Acquiring taste for beer

[nd]

Most people think beer is pretty disgusting when they first try it. I'm 20 years old, and I still feel the same way. Of course, I'm aware that it's an "acquired" taste, but it's hard for me to imagine how nearly everyone acquires it.

The only scenario I can envision is that people pretend they like it when they're younger around older teens.. which sounds feasible, but couldn't possibly explain it for everyone.

How did it happen for you? How long did it take?

 

[GL]

Try a good beer. If you're American, most of that home brewed stuff is crap. I've been drinking a lot of Sleeman's or Keith's and I find I actually like the taste of beer now. Previously I didn't and stayed away from it - preferred Rum and Coke's or other mixed drinks before.

 

[nd]

Yeah, I'm shamelessly targetting this thread at Americans since I know the situation is quite different in other places (like France, where they drink wine daily when growing up).

And I don't know what a "good" beer is either. If you ask 20 people, you'll get 20 different answers

 

[DAM]

actually i never really disliked beer, and i love to drink beer regularly (no im not an alchy) i love bud, and shiner, i would love more expensive beer but im a broke college student.


drink with food, thats the best way to taste your beer.



dam()

 

[GL]

Try some of the stuff from microbreweries. I'm sure there are good American microbreweries. Oh, and never drink beer from a can. Only buy bottled stuff. It makes a difference in the way the beer tastes.

 

[kami]

Hmm, I liked the taste after approx 2 beers

 

[SpongeBob]

I could never stand Budweiser, Miller, etc... Most of the generic light beers taste like water, so I don't have any problem with them. But a good beer like Bass, Grolsch, Harp's, etc...I liked the taste right from the start. Everyone's tastes are different, If I didn't like the taste of beer I wouldn't pretend, I would find some kind of alcohol I did like the taste of and drink that.

 

[Tripleshot]

Somehow,someone who calls himself "spongebob" just doesn't seem appropriate to be asking how to acquire a taste for beer.

But regardless, you need to try them till you find what you like.

 

[yakko]

The beers I didn't like the taste of when I was younger I still don't like the taste of. Good beers like Spaten and Beck's I liked when I first tried them.

 

[b0mbrman]

hmmm...from what I've gathered, there are really few people that really *enjoy* the first beer. Most people just close their eyes, shut their nose, and down it...after that, the rest of the beers are easy.

Or maybe you just need a different beer to get started. My first beer of the night is always a limed-n-salted Corona...

 

[reitz]

Most people "aquire" the taste because of the effects it produces

 

[azazyel]

Drink Schmidt!!!!!! Seriously the cheepest beer is the easiest to drink. Mirco brews are ok with food but not to get drunk with. They give the worst hangovers but of course being young you probably don't get those yet.

Also remember that "beer isn't just for breakfast anymore!"

Side note- beer + lucky charms = the breakfast of champions!

 

[pulse8]

My grandmother used to give me sips of her beer when I was little. I liked it then and I like it now. I think if you need to aquire a taste for something, you can do without having it. I don't need to aquire a taste for anything...I just don't eat or drink it.

 

[Cyberian]

<< Hmm, I liked the taste after approx 2 beers >>


I liked my first one, and every other one I've had since.
Like pulse8 said, if I have to 'acquire' a taste for something I won't eat it or drink it.

 

[Elledan]

The taste of beer isn't the worst thing. It's the alcohol in it which makes it undrinkable.

 

[b0mbrman]

Wait, then why does non-alcoholic beer taste like crap?

 

[Antisocial Virge]

<< I've been drinking a lot of Sleeman's >>



I used to drive by that brewery. Could see the kettles through the windows at night.

 

[notfred]

I dont drink beer.... or alcohol at all, for that matter

 

[ElFenix]

i second DAM's choice of shiner... God Bless Texas!

i'll drink about anything, though, from the weakest tasting keystone to bass, harp, and guiness. but shiner is the beer of choice. bud is the cheap beer of choice.

and if it tastes the same out of a can and bottle... its not right.

 

[FatMan42]

Right - I don't profess to know much about US beers but the Miller/Bud/generic lager-types bore me to tears. Nasty, fizzy, bland pap. If you want a real beer, try one from the good folks at Caffreys. Ah... Please, no flaming here - this IS NOT an anti-US thing. If there's some *interesting* US beers about, please let those non Americans present know - I'll give any rated beer a crack.

 

[Looney]

2 words: Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning was made famous by Pavlov when he experimented with dogs. He would measure their salivary response by presenting dogs with food. Initially, the dogs did not begin salivating until the food was presented, but eventually, the dogs began to salivate at the mere sound of the bell: creating an association between the sound of the bell with the presentation of food.

Which is similar to how people acquire the 'taste' for beer. Initially, beer itself doesn't cause a rewarding response, it is the following 'buzz' or events that happens during the buzz (ie, party or sex). But eventually, the beer itself comes to be associated as the reward, and it becomes more appealing. Ever have a beer or cigarette after a long period of not having them (like years)... what goes through your mind when you sit down and have that smoke or beer after such a long period? Floods of memories of 'goodtimes' comes back to you.

It's also why beer ads of scantily clad women are so effective. You'll hear ignorant people saying 'do they really expect that kind of advertisement to be effective... do you really think people think they're at a pool of scantily clad women when they drink Bud'. No, they don't... but when you watch enough of those commercials, you'll come to associate Budweiser as something arousing (consciously or unconsciously). It's also why you see advertisement banners around hockey rings and a big Budweiser ad right in the middle of a boxing ring. It has nothing to do with exposure, but it has everything to do with associating an arousal with a stimulant (excitement of a game with the subliminal message of beer).

Do i like the taste of beer? Not normally, but on a hot summer day and having a grilled steak, i'm dying for one. Why? because all the good times i've had beers were on those type of days. Same thing with cigarettes, i've quit them... but when i'm having a coffee, i'm dying for one because that's how i use to spend my teen years (in coffee shops smoking).

 

[Rickten]

where in god's name do they make KING COBRA and COLT 45. That stuff is rank. Bud light is pretty much in the same category.

 

[spanky]

just keep drinking til ur brain can't decipher between what taste good or bad. and stay off the roads too

 

[Martin]

<< The taste of beer isn't the worst thing. It's the alcohol in it which makes it undrinkable. >>



Nay, nay good friend. The alcohol is the only good thing in it. Personally, I would never torture my taste buds with beer.

Only 7% liquor based drinks, wine, and liquor for me.

 

[peemo]

Moralpanic,

Good beer is good food. I first tried beer at age 8 or so. I had a few glugs of a real bitter in London and a real Czech pilsner in Czechoslovakia. I liked it right away - even before I liked scantily clad women!

Try touring Belgium where beer is an artform.

Do you like ice cream? If so, do you enjoy it because you remember you mama's breast? Or is it possible simply to enjoy it in the present?

You admit that you don't normally enjoy the taste of beer so ultimately I believe you are unqualified to comment. You are welcome to your moral/psychological interpretation of the pleasures of beer but it is purely theoretical. I don't watch baseball and I don't understand the game but I don't postulate that those who do have a Freudian fixation on the bat or the mitt.

Cheers.