Smokers drinking beer

as an ex-smoker, i'll say that the experience of drinking good beer improved dramatically after i quit. the flavor of beer definitely got stronger in my perception, and i could taste many more nuances (when they were there to taste, at least).

i loved smoking, and i hate some of the more propaganda-y attacks on it (as if something "bad" has to be "bad all the time"), but improved sense of taste is an unqualified benefit of quitting. (: nothing comes for free in this world.

 

Hey I just wanted to chime in and say #1 I give u credit for posting cuz u know when u mention cigarettes, it's gonna generate a funky forum buzz so to speak.. I honestly don't know as I quit smoking over 8 years ago before I got into craft.. But let me say maybe it does... But is it really a very huge difference?? I'm gonna say probably not much and I know people will argue with me but seriously.. They act like cigarettes totally take away ur ability to smell or taste anything at all and that's nonsense.. I remember I loved smoking while drinking (next day I'd feel it though) so I wouldn't fault ya.. Hey u only live once and if u like it brother than dont beat ur self up about it.. It's a shitty habit of course but hey it's kinda enjoyable too. Lol

 

Damn I soooooooo agree with u.. I'm an ex smoker 8 years after smoking for 18 and I really don't notice this supposed huge difference in smell and taste so many ex smokers claim they have.. I sometimes think its a load of crap and more of a placebo effect... Ur told constantly " if u quit food tastes and smells sooooo much better"... U hear that shit 900 times and u start thinkin... "I guess my sense of smell and taste will get better...... If I just quit smoking"... Ahhh I'm gonna catch hell for this maybe.. Lol

 

I smoked a pack a day, sometimes more, for about 13 years, quit almost 16 months ago, and I notice no difference in taste. I've gone as far as tasting brews I've reviewed years ago, re-reviewed them, and compared the reviews, with very little in the way of change. I really loved smoking, and nothing paired better with a great beer than a menthol light cig. Results probably differ between users.

 

ahh the good old blood taste. Young's double chocolate stout from the bottle is full of it! I have never tasted it in the Duchesse though. Just acetic deliciousness!
And i am not a smoker, never have been and never will be!

 

Smoking ruins everything. Make you smell bad, makes you saggy, makes your breath stink, makes your teeth go bye-bye, gives you cancer, ruins your taste buds ...

but that little tingle of relaxation you get from a cigarette must be worth it. My mom's been an on and off smoker for years. To make it all better, she's morbidly obese. To make it even better-better, she has basically said "Fuck it" because she has cancer. Quality stuff, right?

That really went off somewhere random. But anyway, there are dozens of other things you can do to relax that doesn't involve throwing down cash to kill yourself.

Spending money on cigarettes and lottery tickets -- two things I'll never understand.

Now, I expect people to argue.

 

Having quit over two years ago, my drinking experiences got immediately better. Seems pretty par for the course. You should give electronic cigarettes a go. Smoking is very much a habit, and E Cigs satisfies that habitual need without the smell or taste desensitizing.

 

Learned to appreciate Bass when I was 21 by lighting up a Canadian Players and listening to Tom Waits. Closing Time is such an underrated album. That aside, there is a synergism from smoking and drinking, but I reserve that for shitty cigarettes AND shitty beer.

 

I'm really glad to see a thread about this. (Someone who isn't me ) was a major cannabis smoker until recently, but he never noticed a difference in picking up the nuanced flavors of most craft beers. Cigarettes on the other hand (I lived in France for a short period of time, and hey, we've all been to college), even after smoking one, just seemed to ruin it for me. Had a Marlboro the other night before a Dale's Pale Ale, and ugh...not the same.

 

I have had Duchess that finished up like sucking on a penny and I have had some that did not.

 

That should be Phillip Morris new slogan:

"Cigarettes, hey...at least it's not meth."

 

I quit smoking cigarettes a little over 2 years ago after 25 years and I don't miss it...well...once in a while I do get a craving. I never smoked around my kids; but that stench stays on your clothes, breath and in your vehicle(s) and the wife would always comment on it. I cut back for the last 4 years: I only smoked a little over a 1/2 a pack a day. After I quite I started feeling better and food started tasting better too. I never smoked when I wanted to drink a quality craft beer and ENJOY it, because I knew it would dull MY sense of taste and smell.
Now, as en ex-smoker (which all smokers know are the biggest pain in the ass!) I would suggest that everyone smoking now should quit and anyone that doesn't, don't start!

 

Smoke free for 7 years, here. Even 1 cig per day diminishes your sense of taste and smell. Hence the standard weight gain once you quit. You're missing out on some good stuff in your beer.

 

Filthy and disgusting is the only way to have sex. Cigarettes are bad, though. As my stepson says "Moke a ciggie-yuk"!

 

Ask your doctor which one you should give up. 1 pack of cigs per day or 1 750ml bomber per day? What do you think her answer will be?

 

Haven't read all the responses but I heard somewhere one cig dulls the taste buds for 12 hours. I truly don't understand chefs that smoke.

 

Ex-smoker here, yep your senses improve when you quit. As for the old adage, "you have to die of something"; there aren't many worse looking ways of going than gasping for your last breath because your lung function is total shit. I see this all too often in my job as a respiratory therapist. Quitting's far easier by comparison.

 

My mom, dad, brother, and an uncle died from lung cancer. It is an ugly thing to watch. Dad's cancer traveled to his liver, and he shrank to a very small man, and died in the fetal position, a horrible color of yellow. I quit about 30 years ago. Mr Butts may yet kill me, but he didn't whip me. And, I am here tonight, and just enjoyed a Founders Porter. And, I have a beautiful wife who loves me. Life is wonderful. Why shorten it?

 

No justification for 'mokin' ciggie-yuks. I smoke a pack to a pack and a half a day. Disgusting shit. I know beer and food would taste better, but like an addict (which I am) I can't give it up. Just yet. Soon, maybe. *cough hack wheeze*

 

You are smoking the wrong plants. Y'all haven't lived until you've drank a BCBS and a Parabola with your taste buds awakened.