Expert: Ed Westemeier - 6/9/2011

Question
Hello. I've recently discovered my love for beer (or at least, specific ones) and was hoping you could answer some questions for me, or possibly help me gain more knowledge about this wonderful beverage. I'm trying to find my 'style' of beer (if it could be classified in any label).

Firstly, I should say, I tend to be particular about foods that I like, (some call it picky) and have always been sensitive to taste and smell. I love foods and beverages full and rich in flavor, but not bitter. I can't stand bitter tastes in the least. The same goes for beer. Though I haven't tried that many types of beer yet, I do like to keep it around a lot and it's difficult to decide what to buy when I'm so unsure what I will or won't like. Forgive me if anything I say sounds foolish, I'm still a novice.

I'm from the US, and beers like Budweiser reign supreme. Although very drinkable, I find Budweiser ridiculously dull, like malt flavored club soda. Of the beers I have tried, I love Spaten and Heineken. Spaten Optimator is wonderful, I don't think I could drink it all the time. The same goes for Murphy's Irish Stout, which was actually more rich, to me. I'm looking for more types of beer that are somewhere in between. I think if Spaten or Heineken had more complexity (but without more bitterness), they would be amazing - More suited to having more often as opposed to very rich tasting beers. Though my tastes could change and I may find at one point I like the richer ones more often. Now that summer is approaching I'm into a lighter flavor. However, 'Light' for me always has strong notes of complexity.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate your advice.

Answer
It sounds to me as if you already have a good idea what you like and don't like. But if you want to do some exploring, here's a suggestion.

Go to this website:
www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php/

There you see a list of all the major beer styles. Start clicking through the descriptions, and notice which ones you are attracted to.

For example, since you say you don't like bitterness, you would want to try beers with lower IBU values (that's International Bitterness Units) and the lower threshold for humans is about 10 or 11, so you want beers with IBU ranges in the 10-30 range.

In the same way, look for beers with "malty" in their description, which should have the same effect. You'll also see the word "complexity" fairly often, so that's another key.

Have fun!