Beer Thread

Originally Posted by Rasputina

Of course most people, as far as I know, disliked beer upon their first taste, and for most people, as far as I know, tried it during their mid-teens, which means their pallet was quite pre-mature anyway.

There's a reason for that. It takes anywhere from 20 to 25 years for the taste buds to fully develop to the point where they can detect the subtle nuances of beer. To any teenager, it's horridly bitter. Unless that child is into bitter foods - and most aren't - beer will taste rather bad. Any 16 year-old who tells you he loves beer is full of shit. He loves getting drunk, that's it.

My first beer experience was born of complete naivete. My stepfather had horrible taste in beer. His preference was Genesee Cream Ale. I don't even know if it's available in most of the United States. If not, you aren't missing a thing. Stuff was swill. Pure swill. Even though I wasn't going to like the bitterness of any beer you gave me at age 14, I think Genny Cream Ale is probably the best way to make sure your child never becomes an alcoholic.

As for beers that I like, I haven't sampled enough of a variety to have a concrete opinion on the matter. Usually, I just try out whatever is in my friend's refrigerator and hope it's halfway decent. He's into microbrews and imports, so there has been some odd stuff. He had some pumpkin ale that I liked. And the chocolate ale was really good. Don't ask me to remember the names of them, however. But over time, it's become apparent that I'm more likely to enjoy a beer if the flavor is exotic. Plain beers bore me and I can't be bothered with them.

Whenever I buy my own beer, which isn't often, I usually get Sam Adams because I know that for a commonly available beer, it's probably not going to totally suck. I liked the blackberry witbier enough that I'd buy it again.

Jam it back in, in the dark.