I am new to drinking beer and don't know much about it. I do know that hops and grain(s) are used in the making of beer and barley is traditional. Bitter flavors to me seem to have two colors associated with them. (please forgive me for sounding like an idiot) The "green" bitter flavors and "brown" bitter flavors. I associate the green bitterness with a bit of a crisp herbal/plant taste. Other places I have found similar flavors are in dandelion greens, some herbs, and citrus zest. This taste is a bit pungent. The other color of bitter I experienced is "brown". I find this similar to coffee, dark chocolate, tea and char. Now do all of these tastes come from hops or do they come from do some of them come from the adjuncts used?
That's not a bad question; when I'm tasting out hop blends in different beers, I often separate them into pine, citrus, tropical, dank, and earthy (with some overlap here or there). There are a number of things that can lend bitterness to a beer. If you're tasting dark coffee or chocolate, that's from the roasted malt (barley). "Greener" bitter flavors are from your hops. But that doesn't mean that you can't get a dark, brown, earthy bitterness from hops. A good way to experience these all in their own way are to try just a few styles of beer: IPA, Russian Imperial Stout, and Black IPA. An IPA is typically made with caramel and/or pale malts (so, perhaps toasted, but not roasted), and get the majority of their bitterness from the hops used - which can have quite a large variety. A Russian Imperial Stout will still have some hops (in the case of Founders Imperial Stout or Storm King, quite a lot, in fact!), but the primary bitter flavor you're detecting is probably from roasted malts. (Try a Founders Breakfast Stout; it's incredibly bitter, but from the coffee flavor moreso than any hop load, IMO.) Finally, a Black IPA has both. You can get a smooth, bitter chocolate malt profile, balanced against a fruity hop profile. Well-done Black IPAs, IMO, focus their bitterness on the hops, and not the roasted malts; otherwise, they're just hoppy stouts. But that's my personal preference for the style. As for the bitterness from adjuncts, that's beyond my ken. Cheers, welcome, and enjoy!
Thank you Roguer. I find that I enjoy the things you describe as earthy and dark a bit more than I like the greener tastes. So would Russian Imperial Stout be the best way to find more of that? I've had a couple really interesting beers the last two days and my favorites so far where called "Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout" from North Coast Brewing Co. and "Dark Truth Stout" from Boulevard Brewing Co. I loved these and want more like them. So what am I asking for when I go buy more beer (in a way that will be understood by the beer minions and not make me sound like a fool)?
I like the breakdown of green & brown flavors, but I'm not sure that it's going to be easy to divide the bitterness sources in beer. Roguer does a pretty good job. Check out Hop Union's site for a little more hop flavor info. http://hopunion.com/aroma-wheel/?aroma=Citrus
if someone treats you differently because you don't have the same knowledge they are insecure douches. that being said look for yeti it's a hoppy Russian Imperial Stout also ask about Black IPAs might be up your alley.
Sounds like you like the darker beers I'd stick to Brown ales, barleywines (which can be pretty hoppy especially the American ones), porters and Stouts (you will come to learn there is little difference between the two at times), and any obvious imperial versions or variations on any of those styles. Cheers! Edit: Use the syle guides on this site for suggestion of brews to try within the styles you want to try and you can use www.Seekabrew.com to find out what breweries distribute to your state so you can avoid looking for beers from breweries that don't distribute to AL.
Since you like stouts, there are several types. Oatmeal stouts, creme stouts, and milkshake stouts each have their own flavors. You might also try a porter or a brown ale for a slightly lighter malty mix. Welcome to beer!
Explore stouts & porters, then you can branch out a hundred different ways from there. Welcome to the site, and enjoy the ride!
I feel like the "green" bitter flavors are hop driven. herbal and pungent. Hop bitter can be extravagant and also off putting. I think the "brown" bitter is malt derived. I have found some malt to be dry and bitter. Nutty roast, bitter coffee. Tea like flavors tend to be sweeter and more "round" to me and I love them.
May I suggest Sierra Nevada Stout for a basic, solid stout? Lower in alcohol, great taste, under control bitterness, and a good price make it a great starting point. Then, get the old buds ready for Founders Breakfast Stout, due out later in the summer.
If you like the roastier, bitter stout flavors (by the way - screw you, Mozilla, "roastier" is too a word! ... at least for these purposes), then I highly recommend the following, all of which are bitter, but not necessarily hop-forward: Founders Porter Sierra Nevada Stout Founders Imperial Stout Stone Imperial Russian Stout I'd definitely recommend Maine Beer Company King Titus, but that's nowhere near your distro.
I do indeed like the bitter sans the hop forward idea. I said to my dear spouse last night "This is like licking the bottom of a wafflehouse coffee urn. In a good way!"
Roxie, some beers are seasonal and are not available year-round. Winter is the season most associated with stouts and porters, and you can go crazy looking for a specific beer that isn't sold right now. That being said, there are a LOT of really great stouts and porters available in the summer, so look for the beers that are currently available at your local store.
There's another thread about best commonly available stouts. That'd be a great place to start. Stouts and imperial stouts are pretty popular and you shouldn't have much trouble finding more like the ones you mentioned looking available.
