This weekend by BF and I decided to do a beer tasting. As can happen with so many things, sometimes you just find yourself in a rut doing the same thing over and over, and not really feeling engaged or inspired. Such can be the case with beer too. We usually get what we know we like, but that excludes the other 99% of the beer on the shelves at the supermarket. And we don't really have a clue about what any of them taste like. We decided to end that, and test a few out.
Most grocery stores don't allow you to buy a single bottle out of a six pack, but because Trader Joe's is so AWESOME, they do. You can go into any TJ's and fill your own variety 6 pack. This is an excellent way to try new brews without buying a liquor store worth of beer. And it's the perfect serving size for a taste (the really big bottles are too much, especially if you decide you don't like it). I got 2 six packs, and two larger bottles for $21. That's 14 different beers at $1.50 each. Not too shabby.
It wasn't a formal tasting. I just picked up a bunch of different beers, and we consulted my book on beer (it was a birthday gift from a friend) when we wanted to know something like what malt is, or why some beers have more alcohol than others etc.
We tried to group them together as we tasted. For example we did all the lagers in a row, and the same for IPA's. It was surprising how much more we noticed by trying them side-by-side.
I tasted the most incredible and delicious white IPA , and we both enjoyed a pumpkin ale. My Sweetie discovered he really likes unfiltered wheat beers and we found a double IPA that he liked as well (he is usually not an IPA guy). We discovered that neither of us is a big fan of amber beers, or porters. And the one Octoberfest we tried tasted like a car air freshener to me. We didn't care for either of the light European beers we tried either.
It was a really great experience though. And best of all, when we went to Safeway yesterday (for groceries) we recognized a whole bunch of the beers on the shelf! It feels good to be so well informed. The only downside is that you end up wasting a lot of beer if you don't like them. I think we dumped out at least 5 almost full bottles. And the ones you do like will only last the day in the frig once opened. But it's a small price to pay for the horizon expansion that occurred. In fact, I think we might try it again next weekend!
