Expanding my beer palate
I came pretty late to the beer-drinking party (senior year of college). I’ve always favored sweet over bitter and have not been a fan of tea, coffee, beer, etc. Because of this, I’ve historically not been fond of anything dark and basically stuck with American lagers.
For the last few years, I have mainly gravitated toward the pedestrian beers: Bud Light, Corona, Michelob Ultra and the like. About a year ago I was introduced to Shock Top (called Spring Heat – Spiced Wheat at the time), which is a Belgian Ale. Since then I’ve also come to find out Blue Moon (which I also enjoy) is very similar.
With this new found desire to expand the palate, I headed off to Lukas Liquor at the corner of Manchester and Clarkson road to “build my own six pack” (for $8.99, if you’re interested). Having never been there, I was quite impressed with the scale of the store. If you are a beer or wine connoisseur, I recommend you check it out.
Here’s what I ended up walking out with (with tasting results thus-far):
- New Belgium Sunshine Wheat – Thumbs Up!
- Boulevard Pale Ale – Meh…
- Schlafly Hefeweizen – Thumbs Up!
- Shock Top (Belgian Ale) – Thumbs Up!
- Leinenkugel Honey Weiss – Would drink it if given to me, but most likely wouldn’t ask for it.
- Czechvar (Wikipedia article describing the relationship with AB) – Not Yet Tasted
So far the experiment has been a success, with a .800 batting average after trying 5 of the 6 beers. I have high hopes for the last one, so I feel like I’ll end up in good shape.
I should also note that a couple of catalysts for this experiment was the InBev/AB merger (acquisition) and going to the Schlafly Bottleworks a few weeks ago. It’s given me a desire to support the local/little guy a bit more these days.
Given the list above, what beers would you recommend to further expand the Danker beer portfolio?
September 14th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I tend to start at the pale ale, and go lighter or darker from there depending on my mood, and the weather. But since the pale ale you’ve already tried didn’t tickle your fancy, I’ll point you towards Harp. I think it’s in line with some of the beers you’ve already liked.
If you decide to give another pale ale a try, both Schlafly and Bass put out a decent pint.
If you decide to be really adventurous, try either the Double Dragon or the Best Bitter from Felinfoel, preferably cask drawn. Somewhat counter intuitive to the names, you will probably like the latter more than the former. http://www.felinfoel-brewery.co.uk/ales.html Of course to get cask drawn beer you’ll need to go to someplace like Dressels to even find this stuff.
September 18th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Schlafly Hefeweizen is one of my favorites. I would try Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat as its much bettern than the Pale Ale. I like many of the Paulaner beers and I haev been trying all sorts of pilsners lately.
September 20th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Greetings! I’m very excited to hear about your journey into better beer. Keeping with the theme of “local, local, local” you might also seek out Schlafly #15 – a dark wheat beer that is a fine take on a Bavarian style – not too dark, but full flavored. In addition to the this one, and the fine beer mentioned in your post, you might also seek out a couple of beers from O’Fallon Brewery. Their Gold and their Wheat are both solid and while you’re at it, you might enjoy giving their Pumpkin Ale a whirl …
If you care to associate with a lively group of fellow beer folk, I want to invite you to join us on the Aleuminati – the (not so) secret society of better beer drinkers. http://www.aleuminati.com
Cheers and happy journey!
Shawn
March 25th, 2010 at 8:32 am
You should try some Shiner Beer. Shiner Bock is some tasty stuff. Shiner Blond is lighter but still rich with flavor. I made my pilgrimage to the brewery in Shiner Texas a few weeks ago and there is nothing like fresh from the brewery beer!
Good luck!
Collin