English Beer Tasting Night

I'm a beer novice. Heck, I'm not really a beer guy; I'll start right there. I can tell I like lagers better than ales, and brightly hoppy ones at that. Beyond this... I'm operating in the dark.

Luckily there was an English beer tasting at our local liquor store, Benz, this evening. If you're ever in town, it's a fun visit, even if they're not doing a tasting. Too many fun things to buy. I was even more fortunate to have a good friend of mine there who knows beer, especially English beers with me. He lead me through each, ensuring I tasted those beverages that were lighter first so as not to overwhelm my palate too soon.

Top Picks
As a newbie, these were my fav pics of the evening. I can't read my own writing later and have trouble remembering what the label looks like when I can read what I wrote, so I take pictures of the labels I like with my cell phone. That way I can find them by sight later.

Tetley's
This is an extremely light ale. Almost tastes like nothing at all at first blush, but if you let the tastes develop in your mouth, there's a woodsy, kind of mushroomy autumn quality to the beer that's really enjoyable. I'd almost call this an iced tea of beers. Not necessarily what you think of with beer, but an interesting and enjoyable extreme end of the taste range.



OSB Bitter Ale
Nice hoppy bite, almost like a lager, but darker and smoother. Good hot summer day beer.






Meantime Porter
I'd never had a porter and I still couldn't tell you exactly what one was, but this was a very satisfying beer. Almost like you're eating something, but not terribly filling the way some beers like this can be. Very malty, chocolatey (without being cloying), nutty, coffee-tasting reddish ale; it really had rich, calm flavor. Great autumn and winter beer.

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Ale
I don't think I could pick a favorite between this one and the Meantime above. This was a beer that tasted great from the start and grew on me more as I drank it. Smooth, toasty, probably the favorite beer of my English beer friend, I came to enjoy it very much as well. I seriously tasted what I can only describe as a bacon flavor in this brew and a fantastic one at that. My friend thought I was crazy. I'm the novice; he's probably right.


Best bites,
James