Tips for a beer newbie?

Welcome to the site. Keep active on the boards and you'll become an expert in no time. In the meantime, keep on trying different things, regardless of whether you think you'll like it or not. You are in the process of training your palate to like everything eventually (assuming it is a well made beer).

 

Just try whatever you can get your hands on!!! You will figure out what you really like and what you don't. The more you try the better off you are.

 

That's where I am. I don't really know where to find all the fabled whales that people rave about, nor do I understand all the abbreviations. In the meantime, I just try a different beer every time, regardless of whether or not I think I'll like it. So far it's done wonderful things for my palate, and has made me extremely open minded. Aside from a faro lambic I tried a while ago, there's no beer that I haven't found a way to enjoy.

 

You have chosen the red pill and now you are going to unplug from the matrix and see the true world of beer. There's no turning back.

 

Welcome. I'm fairly new to the forum also but have been drinking craft beer for a while. Like the others have said keep an open mind when it comes to trying new beers. I started off on IPAs as well but eventually branched out to the point where I enjoy and drink most kinds of beers. Dogfish Head is a good start for IPAs and they also have a lot of variety too. I would suggest their India Brown Ale and Punkin as good beers to start branching out with. Since you are in NC you should have access to Oskar Blues and New Belgium stuff now as well. G'knight and Dales Pale Ale from Oskar Blues would probably be right up your alley. Rampant and Ranger are good offerings from New Belgium. My other advice when getting into craft beer is to try and go to local microbreweries whenever possible. Not only is this a good way to try new beers but it also can help you meet others who enjoy craft beer as well.

 

Welcome! I'm with everyone else who has posted here. Open up to different styles. Some you will love, and some you may despise. All is well. We are all here for one reason. Our love for beer.

 

This link will help you with abbreviations and a little bit of the lingo. It became my friend when I started being a member. It's also got some tips for shipping beer should you want to begin trading later on.

http://alewatcher.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-trader-tips.html#Abbreviations

 

Welcome! The wonderfully delicious world of fine beer has been opened to you, and all you have to do is search and enjoy. This site is one of the best resources to help you do just that. We are a community dedicated to it.

 

Yea the abbreviations are probably the most frustrating part of BA for someone new to the site. They are mainly only relevant to the trading section though, and you can't access that for a month anyways per site rules, so just brush up on the aforementioned list and you'll be fine.

Founders is great, and Dogfish head is also great. But if you are in North Carolina there's some great mid-atlantic breweries, especially new upcoming ones, that you should seek out. 2 tips that I lived by the first year I got into craft beer: identify what you like, be it 1 style or all styles, and ALWAYS order/buy something you haven't tried before. Drink local! Nothing wrong with enjoying the big boys like Founders, Stone, Dogfish, Sierra Nevada, etc but the more you expand your horizons the better you will be.

Enjoy the wonderful world of craft beer, it's a great ride.

 

I'd advise thinking about what you want out of your beer experience. Are you going to socialize while enjoying a beer? Go out to get drafts or drink bottles at home? Sometimes it's interesting to try the same beer at a few different places to appreciate the differences dispense can make. Check out the web/FB sites of decent local places to keep an eye on changing taps. Drive carefully. Enjoy.

 

Don't spend all your money in the first month. Beer isn't going anywhere.

 

Wait, by BA did you mean Beer Advocate or Barrel Aged? ;-)

 

Is there a question here somewhere?

 

Welcome,

Among the other ideas suggested, take advantage of the resources of this site. For example, if you click on "beers" you'll find a new menu which includes "beer styles." Click on "beer styles" and you'll get a list of a lot of different styles. If you click on any style, say, "American IPA," you'll find a general description of what that type of beer might be like, and a list of such beers ordered by number of reviews (which will be partly related to how available that beer is). If you click on the link you can get the beer list ordered by how "popular" the beers are, i.e., how good their average review score is. You can either list to make up a shopping list of beers to look for that might be found in your local stores. And reading several reveiews will give you a pretty good sense of which beers you might want to try. By the time you finish that for all 90 plus styles you'll know more about beer than you ever thought you could or would and you'll certainly know more than 90% of the people who use this site at all.

So bottom line, this site is a great tool for learning about beer. Explore it and take the time to see what it offers and how you can put it to use while you are on your beer journey. And most important of all, enjoy the trip. Its lots of fun!

 

Welcome to it. I can't really say much more than what everyone else has already said, so I suppose I'll just reinforce them. Yeah, continue to try new things. Don't be afraid to hate a beer that others love and don't be afraid to love a beer that others hate. We're all different and full of personality, just like craft beer.

 

Part of what I did was trying to drink as many of these as possible:

http://beeradvocate.com/lists/fame

I've drank 93 and have 4 more in the house. Not a fan of sours so I don't care about Supplication or Consecration. Only one left I want to hunt down is Westy 12.

I also obtained a lot of those beers from Halftime: http://www.halftimebeverage.com/

Enjoy your journey!

 

Welcome! Don't post winking smiley faces. Drink beer. Find out what you like. Keep drinking more and exploring. It's a great time to love craft beer!

 

OK!