Fat Tire Amber Ale

[LeNeve]

I just want to say again, that I LOVE this beer. So freaking good. :beer: :beer: :beer: :happy: :happy: :happy:

Now the experts can tell you based on your taste what beer to try next.

I love the fact that we have experts on here. The advice is perfect. :high5:

Pokes could have his own website where he just gives beer advice.

Yes he could. He knows how to explain things perfectly. Even beer retards like myself get what he is saying.

[LeNeve]

Tapatalk works on my phone. Test.

[Pokes28]

I just want to say again, that I LOVE this beer. So freaking good. :beer: :beer: :beer: :happy: :happy: :happy:

Now the experts can tell you based on your taste what beer to try next.

That is true. Personally, at this stage, my suggestion is to stick with Fat Tire for a month or two (heck I have a friend that doesn't ever drink anything else). Really savor it. See what complex flavors you can get out of it. When you can list out various flavors that you experience then it is time to try a few other beers. But really, it takes time for the taste buds to mature which is why there is a natural progression on loving beer (starts off by not liking beer the first few times you drink it).

[Pokes28]

I thought about one more styling of beer that you will probably like. That being a Bock. There aren't a ton of Bock beers in this country and Shiner Bock is probably the most popular and it isn't even sold in many states.

[LeNeve]

I think there is shiner bock at one of the stores here. I will try it.

[Joe]

Bocks are great.

[LeNeve]

I am drinking this again tonight. I read some reviews, and they are all saying biscuits with fruit flavor. I'm not tasting that at all.

I seem to be tasting a creamy mild coffee flavor.

I had my wife try a sip, and she made a face. She never, ever, ever hardly drinks though. She might have a drink once a month.

On the reviews they talk about how it looks. The color, the foam, the "lacing"?

What does color have to do with it?

What does the foam have to do with it?

WTF does lacing mean?

Why is the visual so important?

Why does everyone say to drink it in a clean, fresh glass?

Does the sealed bottle, the beer comes in, make it taste different than an open glass cup?

[negadave]

There are a few things to remember when you have a bad experience with a beer. It may be many things that are causing the issue. The beer could be old and stale. It could have been allowed to get too hot or in sunlight. Could be that the tap system sucks.

Unless you just HATE a beer or it has properties that you can't get over like "WAY too hoppy" or "tastes too much like coffee" then always give a beer a second chance to win your heart.

If I don't like hoppy what kind of beers do I stay away from?

I haven't seen fat tire yet but if i do i'm definatly gonna check it out after reading this.

I've only had one beer that was way too hoppy for me. Sam Adams lattitude 48 or 52? don't remember the #. It was so strong it smelled like weed. tasted like shit. Sometimes you lose when trying new beers.

[LeNeve]

Bocks are great.

Someone recomended Amber Bock today. We were talking about beers during lunch, and I told him that I was enjoying Fat Tire. He suggested Yuengling, because he had it when he was in Florida.

(this is a guy that works with me, 45 years old, lived in Kansas his whole life.)

I told him, that Yuengling is not available here. So he suggested Amber Bock.

[the keifer]

Bocks are great.

Someone recomended Amber Bock today. We were talking about beers during lunch, and I told him that I was enjoying Fat Tire. He suggested Yuengling, because he had it when he was in Florida.

(this is a guy that works with me, 45 years old, lived in Kansas his whole life.)

I told him, that Yuengling is not available here. So he suggested Amber Bock.

I don't think you can get Yuengling any further west than West Virginia, Tennessee, and maybe Kentucky.

[JDubb]

I am drinking this again tonight. I read some reviews, and they are all saying biscuits with fruit flavor. I'm not tasting that at all.

I seem to be tasting a creamy mild coffee flavor.

I had my wife try a sip, and she made a face. She never, ever, ever hardly drinks though. She might have a drink once a month.

On the reviews they talk about how it looks. The color, the foam, the "lacing"?

What does color have to do with it?

What does the foam have to do with it?

WTF does lacing mean?

Why is the visual so important?

Why does everyone say to drink it in a clean, fresh glass?

Does the sealed bottle, the beer comes in, make it taste different than an open glass cup?

Much like wine, once the beer is poured into a glass it had more exposure to air and will start reordering the aromas of the beer. The lacing has to do with how the foam/head clings to the glass. The more it clings is a good indicator of the quality of the brew. There is a lot going on in the glass, take some time to enjoy the nose as well as the taste and how it looks. All food indicators as to the quality.

[Pokes28]

I am drinking this again tonight. I read some reviews, and they are all saying biscuits with fruit flavor. I'm not tasting that at all.

I seem to be tasting a creamy mild coffee flavor.

I had my wife try a sip, and she made a face. She never, ever, ever hardly drinks though. She might have a drink once a month.

On the reviews they talk about how it looks. The color, the foam, the "lacing"?

What does color have to do with it?

What does the foam have to do with it?

WTF does lacing mean?

Why is the visual so important?

Why does everyone say to drink it in a clean, fresh glass?

Does the sealed bottle, the beer comes in, make it taste different than an open glass cup?

Sorry for the delay on this. Either been away from the computer or busy working. Also feeling a little C&R down at the moment. It'll come back, it always does. But anyway...

Remember that different parts of your tongue sense different characteristics of a beer. So when I bring up that people need to develop their taste buds, it isn't something that just happens quickly. The back of the tongue is where about 90% of the bitter tastes are sensed. This includes things like hops, coffee, etc. A lot of beer has a lot of sensation in this part of the tongue. Sour is on the edges which is why when you taste something really sour your jaw clenches. If sweet was on the edges, you would have the same sensation when you drink a pop. Sweet/salty is on the front. I know "WFT does that matter?" Well, every beer has a taste makeup that should touch every region of the mouth at least just a little. Some people can't handle drinking beer without putting a salt in it. The reason could be one of several: One, they smoke so their taste buds are fucked anyway. Two, they overstimulate the front of their tongue with too much salt and sweet and it is the only way they can get a sensation from that part of their tongue. Three, they are sodium addicted or deprived. Four, it is crap beer and like crap steak needs spiced up to be consumed. Lastly, remember that not everybody has the same number of taste buds.

So when you hear people being able to make out flavors that you just can't, it could be that you simply don't have the taste buds to taste them. Or it could be that they have developed their taste buds to a point that they can pick up on more subtle overtones. Or lastly and I come across this a lot: They are full of shit and are making up stuff.

As for the overall presentation which is what you are asking in regards to color, head, lacing, etc. Think about food presentation on TV commercials or food shows around the Holidays. The turkey is presented in all its dark crispy skinned glory instead of the pale grained flesh of the bird. Why? Because it is far more appealing to the senses. There are a lot of foods that have artificial coloring, etc. All for the same reason. Beer is the same way. Generally speaking, the darker or more vivid the beer, the prettier and more appealing it appears. Poor a mass produced beer like Bud, Coors, or Miller in a glass and then look at it versus a normal craft beer (even another lager) and you will see that they are all pretty pale and lifeless. In most of their commercials, you never see the beer, just the containers. Why? It doesn't suit the sense of what you would like to be drinking. Plus lets face it... The darker the beer, the more "manly" it is perceived.

Fat Tire is an amber ale. What color do you expect to see when you pour it into a glass? A beautiful mid-dark beer that shines a pretty amber color when you look at light through it. If it isn't, then it can't be an amber ale.

The head on a beer is important. It shows proper carbonation and it actually provides a level of protection to the beer beneath it.

Lacing does two things. It shows that you are drinking from a clean glass (vital) and the quality of the head. Note that the darker/heavier the beer the better/easier lacing occurs. All lacing is being able to see the little foam rings down the glass as you drink it. Like a tree circle almost. You take a drink and there is a little foam that clings to the side where the previous level was. A non-clean glass prevents that from happening. You can also tell about a non-clean glass if you drink lighter beer because the carbonation bubbles won't be uniform, you'll have several places that look like they are bubbling a great deal more than the rest.

Lastly, the importance of a glass... For many beers, drinking from the bottle is A-OK. Fat Tire is very good from a bottle, etc. However, the chemical processes of beer aren't complete without what amounts to the decanting of beer. That is opening it up and letting oxygen to it during the pour process. If a beer is poured and has no head, it wasn't done correctly. Only in a glass can all the values of beer be determined. The color can't be determined from a brown bottle, the smell, the lacing, etc are all part of the experience. It is how brew masters taste their product so that is how we drinkers should taste it if we want to have it as the brewer intended. Different brewers and beers have different glasses If you ever get to go into a really good restaurant that has a vast beer selection, you may find that they have different glasses. We go to our place here and we'll order a bunch of different beers and before long the table has a big assortment of glass styles. What this means is that the glass shape does something different for the different beers. Some are made to open up the beer as previously mentioned. Some are made to better reflect light, etc.

So the answer to your last question is "most of the time, yes."

[LeNeve]

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I love getting answers I understand. Thanks a bunch guys.

[Pokes28]

I enjoy the questions. It is fun trying to find a way to make something that I just know into words that somebody somewhere else in the world can understand. There are a lot of ways to write the same things that can be misleading if you don't know the angle from which it was written.

[Joe]

Pokes is