New to craft beer / tasting beer.

That is definitely the hops youre tasting there. Cant exactly see where youre from, which would be a huge help. I see you havent tried a hefeweizen yet. Thats a good one to start with as well a Belgian Wit (think Blue Moon but better). Hoegaarden, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier, and a good porter. If you get Great Lakes, try Edmund Fitzgerald. Anchor Porter is a decent nation wide distributed porter.

 

start reviewing what you drink take notes of likes/dislikes buy mix sixer's @ your bottle shops if offered, read others reviews and visit brewer's websites

 

Torpedo is an IPA, and that is generally the most hoppy of all the styles. The finish you're getting from it is probably hops.

I noticed you said you like Guinness, but you didn't mention which kind. Most (non beer) people don't know that there are three main varieties of Guinness. Guinness Draught is "Guinness" in common parlance, but there's also the Extra Stout and the Foreign Extra Stout. What might be a fun starter exercise for you as a newer beer drinker is to try one of each of those back to back and note and compare the differences.

For me, Guinness Foreign Extra is utterly amazing, Regular (non-foreign) Extra is good if a bit boring, and Draught is pretty much a watery yawn fest. It's kind of funny, too, because the very first time I had a "regular" Guinness, I thought it was way too much.

My biggest suggestion would just be to try a bit of every style, and if you ever come across something you find too big or bold at the time, always come back to it at a later date. You'll be amazed how your palate changes after a relatively short amount of time, and what is too much for you today can often become one of your favorites after a year or two of tasting.

 

Though obviously not as important as the beer itself (to me at least), you might want to give different glassware a try to see what you enjoy drinking out of most per style.

 

Since youre in TX, try Live Oak Hefeweizen if you can find it. Apparently its supposed to fantastic.

 

a whole keg? seems a bit much. Find somewhere that has it on tap. If you can find somewhere willing to sell you an entire keg, then somewhere around you has it on tap.

 

Only on tap. What city are you in? That will help people point you in the right direction.

 

Buy a growler of it first

 

Last I checked, Texas was a state. I asked what city but thanks for the clarity.

 

your welcome

 

There are lots of cool BAs in Houston. Hopefully a few will chime in. If you are near the Flying Saucer, I would think they would have Live Oak Hef on tap.
Edit: I just checked The Gingerman, they have it on tap as well.

 

I love it. I remember the bitter shock that hops can give you when you first start drinking hoppy beers. It's addicting.

If you're really interested in learning about different styles and what to look for while you're drinking them, look into "Tasting Beer" by Randy Mosher. I read it and it helped me out a ton. After getting that crash course on what big colors, flavors, and aromas to look for and trying different beers of each style, it makes picking out the subtle intricacies of each one easier.