The bad beer experience.

Whoa, we're getting deep here on BA.

 

Well, I never drain-pour a beer, if that's what you mean. If I paid for it, I drink it. It all plays into the overall experience of craft beer.

....and there are several beers I will never buy again.

 

Everyone's first time having sex is amazing, until they actually have amazing sex. Same with beer.

And if your first experience with 'beer' was amazing... well, kudos.

 

following that same logic...if you order a steak at a restaurant and it tastes like it's been seasoned with ball hair, you eat it because you paid for it?

 

Get some Venus. I went in thinking it was a DIPA like Mars. How wrong I was. It makes a decent pancake though. Wish I could have gotten a Mars.

 

Your analogy isn't very realistic.

If I order a steak at a restaurant and am not satisfied with it, I have the option of sending it back or refusing to pay, as typically when dining out you don't pay until the end of the meal. You don't have the option of sending a beer back to the kitchen for another attempt.

And again, to try and stay grounded in reality, I'm sure we can all agree that if anybody where to open a beer that was clearly spoiled and not fit for consumption (or tasted like 'ball hair' ), then it would get poured out. That's not really what the OP was getting at.

 

I wasn't commenting on the OP or "spoiled" beer, just on your statement "I will never drain-pour a beer if I paid for it". I don't see the point in force feeding yourself some nasty swill unless you're a raging alcoholic.

 

Here is the more important question: why is there no Nietzsche beer?

 

stillwater artisanal existent farmhouse ale

 

Well-played. But to address this we really need a beer named 'The Gay Science'.

 

I'm probably in the minority here, but I'll try any beer, at least once. And with that comes a lot of bad experiences, some are expected, some are not. I've had craft beers that taste worse than cheap adjunct lagers. And I've had cheap macros that remind me why I need to stick with craft. I love the exploration process.

 

Speaking for myself, I know what styles I like, and what styles I don't like (not many, mainly rauchbiers I can't deal with, along with most fruit added (except sour styles))
When a store near me did regular tastings, I found this out, and though I have occasionally revisited those styles at tastings and fests, I mostly avoid them.
I don't know that this makes me figure out what "good" beer is, just my own tastes.
Besides, taste is in the eye (mouth?) of the beholder; I know there are those who love Rauchbeirs, or Punkinhead, or Southern Tier's Crème Brulee stout.

 

You never tried Stone Punishment. I knew I would actually have caused pain to my lips,mouth,and stomach in order to finish that fiery brew.

 

I occasionally pick up a non BMC macro lager or malt liquor to rate. I try to be objective rating these and all beers. Some are decent and get higher ratings than the occasional craft misstep.

 

So many factors can go towards making a bad beer possible that you really have to give everything a chance and taste widely. If anything, it builds your mental inventory of what to detect and feel around for.

 

Hill Farmstead's Birth of Tragedy. Do you even Nietzsche, bro?

 

AB-SO -LUTELY. I also try all the beer like @JuicesFlowing . Without a point for comparison there is no way to appreciate style. For example what is a moderate bitter? What is the difference between quality ingredients and those of lesser quality. What is a "dirty finish?" You can't know these things unless you try ALL the beer.

 

Advice- become a judge in homebrew competitions if you really want to experience the gamut.

 

Don't they have a Twilight of the Idols too?