All this talk of craft beer -- Do I keep trying??

While all three of you make good points, I think you're all missing one key point here: Scott is trying to learn to appreciate beer.

Actually Scott asked if he should keep trying beers. And to that question unlike the rest of you, the three of us basically told him that if he did like it, it was OK if he drank what he liked. We don't see any reason to keep trying to like something just because it is the "in" thing. Peer pressure shouldn't have any influence on your decisions, especially in regards to what you like and don't like.

The answers the rest of you provided would have been appropriate if he had asked, "What beers should I be trying if I don't like beer but want to?" but that's not the question he asked.

I have introduced more people to the pleasures of "real" beer by way of English Ales (Bass Ale for example) than probably any other style of beer. It's a bit more malty/hoppy than the "fizzy water" they may be used to but is not so far removed that it they don't recognize it as beer.

BTW Mick...Your previous post was spot on.

I have introduced more people to the pleasures of "real" beer by way of English Ales (Bass Ale for example) than probably any other style of beer. It's a bit more malty/hoppy than the "fizzy water" they may be used to but is not so far removed that it they don't recognize it as beer.

BTW Mick...Your previous post was spot on.

Thanks Steve! You're right about English Ales by the way, and they completely slipped my mind! They are a great way to get people into beer. Bass and Newcastle were two of the first beers that I really started to love.

The answers the rest of you provided would have been appropriate if he had asked, "What beers should I be trying if I don't like beer but want to?" but that's not the question he asked.

That is true, however you've got to read between the lines a little bit. By giving a run-down of the beers he tried at Brownings, he was letting us know what he's tried so far and what didn't work for him, thereby allowing us to make informed recommendations.

That aside, I also think our posts were definitely appropriate without any sort of divination. By recommending beers (or in Nimbus' case a whole course of action), I think we pretty clearly communicated our answer to his question: we don't believe he should give up just yet. If that was lost in the mix somehow, then I suppose I'm saying it now.

Mr. Mick,

{You} doth protest too much, methinks. Sorry, didn't mean to hit a nerve.

Therefore, before you counsel someone to play it safe, at least give him a chance to discover whether or not he might be made into a beer drinker.

I didn't counsel anyone to play it safe, nor, imho, did any of the others. But maybe your attribution of motives not expressed fits in with the your stated need to "read between the lines" (but seemingly only when it suits your purpose). Maybe you read English better than I, but I took Scott's post to mean he felt he had given craft beers a reasonable chance, didn't necessarily see what all the hoopla was about and was considering dropping out of his frustrating quest. All I (and some others) did was suggest (counsel?) to Scott that he partake of what he wanted to partake of and not partake of what he prefers not to partake of. I am at a loss to understand how that simple message could be misconstrued into an attempt to "counsel someone" to "play it safe." I must be too stupid to grasp the subtleties of your logic.

As to the rest of your pontifications, I hope you can enjoy what you enjoy without feeling some need to get everyone to join in the apparently more enlighted views you espouse, and I hope you will grant me the right to continue to wallow around in ignorance, enjoying what I enjoy, whether you would choose it for me or not.

As I said earlier, but, apparently to no effect, "different strokes and all that . . "

Scott, I think you are answered by the very "passion" of the responses above. Your posts in the past indicate that you are a big boy, and already know that you can be comfortable drinking what you like.

To answer your question, yes, keep trying. No one needs to tell you its okay to be satisfied with what you already know you like. But, tastes "biologically" change as we age (lack of a better word) and our experiences of what is around every corner (yum soda, bubbly, beer) definitely shaped your responses to the beers you have tried.

My personal experience, 4th of July, I was probably 6-8. I should probably state that my family is from Texas, and we were on one of the properties getting ready to shoot fireworks. I had been pestering my Mom for a drink for a while, and if I recall correctly, for her drink (in one of those insulated mugs from the -er- early eighties). After a minute, Tony Bennett, she handed me her glass and I took a drink of... the most awful crap that I had ever had. (This is Texas people, and the beer was probably the silver bullet, or worse, Lite). This and my Army brat upbringing ensured that alcohol was never enticing to me in high school. Even in college, where I could drink at O'Connell's way before age, as stated by another poster, the darkest beer available (ie Guinness) was my poser beer of choice.

In the very near past, I was known to say I'd rather have a soda than a beer. I was known to not like tomatoes either. Keep trying; as you see, there is a wealth of information out there who feel very strongly about their respective tastes; you already enjoy some wine and spirits, keep trying the world (and bonhomie) (sp?) of beer and its people. I think it brings together some of the most interesting folks, and you'd be missing out to not keep trying.

Despite some vague and undetailed comments about surly service, both the Bank Street Brewery and the Mother Lodge of Richo's are about this good feeling, and sharing this good feeling via beer, and education about this beer, and the food served with it. We want you to like it as much as we do. And I have yet to meet a beer afficionado shy away from pontificating about this, in any establishment, and as evident in this thread, often with grace and outreached hand. This hand is offered to anyone tolerant of potential new passions, or simply passions of others. Like I am wont to say, it is about the experience; come on out and find one (several!) that are "just right". And though I started out with my dark beer, and still love the dark beer (towards the end of the night) you can't keep me away from Hoptimus, which went from my current poser beer of choice to my beer of choice. Who knows what is up your alley.

Have you been to any of the beer festivals in the last few months? While they can be overwhelming (sort of like the Comic-Con) a trip with an afficionado can help steer you in the right direction. If all else fails, to another point (about wine)... to know it, to like it... keep drinking it.

My view is simple: If you've tried multiple styles of beer (a very important point) and still don't like beer, you shouldn't drink beer. Drink as you please, or not at all. If you drink beer, then we have a lot of territory to cover. If the only beer you'll drink is Budweiser, that's not beer drinking. It's beer swallowing.

Trendiness, hype and expense are irrelevant to a true believer, in beer as in wine, bourbon or any other beverage. As for myself, I'll never like Bourbon enough to bother learning the differences -- but I don't scoff at the ones who do. I'd say: Enjoy your rum. As with my own tastes overall, someday yours might change when you least expect it.

Generally speaking, dark beers are easier to drink early on. Here's my short list of "easy" beers that might help you get started.

So much this. I see (in other places) threads on the best beers for easing people into good beer. And you see lots of Kolsch or Helles mentions.

Bah.

Deep end. Thats how you learn to swim.

For me it was brown ales and even the darker crappy lagers (Beck's Dark and etc). And then Dark Star Porter. Only later did I ever start appreciating the lighter colored beers and the hops (actually, in reverse order, the hops bit got me moving to lighter colored beers). Ive still never gotten to the point of enjoying a rice/corn beer.

I've tried to like beer, as well. My husband is a beer drinker, and enjoys it all, so I'm always tasting his to see if I can find one I like. Unfortunately, the only kind I've been able to drink, let alone, enjoy is lambic ale. I just can't get past the bitter taste of beer.

You should absolutely keep trying. If you have tried hundreds of different beers and not found anything you like then you may want to give beer a rest. But it sounds like you may not have been around the world yet beer wise.
It sounds like you prefer lighter malt driven beers. Maibock or English Mild ales are a good start. A good German Munich or Oktoberfest could introduce you to a beer with slightly more body.
Let me ask you this, what kind of wines do you drink copious quantities of? Fruitier California reds or chalky acidic French reds or better yet the all around complexities of Super Tuscans or just a nice thin bodied peppery Cote Du Rhone? Your pallet in wine will help us help you find a beer. Also what other beverages do you enjoy?

Scott,

I've been lying awake thinking about this...and personally I think you should keep trying and trying and trying and trying