Hard to go from drinking Bud Light to IPAs and the like.
It's like going from French vanilla iced coffee with enough cream in it that it's barely beige to straight espresso.
First thing to do is figure out what you like in a beer.
The two main families are lagers and ales. The difference is how the yeast works, top fermenting or bottom fermenting. The older styles are ales and they are easier to make so almost all homebrewers make ales. Lagers have to be kept at a consistent cold temperature while fermenting so they are a lot harder to pull off. However, they generally give a crisp, brighter, cleaner taste which is why they are so popular (especially in the Summer).
Next there's the flavor components. There's the aroma hops, the bittering hops, and the malt. The hops bring the bitter, the malt brings the sweet. Malt is a little like honey. It brings the sugars to the party that the yeast will consume to create alcohol and fizz. Generally, the darkness of the malt determines the color of the beer. Like a Louisiana roux, you can have it every shade from blonde, to honey, to caramel, to chocolate. Another good analogy would be the roast you prefer on your coffee bean, from light all the way to burnt.
So start with ale or lager, then decide if you like malty, hoppy, or balanced.
American bulk beers try to imitate the Pilsner style (a lager). If that's what you like, try Pilsner Urquell. It's what they're trying to taste like.
If you are into the hops, then you're in luck. You have tons to choose from. A pale ale is generally darker than most lagers, but lighter than most ales. It's another great place to start if you grew up on American beer. India Pale Ale or IPA is an over-hopped version of a pale ale the British came up with to withstand the long voyage to India. This is the most common style and flavor you see from American craft brewers.
Another fine British beer you might appreciate is a bitter. Don't be scared off by the name. These are well balanced ales. Try Fuller's ESB. It's a fine example.
As I stated before, I'm a fan of bocks, double bocks, and Oktoberfests. These are all good beers and accessible to the Miller Lite palate. Spaten makes a good dopplebock called Optimator and a good Oktoberfestbier that are pretty easy to find.
Then, getting away from what Corona drinkers recognize as beer is what I think of as liquid bread. These are the rich, hearty ales that fasting monks used to nourish themselves. Full of flavor, not very fizzy and often tastier at slightly warmer temperatures, these beers are a completely different animal. Whereas your can of Coors was the beverage you used to wash down your sandwich, these beers were often the meal themselves (maybe with a hunk of cheese or sausage). Drinking these beers is very different from drinking an IPA.
Belgian beers (my favorite) are often very different (and I'm not talking about Stella or that Blue Moon wheat beer). They can be very expensive, come in a corked bottle, and have live yeast sediment at the bottom. The flavors are complex but not necessarily harsh. They are sort of their own thing.
Alex.
I love coach.
), then move up to a 22 oz. Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA and top that off with a 22 oz. Breakside Double IPA. I also have a Jai Alai and a Bimini Twist in the fridge that my buddy from Gainesville sent me a couple of weeks ago that might get tapped earlier on as well, depending on when I get out of the office. :cheers:
