Why do so many people like beer? I will never understand it.

[raccoon]

I have never liked beer. I used to like cocktails, wine, wine coolers....but not beer.

Not to say I never drank it, I drank it with pizza sometimes. Without pizza, as well.

[steve2470]

1. it's cheap, in general ?

It's definitely an acquired taste. The sugary/sweet cocktails are more of a natural thing to me.

[Dash87]

6. Not always. Just the really shite ones.

There's nothing more disgusting than a cheap beer. Some of that 'crap in a can' is obscene.

Example - Whoever concocted "Guinness Draught" is a monster that should be in jail. Any brand with a "Light" version of it is the stuff that microbreweries oil their machines with.

[steve2470]

7. is there such a thing as a sweet-ish beer ?

Not trying to be snarky, honest question.

[Dash87]

10. There are sweeter beers, but some are extremely funky to me.

To me, beer is supposed to have a hoppy or malty taste. Any sweet (with cheap 'get drunk' beers, it's usually disgusting mystery-flavoring) flavoring in them are very pukey to me. I've had a few beers that were too sweet to drink.

You might like Blue Moon if you're looking for a sweeter beer. It still maintains most of the beer taste, but has hints of orange.

I also personally think Spaten Optimator is a sweet beer (it has a heavy malt taste blended with what I think is molasses), but I've heard others say it's very bitter. Tastes can be pretty subjective, imo.

[pinboy3niner]

15. Dos Equis used to have a slight sweetness that went especially well with spicy food

But it doesn't taste the same anymore.

[T_i_B]

2. I like my liquid refreshment to have malt, hops and yeast in

I like the taste.

Oh, and as a card carrying CAMRA member and beer geek / beer snob I like my beer to be unpasteurized as well.

[MiddleFingerMom]

18. That's one thing I learned to my great disappointment upon returning from Germany...

.
.
.
... is that most, if not all of their "in-country" beer was unpasteurized (due to its
short life "on the shelf"?????). I did find some tasty, tasty beers there (though
they were all mass-production breweries), but imagine my disappointment
after joyfully finding them here (long before the craft-beer fad) to find that they
ALL had this odd bitter taste... which I eventually was told was because, in
order to export them to this counry (or most other countries, I guess), they
were required to pasteurize them.
.
.
.

[bif]

26. I was in England when the whole CAMRA thing got started!

I was at a pub that was hosting a bachelor party for some CAMRA members who brought in a keg of Real Ale and they invited us to join their tasting/party.

[T_i_B]

34. It's quite big over here now

There's loads of real ale pubs round where I live and numerous breweries producing cask ale. The recent fad has been for pale ales and IPA's made with loads of US hops so it's not like it's all brown bitter these days either. Mind you, I do like a good pint of bitter.

[RevStPatrick]

3. No you won't ever understand... and don't even try!

More beer for the rest of us!!!

[Dash87]

4. I like the taste. However, I'm a beer snob.

I usually only drink highly-rated craft beers (imagine me saying that in a posh voice with my nose in the air). Some of them are better than candy to me.

I won't touch the horse piss known as mainstream American beer. I wouldn't water my plants with that crap.

I'm not a heavy drinker. I almost never get drunk. I like to slowly enjoy a beer - especially a good and hoppy IPA. Yum!

[a la izquierda]

5. I hated it at first. I would only drink vodka and cranberry juice.

Now, I like lots of beers, and I can only do vodka with a splash of OJ or some tonic.

[pipi_k]

8. Me neither...

I mean, I drank it when I was young, but not for the taste. It was just a cheap means to an end, which was to get drunk.

I don't really drink now, but if I do, and if I'm going for taste, I like a bit of Cream Sherry or a Grasshopper.

[dr.strangelove]

9. How can anyone not love the taste of a finally crafted beer?

The thick taste and wonderful smell of a stout or porter, they make me smile. Some like the bitterness of a certain beer, or the crisp bite of another. I have loved the taste and smell of beers since I was a kid. I guess everyone like different things.

[Graybeard]

11. It's like your favorite bread in liquid form.

And as many varieties. Dark German Pumpernickel; dense, chewy Sourdough or crisp, light Baguette.

Greatest invention of ancient man after the wheel.

[T_i_B]

12. There's many different styles and flavours of beer.....

.....be it brutally bitter double IPA's, dark rich stouts, sour lambic beer, crisp pilsners, wheat beers or earthy english bitters. It's not all like Coors or Rolling Rock. And for that we should all be thankful.

[rrneck]

13. Nothing cuts thirst on a hot day like cold beer.

When I've been outside in the summer sweating my guts out, that cold beer in the evening is a treat.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. I've never cared for it much, don't know why.

Most of it tastes unpleasantly bitter. A few years ago I was taken pub-crawling in Amsterdam (an experience I would highly recommend), and got to sample several beers. One I actually did like was called Kwak. Otherwise I'm not a big fan of the stuff - on a hot day I'd rather drink iced tea.

[T_i_B]

35. I like Kwak

It's an excellent beer. I just don't like the ridiculous glass most bars serve the stuff in.

[alarimer]

16. It's because you've been drinking the wrong stuff.

If all you've had is typical American big brand lagers, then, yes, I do understand why you wouldn't like it.

There are many, many different kinds of beers. And just like wines, they each have different characteristics.

[ConcernedCanuk]

17. I read a report back in the 70's, and I do like booze.

.
.
.

Study indicated that if one lived on beer alone, you could live for ten years.

If you drink only wine, (again, no food) - you could survive for 5 years.

Drinking hard liquor like whiskey - 2 years.

So my choice was a no-brainer.

Beer has lots of nutrients, hops, barley and protein.

Also, in the warm weather, beer cools my body down.

Liquors and wine warms it up.

I use a liqueur (my favorite is Amaretto) in coffee in the winter when I'm working outside - raises my body temperature.

I can't stand the taste of beer when I am dining - wine is good for dining -

I like a liqueur straight up after dinner - wee sips with a coffee on the side.

mmmmm

CC

[olddots]

19. I've always preferred Champipple

Redd Fox as Fred Sanford

[hrmjustin]

20. I like the taste of some beer. It really depends on the beer.

[Myrina]

21. I don't understand people's obsession with coffee.

Tried to acquire a taste for it in high school &

Even now. Blech!!

[HoneychildMooseMoss]

33. I hate the taste of coffee *and* beer

Especially coffee, since it leaves a horrible aftertaste in my mouth

[OriginalGeek]

22. For health reasons

some years ago I stopped drinking sugary beverages. I cut out all soda and I switched to plain tea, black coffee and water. Corresponding with that I found my taste for beer improved almost infinitely - that and I started trying better beers. Once my taste buds were no longer awash with syrupy liquid I found a much greater appreciation for the malty, hoppy art of beer.


In fact, pretty much everything tastes better to me now. Well-brewed black coffee has it's own tiny hint of sweetness in the after-taste. I don't think I've extended my life much by quitting the processed sugar but I do honestly believe I've enhanced the quality of my gastronomic experiences. I do still have a weakness for chocolate but I go to great lengths to keep that indulgence to a bare minimum. Young's Double Chocolate Stout is a pretty nice alternative to a Snickers bar.

[nomorenomore08]

23. Beer has such a wide range of flavor and body that saying "I don't like beer" sounds simplistic.

Though if you mean mass-produced "light lager" - which is the dominant American beer style even nowadays - I can understand your feelings on the subject. I'll still drink it, especially PBR or High Life, just to get a buzz, but give me a good craft beer any day.

[pinboy3niner]

24. "Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hops"

1 Chronicles 29:15

[nomorenomore08]

28. "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

[JeffHead]

25. It only saved the world that's all...

If beer has that kind of power, count me as a big fan.

[MrScorpio]

27. Here you go!

[BainsBane]

29. I like beer

Why do people like anything? It's a matter of taste.

[Xipe Totec]

30. Try some lambics

Unlike conventional ales and lagers, which are fermented by carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeasts, lambic beer is produced by spontaneous fermentation: it is exposed to the wild yeasts and bacteria that are said to be native to the Senne valley, in which Brussels lies. It is this unusual process which gives the beer its distinctive flavour: dry, vinous, and cidery, usually with a sour aftertaste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic

of a Red Flanders Ale, Like Duchesse de Bourgogne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchesse_de_Bourgogne_%28beer%29


If you like wine, you'll love these beers.

[RainDog]

31. kriek - or cherry beer

is a great beer.

In Belgium it's served with dinner like a wine. Traditional pairings are things like blood sausage, potatoes, and red cabbage (which is also sweet because it's cooked with apples.)

It's too sweet to drink as "beer," for me. At the same time, I'm more of a Stella than Duvel kind of beer drinker.

[T_i_B]

36. Lambic is one of those things you either love or hate

It's very sour, which is why fruit is added. It's certainly very different to regular beer and very highly regarded by quite a few people. I will occasionally drink a good lambic beer such as Cantillion Geuze, but only occasionally.

[Xipe Totec]

39. Agreed

Though this is a recommendation for someone who's already expressed a dislike for more traditional beer tastes, so there's nothing to lose by taking a walk on the tart side.

I have a cousin who dislikes the taste of beer but who loves Duchesse De Bourgogne. Not as sour as a true lambic, but still very tart. She also fell in love with Ommegang's Aphrodite; another tart lass.

[eShirl]

38. ooo, sounds like beer with some qualities of kombucha

kombucha also has an apple-y taste

made from water, tea, sugar, with a big flap of Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria & Yeast (SCOBY) plopped in.

[AsahinaKimi]

32. I wish I could have it...but alas

With my heart condition, and medications, I can not drink it now. I have a can of Asahi and three bottles of Tsingtao in my fridge. I just may have to give them away... sadly.

[DFW]

37. You are not alone

I have always hated the taste and smell of beer--all of it, no matter what kind.

And I live in Germany with weekly trips to Belgium. Even my German wife doesn't like it.

Keep in mind, however, that in THIS respect, we are the 1%.

[tavernier]

40. It makes me fat.

Otherwise I'd enjoy it more often.

[B Calm]

41. There are great tasting beers. Try Pacifico (Mexican) or XXX (Mexican)

or Molson (Canadian) or Labatts Blue (Canadian) or Boulevard Wheat (Kansas City) or Spotted Cow (Lower Wisconsin).

[MicaelS]

42. I think beer is nasty stuff.

I hate bitter anything, but I find the taste of hops revolting. But then I don't drink anything but sweetened frozen mixed drinks. And not many of them, I think my last alcoholic drink was about 6 months ago.

[nolabear]

43. I like the first swallow but it's too bulky for me. But beer kind of saved mankind.

Beer used to be one of the main foods in many European societies, particularly the very poor ones. It wasn't quite the beer we know but it had important nutrients and kept well.

[rurallib]

44. I think for me it was the malt

I quit drinking alcohol long ago, but when I drank it was almost exclusively beer.
I love the taste of malt. That is my theory anyway.

[lame54]

45. Because beer saved the world - watch this...