Tips for a beer newbie?

I'm sort of a newbie myself. One tip I have, if anyone on BA makes a stark comment to you, don't take it personally.

 

Welcome. My best piece of advice is don't listen to people who tell you to "ease into it." I have met a number of people that enjoyed the hoppiest of hop bombs and the sourest of the sours right out of the gate. Drinking beer isn't like bench pressing 500 lbs.

With that said, some flavors are going to be a bit shocking, especially if you are coming from the world of yellow-fizzy beer. As such, if you don't like something out of the gate, don't write it off. Revisit it six months from now, then a year from now. See if you enjoy it any more.

Have fun!

 

As mentioned by others in this thread, keep drinking various styles. Your palate will continue to evolve. When I first got into craft beer, I didn't like stouts. I eventually tried an Abyss and it blew me away. Now Stouts are my favorite. I was never into sours, however, I recently started to appreciate them a little more. Although I still have a ways to go before I drink them on the regular, keep trying various beers regardless of style, hype, etc. You may not ever like a certain beer or style (I don't like smoked beers) but you might also miss out.

 

Sign up for a gym (if you haven't already), seek reubens for beer pairings and stay away from plaid shirts.

 

Grow a beard.

 

Yeah - I dig this point. When I started, I thought ease into it was the way to go, but I sure didn't follow that thinking. I went right into the deep end with hop bombs and barrel aged stouts, for example. Sometimes I think the extremes can lead you in the direction of flavors you want to explore by just smacking you right in the face from the start. Never figured out IPA's until I tried Ruination and then the light bulb came on and I "get" the style. You can always back off to a less extreme representative of the style or revisit a beer/style later on as you learn more and your palate changes.

The last two words are the real key - have fun, don't stress over what everybody else thinks, don't get sucked into the hype vortex, and have no fear. Gather information here for some guidance, but ultimately you never really know if you don't try things for yourself. And don't be afraid to ask questions - sure, there might be some ball bustin' but everybody was a newbie once and there's plenty of help at hand.

 

Fixed it for ya! No need to thank me!

 

I was expecting this. Took a little longer than I thought before someone posted a comment.

 

when I first got into better/craft beer than BMC, I hated bock beers. Now I like them. things change.

 

Join a tasting group, make new friends and drink some awesome beer. Also, do whatever makes you happy and interested- there is no one right way to be a beer geek.

 

The best case example would be my significant other. She went from drinking nothing but Stella out of the bottle to DFH 90 min from a shaker pint in literally one night.

 

A couple tips.

Just because you don't like your first try at a style, doesn't mean you don't like that style. Try a few more.

Your pallet will change, try beers again.

Most important, don't always believe the hype. It's not a flavor.

That is all, enjoy.

 

I think you mean "snarky comment," but that might be too snarky of me to point out.

 

Yes you're right. In my defense I have a severe hearing loss so I occasionally misplace words that I thought were correct unless someone corrects me .

 

Buy singles. Try everything. Don't trade.

 

Beer Advocate, a surefire cure for the Costanza Wallet.

Actually, probably not. I don't remember ever seeing actual *cash* in that thing.

 

Wait until he discovers trading.

 

Show this card at any participating Orlando-area Exxon station, for your free "save the tiger" poster.

 

Mix Six! Try to get as much diversity for your $ to in turn find what's actually worth it (to you).

 

Don't take everything you read here too seriously/literally.