rogue, Victory, North Coast all are breweries that make great beer that you should be able to find and try.

Good luck. Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Don't kill your palate right away, take time to taste different styles to see what you like. One more important thing too. Just because you don't like a beer now, don't forget about it forever. Most nooby palates take time to develop and beers you don't like now you may like/love in the near future after your palate has matured.

 

Welcome and cheers. My advice is try everything that you can get easily. Make friends with the folks at your bottle shop--they often will have good advice. Also, check your local area for a tasting group that you can meet up with--gives you the chance to try many things without having to buy all of them yourself, plus you can learn from a group like this.
Your regional forum is here:
http://beeradvocate.com/community/forums/us-south.16/
Put out a call for buddies.

 

Man have you come to the right place. I wish you well on your craft beer journey. It certainly is a fun ride!

 

Welcome aboard! Just like all above I would say just keep trying new styles and different versions of those styles from different brewers. I would also recommend trying the Belgian and German styles of beer from breweries in those countries first before trying the American versions. Especially with the German (and Czech) pilseners and other styles the traditional brewers just do it better. Other than that, have fun and don't take anything on here too seriously!!

 

This is all good info (as is the rest of the thread). I would suggest to constantly try new beers and get to know the different styles. Overtime I have come back to beers and had different opinions about. Getting singles is a good way to try a bunch of different beers but when I started out I just got 6 packs and bombers; I found that 12oz wasn't always enough to really get to know the beers. When buying beer simply pick out something that catches your eye or is from a brewery you like, don't just start looking for the highest rated beers. Learn info on pouring/glassware/serving temp etc...; right off the bat this most likely wont seem to make much of a difference but down the road you will notice it. (Early on I drank beers out of frozen mugs, now I hate drinking out of mugs and I need to let my beer warm up before I can drink it). There is a lot of good info here, just read/ask questions and find beers you enjoy.

 

I don't mean to come off as combative, but you're coming across as Father Beer. There is no reason to dip your toes in the shallow end and approach each following step with caution. It's beer. It's delicious, and not something you need to be afraid of. Inthis case the OP came out of the gate loving Old Rasputin. He doesn't need a pedestrian SNPA "to see if he liked hops".

 

When I first started into craft beer I wasn't on this site and I didn't know any other craft drinkers really...so I went with the shotgun approach. Went in my craft beer store, grabbed a pick six carton and grabbed six beers that looked interesting to me, and commenced trying a new beer each night while keeping an open mind to all the different styles of beer.

I had a lot of fun that way, some were winners and some losers, but it was the thrill of the unknown I liked. I would honestly suggest doing that for the first year, then start worrying about review scores, whales, trading, delivery truck stalking etc.

Remember beer is supposed to be fun.

 

Welcome to the site.

Given your location you might be able to get to NOLA periodically.

If so, visit this place:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20010

The owner has been doing a lot with having good beer on tap and organizing good beer events for her customers. She's also on BA periodically to answer some of the questions that come up based on the perspective of someone who owns and operates a beer destination.

Well worth a visit.