New to craft beer / tasting beer.

A BA is you, us, we! Beer Advocates. If you see people from your area posting , feel free to reach out to them, I think you will be suprised how cool many BAs (all of us on this site) are.

 

Here are some of some ipa and some pale Ale that i think are good also you have you tired any Brown ale or Porters?
Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
Ballast Point Big Eye IPA
Deschutes Inversion IPA
Saint Arnold Endeavour Double IPA
Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale
Lagunitas New DogTown Pale Ale

 

Go out and get some Bell's Two Hearted Ale. Next thing you know, you will have hundreds of dollars of beer stashed away in your closet.

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of Craft Beer! Like said earlier, try everything you can, read all that you can, note the flavor profiles of the many different styles and if you don't like it now, try it again later, you might be pleasantly surprised! Cheers ~

 

So, what is going on in the craft beer world this month in Okla? Stationed in Ft Sill/Lawton so I go to OKC fairly often. Really getting into IPAs, stouts, bocks, amber ales, and some of the German ales (still a bit fuzzy on ales and lagers). Serious fan of Murphy's, Spaten, Samuel Smith's, Shiner, Sierra Nevada (at least the Torpedo Extra IPA).

 

I dont know if it has been said but get yourself a nice snifter or Duvel glass. You can use those for any beers really. If you become a bit of a nut then your glassware collection will get larger. If your wife or gf or family tells you to stop buying because you cant use them all...i have one piece of advice.

USE THEM ALL cheers!

 

In addition to drinking, I suggest reading
Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink by Randy Mosher

 

One thing that I found helpful (as I'm fairly new to the scene as well) was to attend a tasting/beer-school/beer 101 type event at a local bar/brewery/bottle shop. Where there was a nice variety of beers/styles to sample, with someone explaining the various ins & outs of each. Also, just striking up conversation with people that enjoy craft beer. You can learn a lot from just listening and asking questions. Finally, just try as many different beers as you can get your hands on.

 

A lot of people love them because (other than looking really cool) it has perfect shape to it to give off the best aroma of the beer thus making the beer taste as good as it can possibly taste....did i mention it looks cool??

 

Start here. MOST of these are available in Texas.
http://beeradvocate.com/lists/fame

Try a lot of different styles so you can see what you like vs. don't.

Some might be a little bit hard to get into at first and thats okay. Take your time, go slow. Do the mixed six route for a while and just enjoy the ride.

Cheers!

 

Welcome aboard!

The first IPA/DIPA I tried was Avery Maharaja on tap. It practically ripped the taste buds off of my tongue. I had no idea what hops were supposed to taste like and I was completely caught off guard. A downright freakish yet exciting experience. I woke up the next morning and had the taste of hops still lingering in the back of my mouth/throat. That was 5 years ago but I'll never forget that first glass.

 

You need a few more beers with some hops to them to see how you fare.

I'm pretty sure you can get Southern Star beers in most of Texas, look for the Pine Belt Pale Ale. A nice balanced PA that carries some nice hops.

Welcome to the world of beer, enjoy it.

 

Lots of good local stuff in the styles you're looking for to try and should be readily available in bottles at Specs, D&Q, Whole Foods, etc and on draft at the aforementioned beer bars.

I would put Karbach's Weisse Versa up against Live Oak's hefe...my favorite from them. Their Rodeo Clown is a solid Double IPA and Hopadillo is a decent IPA. Sympathy for the Lager is a nice Vienna Lager, very similar to an amber.

From Saint Arnold you can get Elissa IPA and Endeavour DIPA

No Label has Ridgeback Amber Ale and Pale Horse Ale, currently draft only

Buffalo Bayou has 1836 amber, also draft only

Have fun!

 

Since you are on the south side you are SOL for beer bars. Best place to buy is Spec's Bay Area. There is a Shell Station Corner Market in Friendswoods, http://www.yelp.com/biz/corner-food-mart-shell-specialty-beer-and-wine-friendswood, that was listed on the Beer Geak Rodeo distribution list but I have not been there. Flying Saucer is closer than the Gingerman if you live off of the Gulf Freeway but Gman is closer if you live off of 288. Some HEB's offer a decent offering but nothing spectacular and no special releases. We are stewed for good beer on the south side.

 

Ballast Point is not offered in Houston as of yet.

 

In the regional section of this forum go to the Southwest area. Lot's of good Tx. info there.

 

I agree, I would build up your palate before trying to many "big" beers. I know for me if I had tried something like Hoptimum or Avery Maharaja when I first started out; there is no way I would have liked them much. Dales Pale Ale is a great beer to get going on the hop train!

 

A good way to go for tasting many brews is hit the Flying Saucer downtown and do several make your own flights.