How do I develop my understanding?

Well, you are in the right place for information, that is for sure. And I like the way you are thinking - do I like it or not is what really matters when you cone down to it - it's your money and your palate!

Finer points and nuances are all well and good, but I wouldn't let that get in the way of enjoying a perfectly good beer. It could be the highest rated beer on the charts, but if you don't enjoy the experience, it doesn't matter in the least.

That said, the fun is in the journey. Just keep trying whatever you can get your hands on. You can hop on to the WBADYN thread - our daily virtual bar - and see what other people are drinking and their impressions. Posting there and asking questions would be helpful. ANother thread that is focused on specific beers is New Beer Sunday - most of us are at least experienced reviewers in that weekly thread and there are some who are truly great reviewers (I'm not, I just do my best). Plus, you can learn about beer styles and read Beer 101 under the beers tab at the top of the page, and look at reviews that are well-written and see if you can find what they find - that helps build your understanding, but again it doesn't matter if you get every little thing. I doubt everybody tastes the same thing, and the reviews will tell you that. I consider how much I enjoyed the beer to be the final say more than what I could actually pick out of the flavors or smell.

You can search a beer by name or brewery and it will take you straight to it - there you can see what others think, and sometimes there is a nice synopsis of what the brewer intended. You might have to go to the brewery websites for that, though.

Try whatever you can get your hands on, don't worry about whether it's "world class" or not. I'd almost say you'll know it when you taste it but that might not be true for a style you may not enjoy. Or it may be something you'll never see in your location - so what if it is a great beer if you can't buy some. Don't stress over the "hunt" - that's like work and work does not equal fun! There's plenty of beer out there, some of it is really good, some of it isn't. I think there's some in that "world class" category.

Don't be afraid to go back to something (style or individual beer) you didn't enjoy before. Your palate and understanding changes, and that previous "drain pour" becomes something completely different.

If you are new, welcome aboard. Poke around, ask questions, enjoy yourself, and don't be worried about jumping in! Lots of great people on board here.

Cheers!

 

It's as simple as liking it because you enjoy the taste. Once you find things you like you'll notice differences from each brewery doing a particular style you like. It shouldn't, in my opinion, take an essay to describe a beer if you enjoy it. I apply this same logic to my homebrewing as well.

 

Keep trying new things. It happens naturally.

Maybe you'll never enjoy ba stouts, or maybe it was just that one, or your palate wasn't ready for it. Keep trying and be sure to have an open mind going into it. At a minimum you will definitely find specifics within a particular style that you enjoy more than others.

 

Well, I know that you are savvy enough to just keep trying the new ones that you see. You already like good beer and there is no magic but to drink and read, and maybe take notes.

 

To add to what's already been suggested, I'd add a few other things.

First, I recommend that you go print out the beers of fame list on this site and then print the Top Rated Beers for Canada. Restrict your purchases for a while to beers that appear on one or both of those lists. (In my view the top 250 beers list is more an indicator of popularity than quality.)

Then I suggest that after you find some beers you like from those lists you plan on doing some repeat buying. For some beers I've found it takes me until the third of fourth bottle to really understand them.

Next practice writing reviews on some of your repeat buys. There are some guidelines to reviewing here on this site which are a reasonable starting place for learning how. As amateurs most all of us really have two problems to be overcome, first is being able to identify those flavors and aromas you are picking up and the second, being able to describe them for yourself and others.

So then you write a draft review for yourself. Then go to read the reviews given on this site (looking only at reviews and ignoring ratings only). Before starting to read those reviews, first sort them by top reviewers. The folks who come up will be those with the most experience with reviewing beers. Read through some of the reviews looking to compare your reviews with theirs. Pay particular attention when they mention a flavor or aroma you recognize but didn't include in your own draft review. You will also find there are some reviewers who seem to be experiencing what you think is going on.

After you've practiced for a while and are feeling more confident in your desciptions of the sensory characteristics of the beer, commit to posting your own reviews and ratings to the database. The reason I recommend actually doing reviews is that I've found over time it helped me improve my ability to separate out the different components of aromas and flavors and doing that actually helped increase my enjoyment of the beers if I wanted to have more of that beer. It also seems to help me better remember which beers I want to repeat and which I won't mind passing up in the future.

Then begin to expand the range of your purchases from just the printed lists and begin to explore different styles, starting with those styles you've enjoyed the most and continuing to review. For example, you might enjoy and want to look up Hefeweizens. The list that comes up when you do will be ordered by the most frequently reviews with is correlated with most frequently found. That can be a good clue as to what you'll be able to find where you live. Then click the link to see the list ordered by it's overall rating scores and that will help you find stuff you have available where you live and identify which beers the other reviewers find to be better examples of that particular style.

Most importantly, be sure to enjoy your journey of exploration. This isn't really about ticking off beers you have had. Instead it is an exploration of things you enjoy and understanding better why you enjoy them as you also increase your enjoyment.

 

World class is a relative term... it means something different for everybody. Don't sweat it... Beer is supposed to be fun and enjoyable... I've learned that over the past 10 years... Whales are great and fun to finally try but...At the end of the day, it's still beer... Cheers!

 

Try everything you can get your hands on. If you don't like it, try at least one more time to make sure you didn't get a bad one. Don't try everything you can get your hands on in one night. It's okay to take your time.
At first, trying different styles is more important than different beer brands, I think. It's harder in a very limited market. You may need to find a decent shop to mail order from (if it's legal where you are). It's more expensive, but sometimes that's the only way.

 

Best advice even within a limited market (believe me I know what Manitoba has to offer) is just try as much as you can.

Try to go elsewhere as far as it takes for other beers. More importantly learn to homebrew so you can experience a variety.

Best of luck

 

This is really good advice. The whole post is, but this struck me in particular. It really is a feedback loop and it is really enlightening when the "ah-hah!" moments occur and something clicks into place. Lots of times, I will be tasting a beer and detect "something" in the flavor that I cant quite define or identify (another reason to drink more than one). But if you poke through the reviews, a lot of times you will find someone describes exactly what you are tasting and helps you figure things out. You find it and it is like holy s*** that us exactly what I was trying to figure out. Maybe not stating that very well...I know what I mean LOL!

And don't be intimidated...we are amateurs but as I said some people are very experienced and have the language and terms down. My first few IPAs, the best I came up with was "tastes like a pine cone". But you gradually learn just by going back to the well repeatedly and being patient with yourself. It s perfectly fine if you can't pick out every subtle flavor, and that is where discussion comes in. Jump into What Beer Are You Drinking Now, describe what you experience, and people will respond.

It is starting to sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't. Just a gradual process with ample tools to help you out.

Home brewing...absolutely helps in the understanding of ingredients and what happens in the brewing process. You can taste grains and extracts, get the pure smell of hops (cant recommend tasting them...don't ask!). Learn what the yeast does. Read from reliable sources like the home brewing association or good books.

 

Checkout your local breweries, brewpubs, bottle shops and taste the brew's they offer.

Cheers!

 

sit down with a friend and share a good beer. compare aroma and tasting notes with each other. Often others can help pin point a flavor or aroma you get but can't describe. Also, a friend may pickup different flavors that in turn help you pick it out. Plus, sharing a good beer with a good friend is the best part.

Don't over complicate it, it really is about do I enjoy it or don't I.

 

Join us on Sundays in the thread New Beer Sunday where we are dedicated to finding what we like about beer so we can enjoy beer even more. We all try to learn to identify and describe what we taste with better ability, and make beer recommendations to each other.

 

Drink what you enjoy. That's the only thing that matters.

As for knowledge? That will come in time. Don't stress about that. Just keep trying new beers, exploring new horizons, learning what you can.

 

Rochefort 6, 8, 10
Chimay red, blue and yellow
Duvel
Orval
everything else from Belgium
anything from Germany
anything from England

... rummaging through a ton of imports helped get me to understand the general parameters of beer notes. Add in all of the American craft options in your area, especially but not exclusively the hoppy pale ale/IPA/DIPA beers, and your palate will do the teaching if you pay attention to it.

And when you do all that, then comes *SOURS*! Yum!

 

BTW, at a different level than my first post in this thread, since I basically ignored a very practical part of your problem, after you know beyond most doubt there is a particular beer you'd like to find, chat with the manager of the best place in town for buying beer. Find out if they have the ability to order that beer you are interested in trying.

They probably have to order it by the case so s/he may be reluctant to gamble on selling the rest just so you can by a single bottle. If that happens, ask if they could order it for you if you bought the whole case. If that's the only way you can get it, go back to the reviews and the reviewers you feel you can trust to decide whether you want that beer enough to gamble on buying a whole case. Time with your trusted reviewers can reduce the odds of losing your bet on liking the beer enough to take on drinking that whole case, especially if it can be a variety case with 4-6 different beers from the same brewery. Back in the day when I used to have to buy most of the beers I drank by the case, if a beer I thought I wanted to drink could not be found anywhere on tap, most such gambles I took paid off when the reviewers I trusted had enjoyed a particular beer. Also, there was a very real fringe benefit in drinking enough of the beer to really get to know it over several bottles.

See if you can find someone you know who shares your interests. They might be willing to join with you in the gamble. How can you find such people? Look for those you know who might enjoy the beer and offer to give them a bottle to try. Once you know the beer you've found well enough you'll to be able to tell them why you enjoy it. (But don't ever exchange those beers for money since the odds are that it is illegal where you live to sell beer without a license to do so.)

Building on that, if you have found four or five beers you enjoy, host a beer tasting party for some of your friends where the object is to sample those beers you have and get people to focus on and talk about what they like or don't like about the beer. If you decide to do this, have the food after the beer tasting is finished. Then folks can have a bite to eat, enjoy the company of others and revisit the beers you have put out to enjoy. (As well as having something to eat before driving home.) You may even find there are some folks who want to bring a favorite beer or some food they can share with others. (But again no money changes hands.)

Also you can make the whole process easier and more enjoyable by following the advice of @cavedave even if you only just read that weekly NBS thread without a new beer. The folks there like to share what they like about a new beer they are trying and learning about beers they'd like to try or might want to avoid. Think of it as being like bellying up to the bar with some folks you might know who are trying something new and sharing their reactions to it. Most all are happy to answer questions you have about their new beer because they have been learning about that beer for the first time.

 

Simple observations are fine. "Do you like it or not" is really the goal if you're drinking the beer for the sake of enjoyment... so I wouldn't try to recalibrate based on what you see some others doing. If you really want finer points to enter into the equation, I'd recommend taking similar beers and trying them without knowing which is which.

Don't get concerned with what makes something "world class," you'll be fine with your current "do I like it" approach. Don't get too caught up in trying beers that are trendy either. Just try whatever you can get your hands on in your area. Don't give up on a brewery or a beer style due to one bad experience. Revisit beers that you didn't like and liked. Pay attention to the "style" of the beer without getting too caught up in rigid definitions. Bottle shares are terrible ways to expand your understanding of beer (at least the ones I've been to). They are great fun however.

To answer your last question, I'd try to do away with any biases and drop terms like "shelf turds" and "every day swill."

 

I am guessing you will have a hard time tasting nuances in craft beer as your taste buds may be stunted by Tim Hottons.

All kidding aside, have you tried anything by Dieu du Ciel in Quebec? They are old school and make some of the best craft beer coming from Canada.

How close are you to the border? Is a day trip to the sates to beer shop a possibility?

 

I think the easiest way is just experience and involvement. Expand what you consume, take note of what you enjoy and don't. Get involved with local brewery people and pubs, they always are open to chatting or educating when time allows. Maybe do some home brewing if desired to get more in with the creation side of things, etc. I don't think any hobby should take work, I think you should be enjoying what you like and the knowledge follows.
Cheers....

 

A final note from me, if you live in the Winnepeg area and if all else fails. When you have a long shopping list of stuff you'd like to try, find an excuse to take your wife on a long weekend to Minneapolis. This earns you brownie points and a reasonable degree of tolerance for your new hobby.

You should then be able to use the Place finder on this site to find places to shop while in Minneapolis, and IIRC correctly, Canadian Citizens are allowed to bring back home with them duty free a 24 bottle case of 12oz bottles, if they visit the US for more than 48 hours.

I'd also suggest that early on at least you look at buying 12 different beers, 2 bottles of each so you have some of those repeats I mentioned earlier.