Tips for a beer (tasting) newbie

Don't forget to let your beer warm up just a little also. Serving beer ice cold mutes a lot of the flavors. I'm not saying drink it warm, but pour and let it set for a few minutes to allow it to open up some.

 

Taste in binary code:

0 bad
1 good

Makes life so easy

 

Drink water before
Have a quiet relaxed place to drink (music is also good)
Take your time drinking so you can savor and reflect on the taste (I always take 20-30 minutes minimum)
Use a notebook or app to record thoughts (I use brew gene on my iPhone)
Drink a glass of water when finished

Starting last November 1st I have done this daily with a different craft beer (needed a new hobby once golf season ended). It has been a wonderful journey, look forward to trying my new beer every day.

Last but not least, don't get hung up on ratings. Everyone has different tastes, some rating you agree with (I think founders breakfast stout is phenomenal so 5 stars) Some ratings you don't (I think surly Abrasive tastes horrible so 1 star)

 

An excellent book in all respects.

 

Agreed on the book, excellent read and resource

 

The nice thing about tasting, smelling, and reviewing beer, is that you can't be "wrong." Like I might try a beer and say "this refreshing session IPA reminds me of how the grass smelled on the first day of summer camp when I was 9," or "this big, boozy stout tastes like I imagine licking a frozen lamp post on a cold day might taste. And I mean that in a good way." And someone else might have completely different thoughts. It's fun to see what other people think of the same beer.

 

That Bishop's Finger has a big, sweet, malty nose- I don't know, maybe like plums or not quite raisinated but crushed grapes- but in flavor that big malty sweetness is balanced by those Kentish hops. This is from memory and I've loved that beer and can taste it now. Thanks and cheers!

 

Don't taste ipas first.

 

I was excited to learn that there is a beer out there called Fursty Ferret. I was even more excited to type the name into Google Images to look at the label, only to discover pictures of ferrets with their noses in glasses of Fursty Ferret beer. Pictures of ferrets drinking beer might just become a new obsession of mine.