"They All Taste the Same"

It's funny how many drinkers of Mass Market Swill say "all beer tastes the same," or the one I often hear, "beer is beer." Another thing I often hear said is "The first one tastes great, the second one about half as good, the third and the ones after that I can barely taste at all....". How sad.

 

if I am reading your post correctly, you have a BF who is willing to buy you craft beer that he doesn't necessarily enjoy? Wel, ma'am, that is my dream, so if things don't work out with you guys, send him my way; I will trade you my wife.

 

which is why i support the breweries i like don't support the breweries i don't like

 

Interesting. Get him baked first, and then try it again.

 

Buy him cheap shit then, you drink the good stuff. He gets an A for effort though, nice gesture.

 

Its a blessing in disguise. My wife doesn't like beer but its not a problem. She doesn't drink my beer and I have a designated driver when we go to breweries. She's great

 

I'd suggest experimenting more just for fun. Try different pairs of extremely different tasting beers and see which pairs he still thinks are the same. A Lambic and a Lager. An IPA and a Bourbon Barrel Barleywine. Presuming those he can differentiate. Then narrow it down a bit. No real point to this, just something to do. In the process he may find something he really likes and gain a taste for different styles.

 

Sounds like someone with no interest in learning about craft beer.

 

Reminds me of the few times me or my sister have offered my mom some of our beers during visits home -- most of them just "taste like beer" according to her (got this reaction from both Devil's Backbone Vienna Lager and Blue Moon White IPA, which needless to say don't taste at all alike. XD)

We have stumbled across three she's liked (Shock Top, Blue Moon, and Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc -- the latter being her favorite so far) and one she could definitely tell was different but didn't like (a tiny little sample from my sister's bottle of Bourbon County -- immediately reacted with "wow, there must be a lot of bourbon in this" upon smelling it, then took a drink, made a "yuck" face, and wondered how we could drink something like that.)

She's also a smoker, so I figure there's some connection there. Constantly putting something that smells that bad into one's system can't be good for your sense of smell, and smell/taste are closely linked after all.

But yeah... there's a possibility there's certain types of beer he might like better than others (like my mom with the witbiers) and it's just not one that you've tried so far. IPAs and stouts might be the most popular among users of this site, but they're not all that's out there -- and if "more alcohol" was the stand-out feature with these, maybe try something lower in alcohol (3, 4, 5% range) -- plenty of lower-alcohol beers out there that are a drastic improvement over a Bud Light taste-wise, but not in terms of alcohol content.

 

Or maybe he's a supertaster.

 

Ouch! I would try again and go from a simple beer to a more progressively complex one and see what he thinks. Maybe he has a taste for something different, etc. Ask what he favors in flavor and try and get a few then go from there. I really doubt he has limited taste and senses I am guessing he is in need of a cross section of flavors. Toss it up, go from dry to light, stout to lots of hops and see what he thinks. If then he still says they are all the same well you need a new drinking buddy LOL.
Cheers.

 

My mom (who just turned 60) has always said all beer has "that beer taste", and has cringed at every sip, including my homebrews (sheesh!...no love!), until recently when I gave her a Schofferhofer Grapefruit Weiss in place of her flavored seltzer water, and for the first time in her life(!), Drank an entire "beer". You all are right, some people will just never get it. Cheers!

 

For most consumers fermented barley water flavored with hops (beer) has a similarity of taste irrespective of brand. The fact they don't share our hobbyist interest in beer is understandable and I probably have little interest in the hobbies they enjoy. That he is thoughtful enough to put together a mixed six for someone who does share our hobby sounds like an okay guy to me.

 

Does he smoke? Like, a lot?

 

Probably just perceives the alcohol and grains more strongly than most, hence the "taste the same, stronger in alcohol" comment. Pretty funny story though!

 

Dont convert. Keep the good beer for yourself and budlight for him.

Winning!

 

So what happened after you told him you were breaking up with him?

If you keep him, at least you have a mule to bring to beer releases.

 

I doubt that those actually taste exactly the same to him, he just doesn't know how to pick out and describe the differences. Whenever you drink beer with him, instead of just asking his opinions, try describing style characteristics and what you taste in each beer and see if he can relate. It will probably help if he knows what differences to look for and what vocabulary he can use to describe them.

 

I really like this strategy. A lot. It's how I learned to differentiate flavor components in wine. Mostly through reading, but I wish I had someone to walk me through the process.

Beer, especially hops, are something that you need to build up to. Like spicy food. People who don't eat spicy food often can't taste anything beyond the heat. I think your palate develops a tolerance or numbing effect of the bold flavors. Think back to the first time you tasted whisky, it tasted like burning (Ralph Wiggum), but when you drink it for a while, you can discern lots of subtle flavors. I look back at beers I tried 20 years ago, like SN Pale Ale, that I found overwhelmingly bitter, and today they seem mild. Maybe that is due to the super hop bombs we have today, or because I was in college drinking the cheapest crap we could find.

At times I can't comprehend why anyone would drink Coors Light with so many amazing options. I have always been the type to try any food I've never had or even heard of. While travelling, I will order something on the menu that I can't translate just to see what it is. I can't imagine walking past the craft section, seeing hundreds of bottles, and grabbing the same old thing I always drink. Don't they wonder what they are missing? Don't they want to try new things? Then I think about the finer things in life I have no interest in. Like caviar. I've had what is supposed to be great caviar, but I will never appreciate it. I've had cheap, low quality caviar, and I can't tell the difference. It all tastes like filthy salt water with a lot of salt added.