Where To Start A Newbie?

Brooklyn Lager
Anchor Steam
Allagash White

 

Going for some german hefes or pilsners is usually pretty easy and fun. Also, some lighter belgians (belgian blondes like leffe) will be rather approachable.

 

I'd say Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Victory Lager even. Also, my GF isn't a beer drinker but she loved Allagash white.

 

Start with lighter styles. Slowly try bigger and bolder beers as you get used to the lighter ones. Sierra Nevada Pale is a good example of something to start with prior to going head first into the wonderful world of IPAs

 

List of good beers for newbies -

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Samuel Adams Cream Stout

Paulaner Hefeweizen

Young's Double Chocolate Stout (highly recommend the nitro can, new people always find nitro beers to be rather interesting)

Weihenstephaner Original Premium

Spaten Optimator

Deschuttes Black Butte Porter

Anchor Steam

 

1) Go to good beer bar
2) Get a beer flight
3) ???
4) become broke, because craft beer $$$

 

The following are very newb friendly IMO:

Anchor Steam
Fat Tire
Terrapin Tree Hugger
Hoegaarden
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier/Dunkel
SN Pale Ale
Bell's Amber Ale

 

I started into craft by trying Shiner's different beers and buying mixpacks from Sam Adams and Magic Hat, for example. Blue Moon's line of beers can also be a good starting point. These beers are mostly approachable, and you can get a variety of different beers for a decent price. Those beers should help somebody figure out which styles they like and, hopefully, graduate on to bigger and better things.

 

Start with macro imports. Bass is a good training beer.

 

Spotted Cow. Always and forever.

 

Since your from whisky country try something barrel aged. New Hollands Dragons Milk is very good and usually easy to get and cheap (at least as far as barrel aged beers go) and fairly low in hops. It also comes in both bombers and 4 packs so you don't have to commit to a full six pack of something you don't know you'll like. Hops are likely to be your enemy for a while especially coming from BMC which hardly use any. This was my gate way beer before it I always hated beer, having tried bud light once I thought all beer tasted like piss.

 

The style guide's reference to a "high amount of hops" is relative to other pilsners. Prima Pils is way beyond any German pilsner I've ever had, and I've had plenty in Germany. Many BA's consider it to be seriously over hopped.

 

SNPA. Not at all where I started, but no way to go wrong there.

 

Sierra Nevada is a great starting point. If you think your victim is "anti-beer" Lindemanns Framboise is a safe bet.

 

Third Shift is a decent gateway beer, although technically not a craft beer.

 

Thinking about it, I got a Ecuadorian coworker who doesn't speak English at all into craft beer by picking up a 6 pack of Lagunita's brown shugga and saying "muy bueno". I think he's tried every Lagunitas release since then.

 

There are two approaches: 1) ease them into it; or 2) dive right in. Easing them into it means taking a style they like and giving them a better version. This usually means giving them a beer from one of the "mega" craft breweries. If you opt for the second approach, just ere on the side of being conservative and don't go overboard (i.e. don't give them a hop bomb even if it's the greatest beer known to man-kind).

 

In my experience what turns BMC drinkers off is hops. Try Amber lagers like Anchor Steam or Flying Dog Old Scratch.

 

Good intros are always Boston Lager, SNPA, Fat Tire, any local Witbier (especially if they like Blue Moon), and and light bodied browns are a good way to start them down the path of the dark side.

 

Start with fruit beers and the nationally distributed stuff like Sam Adams, sn, anchor. They make good examples of the styles and will lead you to what other variations of the styles you like.