Newbie advice on craft brews

With it being below freezing and my rose stocks dwindling, I am starting to think about trying craft brews vs wine for mid week.

I have to admit, I know little about beer.

In fact growing up, I would have chosen coors light, and still probably would on a nice hot day.

That being said, I have been trying some random beers as a base line so to speak and was hoping others could offer places for me to branch out.

I would like to keep the suggestions to something I can reasonably find at a total wine or local liquor store…no ordering.

So far my real favorite is a draft Guinness. I have tried a few of the sierra nevada porter and coffee stout and like them, but not as much as Guinness. I also tried the SN pale ale and have one of the boomerang ipa at home (havent tried that one).

This weekend I was at a local bar and just tried a few on tap. All these seem to have very big bold taste to me, sort of like drinking a very young cab…as in doesn’t seem too food friendly.

So far I am thinking I like the darker beers, and the less bold tasting “other” beers.

Any suggestions on readily ava things I can try to branch out?

What is your locale, Mark?

It’s funny. I did the same thing two winters ago. Got too cold for Rose and I wasn’t happy with the everyday red wine situation so I went to beer. Really enjoyed it for a while but put on about 10 pounds pretty darn quick.

I’m assuming his locale of “Biggest little city” means Reno. Looking at NV distribution on seek a brew, & reading the post, here is my best shot.

1. Deschutes Black Butte Porter. The regular 12 oz bottles, not the anniversary one. This brings a lot of the character of a dry, roasty foreign stout, but shows tons of depth & character.

2. Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA- A drinkable, balanced IPA which walks the style tightrope well enough to please west coast (hop forward) & east coast (malt forward) drinkers. The only caveat is that as good as FW is at making beer, their distribution is terrible. Check the dates carefully on these. I would also highly recommend their Pivo Pils as a legit take on Czech Pilsner, but with the same warning about the dates.

3. Ommegang Hennepin Saison- While DuPont is more a global baseline for Saison, it is often stuck in green bottles & gets skunked. This is very true to traditional Saison/farmhouse brewing & as you mentioned pairing w/ food, Saisons are my go to beers w/ a variety of food.

4. Something a little different. Anderson Valley’s The Kimmie, The Yink & The Holy Gose. Gose is a german wheat beer made in Cologne. It is slightly tart & has mild additions of salt & coriander. Anderson Valley began canning this as a summer seasonal, but decided to make it year round due to its success. The best part is that it comes in at under 5% ABV, so you can crush away on these without too much guilt or waistline.

If you don’t live in Reno, I would still make similar recs, but possibly different breweries.

Reno, yes and thanks.

Although that being said I am in trukee or southlake most weekends so if getting into CA means anything, its not that hard for me to do.

If you’re in Truckee, stop & have lunch at Fifty Fifty. Food’s good & they are well known for their Bourbon Barrel aged stouts, which are huge rich beers. They do have a solid lineup top to bottom.

Mark,

All you need to do is walk into Craft and ask for suggestions.

Correction: Gose originally came from the town of Goslar, but migrated to the Leipzig area in the early 1700s. IMO, the Anderson Valley version is a far cry from the real thing. In Cologne, they drink Kölsch.

He’s right- brain fart. Thanks Rick

Thanks Joe, I didn’t even know they were here. I had to Google what you posted.
Ill stop by on my way home.

Why do they always put those cool shops in hard to get to places?

It’s a really cool place, Mark. I’ve scored some good rare stuff there both times I’ve been in.

Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale is a good store-bought starter.

Not craft, but import… I think you’d like Paulaner Salvator. Very good food beer.

if you like Guinness, start by trying other stouts, and then other types of stout. A local place does a rye stout that is a favorite, but you cannot get that your way. Regardless, try different types of stouts, many are using barrel aging, aging with bourbon barrels, etc. Try an oatmeal stout (Samuel Smith is excellent). Then, branch out from there.

I was more or less at the Guiness stage 30 years ago when I moved to this country.
I quickly got introduced to ales of all types from Sam Smith, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, and Anderson Valley. Loved them all.
Took another 10 years before I realized Belgian stuff was better, and then another 20 to realize that the current revolution in craft beers is the best yet.
Probably this could have been a speedier evolution in places, but with a main focus on drinking wine every day it is hard to keep the pace up.

Get the book “Tasting Beer” by Randy Mosher. It’s a lot of fun and covers beer history and styles. As you read through it, try out beers that sound new and interesting to you. I did that over the summer and it was a guided tasting tour through the world of beer. Now I’m kind of knowledgable and happy drinking beer that is, in many ways, as good as wine.