Best Beer for Starters?

Question

Bad question maybe. The simple fact is, I'm 21, gone out drinking with friends and most of the typical beers, your miller lights, etc. etc, havent really done anything for me. I havent enjoyed them. is there something that is a beer that has a more unique flavor that would be worth trying? or even a rundown of the types of beer and what would be the best for me. thanks.

Answer 1

i started with Dos XX. . . havent left it since!!!! :)

Answer 2

Coors light is a good beginner beer. It is pretty smooth (in my opinion). If you actually enjoy the taste of beers, Newcastle is definitely worth a try. A little expensive, but if its taste you are after, it delivers.

Answer 3

Congratulations.  Miller Light and that type of beer should not appeal to anyone with a sense of taste.

The impression I got from reading this is that the flavor profile of the beers you have had (which I gather to be low quality) is missing flavor and/or you do not like the flavor of fermented corn (which smells like socks).

So, with this in mind, an actual beer is in order.  Something with just water, malt, yeast, and hops.  None of this corn, rice, and beechwood aging, and no more of this reduced alcohol content light beer stuff.

My suggestions, in no particular order:

- Newcastle Brown Ale - easy going, but after a little experience you'll find it is also very light flavored; good intro beer

- Sam Adams Boston Lager - not the same type of lager than Miller is trying to be; actually has a flavor

- Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - as opposed to the lager, this represents nicely what a pale ale is: full flavored, hoppy, some bitterness

- Harpoon IPA (or local IPA) - a step above the Sierra Nevada, more hops, more malt (see next entry), more bitterness

- Sam Adams Black Lager / Cream Stout / Local quality stout - Stouts are a type of ale as well, but contain more malt than the pale ales resulting in this black appearance with coffee/chocolate flavors (not added, created naturally in brewing); hops are present only to prevent the beer from being too sweet.  The black lager is not as intense as the stouts and I think makes a good bridge between Newcastle type of beers and stouts (feel free to replace with any local Schwarzbier).

From here, if you like what you've sampled, the beer world is up to you.  There's two basic ingredients -- malt and hops.  Beers vary simply in the amount and type of each.  Now, there are also some specialty beers which contain added flavors (such as cherries), or could be lambics (wild yeast which produces bold fruit flavors without any actual fruit). You can find some Cranberry Lambics for Thanksgiving, for example.

Don't be too concerned with the lager vs ale thing, though.  Fact of the matter is 95% of craft beers are ales because they are easier to brew at home, and thus flavors and test batches are easier and quicker to make and require less investement into the product.  Moreover, the lager has few styles -- Pilsner (I would try Pilsner Urquell, which is what bud/miller/coors are basically trying to emulate, albeit very poorly), Bock and Schwarzbier are probably the only ones you'll run into.  Bock is more popular in the Spring, however.  All other types are Ales -- pale ale, stout, porter, brown ale, farmhouse ale, belgian ale, wheat ale.  Instead I prefer to imagine the flavor of a beer based on its malt and hops, with IPA representing the maximum hops and stouts the maximum malts.  (Note: double IPAs exist, and russian imperial stouts are more or less "double" stouts).

Answer 4

Stuff by Sam Adams is much better than the typical American lager. Coors also makes a line called Blue Moon that's more than decent. For the best beer, however, try checking out some of the local breweries. Microbrews are hit and miss but when they hit they really hit. Since I don't actually know your taste-buds, I can't recommend anything even as specific as a style, but that should get you on track at the very least.

Answer 5

Any beer of the styles of light ale, pale ale/bitter, pils, or brown ale would be good for you to start.

Joex444, you must study more about beer before making such sweeping generalizations about the large brewers, Miller, Coors, and Anheuser-Busch (A-B). The fact is their beers are of a higher quality from the standpoint of brewers knowledge and skill than most any craft brewer. The fact that you single out rice and corn but not wheat further shows your limited knowledge of beer and brewing. I am willing to bet you drink wheat beers. They too are made from what should be considered an inferior grain from a  brewing stand point The beechwood used by A-B is an old brewers technique used to allow a larger surface area for yeast to remain in contact with the fermenting wort. This then results in a more complete attenuation of the wort by the yeast. A-B still uses this method not for need but to keep contact to the old art of brewing, for marketing purposes, and of course the attenuation of the product. Whats-more, they are one of only a few brewers that use whole hops in their beers this includes craft brewers. This goes back to quality as most brewers use processed hops, yes, including the craft brewers.

If you were a true beer aficionado you would give proper respect to those brewers. You would also know how to drink and perceive their flavors as you may in some of the out of balance over-hopped craft beers you drink.

"You are not the police for what can be considered 'Good Taste,' in and of beer."

You think fermenting corn smells like socks, well that is funny. But did you know that the great Belgian beer Rodenbach also contains corn? Surprise!

Joe gave a nice answer beginning from where he said,

"My suggestions, in no particular order:"