New to craft beer

Just start trying new things and see what you like and take notes on the experience. Find something you haven't had and try it.

 

Where are you located?

 

Start with good local fare. Any good bottle shop nearby will guide you right. Go in and introduce yourself.
If near Charleston--the Beer Exchange downtown good place to start. They have a good selection from the standbys to fairly uncommon stuff.

Westbrook makes a killer IPA-in a green can--perfect for summer--out of Mt.Pleasant/Charleston

 

Print out their beer list, and organize it into a more square like chart. Fire a shotgun at it, and whatever beers the shots touch, you buy.

 

Find a beer merchant (or good grocery store) that let's you buy single 12oz bottles and go nuts. Make note of which styles and breweries you like and go from there. Don't spend more then $2.50 a bottle until you have your beer legs under you. Don't be afraid to dislike popular or well regarded beer. Don't be afraid to like unpopular or poorly regarded beer.

 

Don't be afraid to go back and try something you didn't like the first time. Your palate will change as you try new beers.

 

And learn to find the Bottled on/Enjoy by dates.
Freshness counts!

 

I live about 3 miles from Crafted. Carl and Vance will sell any bottle as a single, so they are a great place to start. Also, I assume you live in Simpsonville- private message me and maybe we can meet for a beer or two and I'll help get you on the right path. Worst thing you or somebody else could do would be to throw you into styles that require a little developing of your palate, and completely turn you off to Craft beer. It is a gradual adjustment for a lot of people, but when you get there- a whole world of variety opens up.

 

They have a fairly decent selection from the looks of it, first I would say start with finding a style you like if they let you buy singles may start with a mix a six sort of thing with different styles. I don't know how far you are from greenville but total wine off woodruff rd is another good place to start, so is greens beverage off haywood rd, as well as the beer exchange downtown.

Also another great starting place is maybe grab some friends or whatever and go to the Thomas Creek 15th anniversary day this Saturday, (if it's not sold out) they will have a massive range of styles that you could try and have a good time with live music and food at the brewery.

 

and you think this is for real- because? Was it because the guy will never be heard from again, the 2nd grade put-on language used?

 

A great place to start is a beer bar that does flights. That way you can try smaller samples and if you don't like something, you haven't bought the whole bottle or glass. Just be sure to sip some water between samples.

 

I would suggest buy a bunch of single bottles of different styles. I'm not saying you have to buy the hoppiest beers or sours, but variety is the spice of life. Start with 12 oz beers that are reasonably priced and see what you prefer, and that will be a good starting point. I hated IPA's when I first started drinking craft beer and now I love anything hoppy, also the same with sours.

Cheers

 

Piece of advice, don't always base your purchases off of the ratings on this website. Go out on a limb and you will find some great beers. Also, I see you like the chocolate oak aged Yeti. Try the Stone Imperial Russian Stout. One of my favorite beers ever. Also, the Oskar Blues is outstanding. If they have Rochefort 10, or if you see it anywhere else, that is a good comparable beer to the Abt 12. And if you haven't yet, try some Belgian Trippels. Anyway, enjoy the craft beer journey and be prepared to be broke!

 

If you are going to be laid up I would go with lighter beers, hefes, pilseners and pale ales. White IPA's are light too. Use the freshness dates as your main tool for making your selection this time around. Save the bombers for stouts, porters, schwartzbiers, baltic porters and belgians. Anything weihenstephaner. Stay away from rauchbier. Craft pack only if the dates are good. A lot of stores put their expired beer into the craft pack section to try and unload it. IPA's and DIPA's should be drunk as fresh as possible. For that kind of money, buy sixes and you will have a ton of beer.

 

Welcome to the craft beer scene! Judging by the fact that you liked St. Bernardus Abt 12 and Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti (both amazing beers), there's likely a huge number of beers you would enjoy thoroughly. I checked out the list from the website you provided and there is definitely a lot of great choices. As people have suggested, try some variety. Everything Sierra Nevada does is great and reasonably priced so I'd suggest maybe trying a bottle of their Pale Ale, IPA, Stout and Porter as all are great representations of the styles. Also, definitely try some of the stuff that is local to your area, its great to support to local breweries!

 

If I was just getting my toes wet, I'd start by trying anything I could find on the Beers of Fame list. No, you won't like every beer that is highly regarded and you'll like a few that aren't. But by and large, the beers that are highly rated and more widely accessible eventually find their way into the Beers of Fame. It's a pretty good cross-section of some of the best beers out there, but a little more approachable than the Top 250 list. You really can't go wrong with any of the beers on either list though, if you're lucky enough to find them.

And as others have said, try a wide variety and take notes. Even if you don't know exactly how to describe what you're smelling/tasting, you'll generally know if you like it or not and why. And revisit styles and beers every once in a while, even if you didn't like them the first time. It's amazing how some beers taste amazing and others taste horrible when you're new to the game, but after trying enough different beers sometimes your old favorites no longer stack up and the ones you previously couldn't get through are now really good.

Finally: Avoid anything from Rogue in a bright pink bottle. There's time for that later.

Enjoy the journey!

 

Wha happened?

 

You think this is for real? Well, it has a slight chance of being for real- more so than other first time/last time/only time trolls.