Beer Aptitude Scale...

I'm also rubbish at picking out individual flavours but I've improved tenfold over the last year. I still can't taste lemon in Pilsners and chocolate in any beer style eludes me. However, I can now taste a plethora of flavours that I would have scoffed at a year ago. I drink a lot of wheatbeer and I assure you that bubble gum is prevalent amongst them. It took me a while to get it but now it smacks me in the face when I open a bottle of Weihenstephanen Dunkel. Annoyingly, a mate of mine who has no interest in beer or connoisseurship of any sort can pick out flavours as well as I can. He smokes as well, the git.

The one beer that's confused me the most is Westvleteren XII. Belgian Quads are one of my favourite beer styles but I didn't find Westy complex at all. I should probably try it again. All these people can't be mad.

 

ISO: Your cellar FT: Heineken, Grolsch, Moosehead

 

Don't worry about being an expert.... learn as much as you can as you continue to try new things.

Personally I just like to try and find great beers. I learn what styles I like and don't like as I go. I'm never going to be a huge lover of IPA's... I've had enough by now to know that.. what is weird is I really like some dIPA's... but have rarely enjoyed a single....

I love Porter's and Stouts... and some of my new favorites are dopplebock's...

I don't worry about picking out every single flavor in a beer.. I just worry about if I enjoy it or not...

 

Ticks =/= knowledge
This place has so many tickers that think they're hot stuff because they ticked x, y, and z, but if you hear them talk about them, they're total n00bs.

Instead of just ticking, try to note the differences between beers. Why/how are they different? what do you like/dislike exactly? Then if you ever get around to it, try to translate some of that insight into actually brewing the differences, which is obviously much more time-consuming than just appreciating the differences while you drink. Some people just don't have the pallate to appreciate the differences, but they will just act like they do. Whatever helps you enjoy your hobby more...

 

If you are interested in trying RR and deschuetes, start trading. Then your beer geekdom will get kicked into the next level

 

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/pittsburgh-bottle-share.42389/#post-575386

You should certainly try to attend when/if there is another bottle share. It will give you a chance to run the gamut of beer styles.

 

Don't let apartment life keep you from brewing. There are guys out there doing full grain mashes in their small kitchens. I reccomend you read howtobrew.com and get to it. It has helped me grow an appreciation not just for the beer, but the ingredients and craft of brewing as well. I think after your first batch of homebrew you can get an amendment to your amateur beer drinker card as well...

 

Who really needs to amass "beer knowledge" to be able to fully love beer..?
There are those who will try to turn even the most innocuous of PASSTIMES into some sort of an "acheivement".
An "acheivement" that is complete with tabulations and rankings no less..like the geek wants to be like he's the WWII fighter pilot who keeps score of his kills on the side of the fuselage.
Let it go man, just enjoy your beer without keeping score.

 

Get on the untappd app craze! Its fun to see what badges you get over time.

 

Not related to the original topic here but I think a lot of these "tastes" you can either pick up right away, or have to work at for a while to discern. The first time I tasted a Belgian wheat and even some Belgian pales, it was dominated by bubblegum flavors, and it seemed like I was the only one who could taste it! I was with my ex at the time and she thought I was crazy! Now after a while I can pick up spice notes and yeast notes behind all that. Same with barrel aged beers. At first, the bourbon notes were overpoweringly sweet, and I couldn't pick up any of the base beer, it was all bourbony, sweet vanilla. Now BA beers seem much, much more balanced to me. Go find a beer you haven't tried in a while and taste it again and see how it compares to your review or what you remember. Also, trying similar beers side by side can really help pull out different nuances between the two that you might otherwise miss if you had one or the other by themselves.

 

I use this app quite often... it's a great way to keep track of stuff without having to really think about it too much.

 

The size of your beer penis is meaningless, as it will never, ever help you score any chicks.

 

There ARE what we refer to as "Coke *****s" running around out there still.
Dontcha think there might be a few Craftbrew *****s too...?

 

Measuring and ranking beer knowledge is a non sequitur. With beer, like so many things, the more you know the more you realise you don't know very much at all.

 

As a level 4 beerologist, a certified hop inspector, international suds swallower, and acclaimed non author of less tha 1 book on the subject.... I hereby certify you are a beer enthusiast. That'll be $5 please.

 

So long as what you learn helps you to enjoy what you drink there is no limit or need to determine what stage you are at.

I've been drinking fine beer for so long I forgot what it was like at first when all I tasted was "beer".

I am new to cigars and was so proud of myself to taste "wine" and "chocolate" for the first times in a cigar. For a while all I tasted was smoke, lol, but enjoying with friends really opens up my understanding and enjoyment, just as it does with beer.