Last night I had a friend over for some gaming and beer. We grabbed some Racer 5 IPA, Stone Honey Porter, and 3 Philosophers. All of them were delicious. The Racer 5 is now one of my favorite IPAs, and I was surprised that you could really taste a bit of the lambic "funk" (probably from open-air fermentation) in the 3 Philosophers. Stone's Honey Porter was solid, too.

If you enjoy that "lambic funk" you should try some Gueuzes if you haven't already. Slight sour tinge mixed with moldy cheese and feet. Delicious and refreshing. Some of the better ones include Oud Beersel Oude Gueuze Vieille and Hanssens Artisanaal Oude Gueuze.

Yep, those are great.

I've also had the Jolly Rancher-tasting 'American style" lambics (Lindeman's, although they make traditional lambics that are a bit harder to find), which are ok if you like soda. The Sam Adams cranberry lambic is an ale with cranberry juice, but still pretty good.

A server at Monk's Belgian Beer Emporium in Philly once recommended mixing Lindeman's Framboise Lambia 1:1 with Young's Double Chocolate Stout. It's like drinking valentine's candy, but it's beer. Not something I'd have regularly, but interesting.

My friend moved a bit south and, long story short, was able to find a few varieties of Bells to bring back home for the holidays. This was great news to me since they don't distribute where I live. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to find Expedition or Two-Hearted, which are the two I really cared about most. Oh well... at least I got to try the Kalamazoo and the Porter, which were both great. I have a Lager and an Amber Ale waiting, neither of which excite me a ton being a stout-head but still... mmm Bells.

Also recently had Rohrbach's Christmas Ale, and it was pretty ok. I've also come to find that Saranac Imperial Stout is a pretty decent penny-pincher stout. I mean, it's no Stone RIS in taste or price.

Shiner Holiday Cheer

I'll be damned. I thought it was just going to be OK, or that I might not like it at all, but it's actually pretty freaking good. The peach taste is strong, but there's enough nutty wheat taste/texture to balance it. Lots of carbonation too which probably also helps it out. It's went well with the drunken noodles I had for supper, and also does good on it's own. There has to be a better food category for it to match up with but I can't decide what that might be.

Definitely glad we bought the whole six-pack.

My first thought was "apple pie well-done" but I can't wrap my head around it. Hell, I love apple pie so I guess it can't hurt to try.

I would presume that Shiner Holiday Cheer is the beer? I'm curious to your area as mine apparently sucks for a lot of the beers people tend to mention in this thread. Also is the "apple pie well-done" a reference to the beer? If so, I really need to find this brew.

No, no. Holiday Cheer is the beer.

Wort's Going On Here?: Shiner Holiday Cheer Review

I'm in Texas. And with the brewery less than 7 hours away, it's not going to be that hard to find Shiner beer.

Hopefully it is better than Shiner Bock... :/

/snobbery

You're not a snob. You just don't like a particular good beer.

So, the fall semester is ending and I'll have a few days here before I head home for the holidays (I live in Gainesville, FL) and am wanting to try and discover some new flavors so I'll know before Christmas what to get back home.

I've tried a few of the things you all have mentioned here, specifically the Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPA, and to be completely honest I don't think I've ever tasted anything worse, so IPAs are apparently not for me. I'm not your typical college fratboy drinker and thus I really can't stand anything watered down like Bud or Natty, but really I haven't found too many beers I can actually say I've enjoyed thoroughly, and well, that's where you much-more-knowledgeable-than-I folks come in.

I can say that I've enjoyed pretty much anything from Blue Moon, specifically Honey Moon, as they weren't entirely overpowered with any ultra-hoppy flavor but also didn't take like piss mixed with water. I've also found Amberbock and Yuengling to be very good as well.

I've tried a few of the "pick 6" assortments and found a couple that I've liked - Killian's Irish Red, Blue Moon, etc. Most of the stuff I've had from Sam Adams hasn't been particularly palpable (specifically their Cherry Wheat and Winter Ale I couldn't finish the bottle).

Maybe I wasn't meant to enjoy beer, but I just can't give up on there being SOMETHING out there that I can enjoy! Any suggestions would be wonderful!

You could try Rugged Trail, by Troegs. It's a nut brown ale, and since you seem to have a dislike for hoppy flavor you might like this instead. For something with a little more body you could also try the Troegenator Double Bock, by the same brewery. I'm not sure if their distribution reaches you but it's worth a look. Troegs also makes a wheat, called Dreamweaver. I don't like it at all, but a good friend of mine swears by it.

Troegs Brewing Company

e: Rugged Trail is quite mild, but is smooth and has good flavor to it. I think it would be good to use as a starting-point to beer appreciation, since it's quite accessible to new palates.

Port Brewing Company's Old Viscosity is what beer should be.

Start with the brown (Newcastle, Negra Modelo), amber (New Belgium Fat Tire) and maybe wheat beers (Hoegaarden, Paulaner Hefe-Weizen) then pilsners, then move up to the heartier stuff: pale ales, IPAs, porters, etc. Because until you've at least become a hophead and learned to love beers like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Anchor Steam, you're not decent beer drinker.

Personally, I knew I'd crossed that line when I followed Gilliam's advice and enjoyed some Rogue chocolate stout poured over vanilla ice cream.

For some people, learning to enjoy hoppy/strong beers is just that - learning. DogFish 60 min seems like a lite beer to me at this point, but when I first switched from drinking American Macros to craft beers, DogFish 60 was so hoppy that I would have agreed it tasted terrible.

I am an Imperial Stout lover, but at the time I started Guinness was a really dark, strong beer to me. One of the first craft beers I tried was Stone Russian Imperial Stout after hearing friends rave about it. Oh man, what a suprise I was in for. It tasted HORRIBLE! I battled through half a glass... each sip was like torture. Finally I gave up and poured 3/4 of it down the sink. Now, of course, I love Stone RIS and every sip is pure bliss.

A lot of Beer Snobs finally tend to settle on super hoppy american IPAs or really complex imperials, and forget what it is like for someone starting off on this whole journey when they make recommendations. I think Kaubel made a great suggestion in Paulaner's hefe. Great starting point, and i've seen at least a few people start there and end up really becoming a fan of craft beer. You seem to be pretty offended by hops, so i'd say to keep trying just basic Sam Adams Boston Lager to see if you can't start enjoying that end of things a bit more. If you learn to like that, hopefully Great Lakes Burning River is available in your area, that would make a great next step imo. (Probably not that far south though...)

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon of starting with light beers and working your way to appreciation of more complex beers. Hefeweizens( wheat beers ) and browns are your best bets here. Even weaker Pale Ales are probably a good option( steer clear of Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale for now. It's the best Pale Ale ever made, but if you don't like hops you won't like it ).

I won't go as far as Kaubel and claim that you have to be a hophead to be a decent beer drinker, but I would say it helps. There are plenty of damn knowledgable beer drinkers out there that can tell you that a quality lighter beer is far more difficult to make, and has the ability to be far more nuanced in its flavors, than something that tries to kick your ass with flavor. So you might never really enjoy hops, or stouts, but as long as you enjoy beer in general you'll be ok.

You've definitely started in the right direction though. I'd suggest trying as many different beers as you can get your hands on. In the process, you'll find ones you absolutely love, and will have a chance to develop your tastes. Head to your local beer bar, or beer store, and ask questions to the people working there. Try local brews first, as they tend to be fresher and cheaper. Keep an open mind an palette. Just because something is labeled a certain way does not in any way mean it'll taste like what you're used to the genre tasting. I had a 14% lager at Pizza Port's Strong Brew festival last weekend that tasted like a barleywine. Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is more of an IPA than many IPAs I've tried. And most importantly, find stuff you enjoy. Beer drinking should be a pleasurable experience( I'd really recommend a cold beer during a hot shower, if you've never tried that before. It's an amazing experience ).

One thing I forgot to add is that it's very important, in my opinion, that you have your beer with food in the beginning.

I never really did care for the taste of beer until I had a Fat Tire draft along with a Red Robin cheeseburger. And one of the great things about the brands we suggested as "gateway" beers is that they go with pretty much everything. Try a wheat beer like Sierra Nevada while you're eating a supreme pizza, or some Negra Modelo with beef enchiladas. Soooooo freaking good.

I had similar experiences until I went to some Mexican resteraunt and had a Negra Modelo with what ever it was I ordered and it really changed my dining experience now I find my self devouring all different sorts of food with a best effort of beer or bier depending to match. I'm not sure that's how these brewer's intended but it works nicely when done right.

Ah, this thread is bringing back memories of my 2 year stint in the UK. I had the opportunity to travel to a small town in Northern Ireland and had a proper pint of Guinness there. Actually I had several.

Guinness is one beer that can taste radically different depending where you get it. I made a point of trying it all over the UK and preferred the serving I had in that tiny Northern Irish pub. Glasgow also had a few great Guinness spots, but we lived about a block away from the Tennent's factory so you can guess what we ended up drinking most times. Admittedly I never made it out to Dublin where the Guinness is reportedly legendary...

Edit: I suppose it would actually be the Tennent's brewery.

I love pale ales, and I go for a Sierra Nevada all the time, but Breckenridge Brewery's double hopped 417 IPA is just amazing. If you like hops, try it!

For new beer drinkers, go to a place like Old Chicago or something of the like and have an appetizer or dinner, but order a beer flight. Many places have them, and they're a way for new and seasoned beer lovers alike to try new beers.
If you've got the money and enjoy good food, find a restaurant in your area that does Beer Dinners. These are special dinners that are served in several courses, each paired to a specific beer, usually all from the same brewery. At the restaurant I worked at, we did them in the summer months and they were a blast. We hit a ton of different breweries, like Boulevard (in KC), Flying Dog(Colorado), New Belgium, Redhook (Washington)(their longhammer IPA is heaven when it's on tap), and one of my personal favorites, Unibroue (Canada). You'll be amazed at how different a beer tastes when it's paired well with food.

Annals of Drinking: A Better Brew: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

Finally got a chance to sit down and read this article from the New Yorker from a few weeks back. It's obstensibly about craft beer or extreme beer but focuses primarily on Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and talks at length about where he's managed to take the company. Some great stories burried in there and it's pretty neat to see how the company started and managed to get to where it is today. One of the interesting things I took away was how in general, people actualy praise Budweiser from a technical point of view of being able to produce beer with such consistency. Of course, in the same breath, they're pretty much joking how it's consistently bad. If nothing else, read the opening few paragraphs about the barrel he constructed from palo santo wood.