What's your favorite beer characteristic?

While all aspects do play into my enjoyment of a beer, without taste the others are worthless.

 

I don't think this is going to be close. Aroma is a close second, but smelling a beer without tasting it is like... well... this is where my post would get deleted if I completed the sentence.

 

< Vince Vaughn voice on>

Just the tip... just the tip... just to see how it feels.

<Vince Vaughn voice off>

 

taste. it's the succulence of the hops. Could the nose be anything but near at hand? An exotic and spicy floral bouquet that has a range that cannot be bested by any other herb. They are unique for only a moment. You can almost visualize a cone before they begin to become almost everything else.

 

C2H5OH.

Without that it would cease to exist.

 

Smell/Taste - I can smell as I taste. I cannot taste as I smell. Therefore tasting is more important.
Appearance - as long as it looks like beer, has some bubbles and a foamy head, nuances don't matter.
Mouthfeel - good if it's smooth but really doesn't matter in the big picture.

 

I vote for structure.

 

Appearance is the least important to me. Some beers look awesome (Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus immediately comes to mind), but ultimately it has zero impact on my enjoyment.

Aroma does have an impact as I enjoy the smell of a nice coffee beer, a nice hoppy beer, or a nice sour beer, and all for different reasons. I absolutely loved the aroma of Founders Frangelic Mountain Brown as one example. On the other hand, there's something I've noticed about Bender/Coffee Bender/Cacao Bender that turns me off of the beer a bit. I have no idea what it is, but it's specifically that series, and it's the only series I can think of.

Taste is king. This is an interesting poll, but pure taste can help mask some deficiencies, to an extent, in the beer.

Mouthfeel plays into and can obviously affect taste, but it's not as important. The only mouthfeel I don't like is nitro beers. For some reason I need some level of carbonation in my beers. Dunno why.

 

Taste followed by smell, mouthfeel, and lastly appearance. However, beers with poor eye appeal haven't ever been that good to me come to think of it.

 

Ultimately, you don't drink a beer if the taste isn't there.

That said, there have been some beers where I have enjoyed smelling the beer as much as drinking it. And there have been some great beers where the aroma is the attribute that most sticks out to me, which is always great.

I would probably put a tie between flavor and aroma....but will give the edge to taste, since ultimately beer is meant to be drank.

 

This exactly. Although what does a visually unappealing beer look like?

 

Months old Heady poured out of the can will have tons of ugly sediment, I wouldn't personally give that high marks on appearance. Apparently it still tastes great though.

 

I choose aroma. Ever try a beer with a cold? The sense of smell dominates taste. In effect though, all of these senses add depth to the overall enjoyment of a beer.

 

Taste, but to expand, balance. Even an "extreme" beer should be well balanced.

 

taste...unless i get to a point where i just smell, look, and drainpour

 

This man gets it. A beer that's both 'extreme' and 'balanced' is pretty much nirvana in a glass. For example: Black Albert *swoon*

 

I had a sixpoint righteous last week that looked like dirty laundry soaked in hazy tea.

 

Just because a beer looks like ass, doesn't mean it isn't any good.