Newbie requesting knowledge in beer.

Try to muscle through and finish a beer that you may not initially care for. A beer will/can taste significantly different in the 30 minutes or so it takes to drink it. Think about how the taste changed. This will help you on preferred temperature for each type of beer.

One sip does not a tasted beer make.

 

Hefeweizens and stouts/porters were all I drank for my first few years. The former has almost no bitterness, and bitterness in the later is mostly covered up by the malt.

When you do try IPAs, make sure they are as fresh as possible (as in weeks old, not months). They will still be bitter, but at least you will get the hoppy aroma that a lot of beer drinkers crave.

 

You might try going for what is known as a "horizontal flight" style tasting that looks a bit like this:

I am not sure what part of Iowa you are in but such a thing might be arranged in a bar that specializes in beer or you could assemble your own from a local bottle shop by getting a mixed six or four pack. (You may want to share the experience with a friend or two if you go that route. Taste size pours are about 4 oz.) Make a note of what style/beer you enjoyed the most and if possible what you liked about them. This will help you decide what styles you enjoy more or less and so you can start exploring from there. You can find listings of places in Iowa that specialize in beers from the places tab on this site or look for more help on the regional subforums. Happy 21st birthday Nooguy, welcome to Beeradvocate.

 

Spend time on this site. I can say that between the ratings, forums and the great people I've interacted and traded with I've learned so much about beer, styles, breweries, beer events. It's one of the most helpful and friendly group of people you will find.

 

I would also find a few local beer shops (try the smaller ones first) and get to know the owners/people who work there. Many of them have a lot of knowledge and enjoy talking to people about beer. They may be able to cater to your tastes and provide recommendations based on what they have/will get. And most importantly, you will meet some great people. One of the guys at my local shop went to my alma mater (JMU).

 

This was similar to my experience. I enjoyed the stout/porter arena and worked backwards so to speak (darker to lighter and hoppier). Not sure if you get Maine Beer Co in Iowa, but Lunch is one of the fresher IPAs I've had, and the freshness of that brew cannot be overstated.

 

I'd say go to your local beer store and start with variety packs: Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, and anything else you can find that samples a lot of different styles. No point in spending big money on beers until you know the styles you like and dislike and you can build your experience from there.

And if that doesn't interest you, here's a few of my "starter" selections that you should be able to find:

Franziskaner Hefe
Paulaner Hefe
Breckenridge Vanilla Porter
Left Hand Milk Stout

If you have a good store around you, most of them will let you build six packs of your choice, talk to the guy there and tell him that you're trying to find out what you do and don't like, and tell him your taste preferences as of now. Most people love to help newcomers from my experience.

 

Obviously, you can look for Malt forward beers so I would start lighter styles staying away from Hoppy Beer. Not sure I was ready to taste Porter's or Stouts when I started drinking beer.

My suggestion would be something like New Belgium's Fat Tire or Snapshot (which is a nice tangy, light Wheat Beer).

 

Look for beers in your area called brown, amber, red, or golden ales. Those should suit your buds. The hoppy stuff will come with time. If you want milder, smoother bitter, try English IPAs.

 

Just start with Sam Adams. It's the perfect gateway into the world of craft beer
Their flagship lager is inoffensive, tasty, and opens the tastebuds to the flavors of (real) beer.
It's also right there in every retailer.
Then you can try a mixed case with different styles in.

Don't be going straight in to stouts or German-style beers or any beers overly hyped on this website (as others have suggested). Your tastebuds need to mature.

You just need a barebones flagship craft beer that you can pick up anywhere.

 

You picked the best time of year to "get into beer" Oktoberfest beers were a big part of my expansion from AAL's into different styles. They are usually perfectly balanced lagers. My favorite style! In my opinion if you don't like them then save yourself time and money and pick a different hobby

 

When I was new to craft beer I wasn't a fan of bitter. Actually that comes from before my craft brew days. Even something like Sam Adams Boston Lager turned me off as I found it bitter. When I tried an IPA I was prune faced!!! But I acquired the taste and now love IPA's. But one thing I did at the beginning was to forget my old drinking habits. Cut the grass come inside and down a brew! No more. Over the years I had got into the habit of drinking fast....too fast for fine quality beers.
I was drinking a Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA which I found extremely bitter when I noticed the Pine aroma as well as taste. Interesting, I thought. It was at that point I learned to "sip" my stronger, higher ABV more bitter beers. That helped ease me into the acquired taste.

Good luck....give it time

Tommy

 

Porters, Stouts, Blondes, Hefes just to start out with

 

You'll be surprised how quickly you adjust to that hop bitterness

 

This^^
Assuming you can get Boulevard Wheat, it was the first craft beer I drank regularly. A great way to build up to hoppier beers and more aggressive styles. Another key point is: don't be afraid of the dark. Darker beers are often smoother, less bitter and easier to drink than lighter beers, something that surprises many new beer drinkers. If you can drink coffee, you can drink most dark beers like porters, stouts and brown ales (although there are "black IPAs" you may not like).

 

This time of year I would suggest trying an Oktoberfest or Pumpkin Ale. Great beer is brewed all over the world. Chimay (Belgium), Weihenstephaner Original (Germany), and Fullers ESB (England) are some I would recommend.

I would also suggest checking out some local breweries in your area. It's always fun going to a brewery and trying new and different beer and beer styles. If you like beer, adventually you will find what kind of beer styles are for you.

Cheers!

 

See what you can find locally that's not Bud, Miller, Coors, etc. See what you have locally on the top 250 list. As you're in IA, you may be near Toppling Goliath which is pretty nice to have close

Also, if you run across any Bourbon Barrel Aged Stouts like Assassin, you probably won't like them but you can ship them to me.

 

My one tip would be that if you don't like bitter beer (yet), stay away from IPA's

 

Hefeweizens and witbiers aren't bitter at all. I'd recommend Weihenstephaner, ayinger, dogfish head namaste, flying dog woody Creek and others

 

I would personally try many different styles until you find ONE beer you really like. I would then expand on that style by trying different beers from that style. I would then expand to trying another style that is similar to that style.

For me, I fell in love with Mirror Pond Pale Ale (14 years ago) and then learned to love other Pale ales and then moved onto IPA's, Pilsners etc.