How does one become a "Beer Connoisseur"

[Justinb795]

Title says it all, Beer is awesome and I want to know all about it...Where do I go?

[bigdaddy]

Read a book or two by Michael Jackson.

[Pietro]

All you need to do is say that you hate anything that is under 8 bucks a six pack.

Done.

[jkg]

Learn how to make it. Once you understand the relationship of the four ingredients and how they contribute to what you are tasting you will be well on your way.

drinking a sh*tload of beer helps too.

[taez555]

http://www.BeerAdvocate.com

It takes a lifetime

[Bussman]

...drinking a sh*tload of beer helps too.

That's what I do!

[PhishinPole]

http://www.BeerAdvocate.com

It takes a lifetime

Take a minute to read the counter-point to why you shouldn't explicitly trust sites that rate beer. (In short, there isn't a standard, so the results are all over the place.)

http://www.topfermented.com/2011/10/11/why-beer-rating-is-crap/

[taez555]

Take a minute to read the counter-point to why you shouldn't explicitly trust sites that rate beer.

I was actually recommending it more for the forums, festivals, recommended beer bars, beer stores and general beer culture that you can immerse yourself in, rather just than just the reviews. It's a wealth of information beyond just the reviews.

[Elias Graves]

Stop buying Budweiser and you're halfway there!
(Unless you are lucky enough to get the brewmaster's reserve.)

EG

[PhishinPole]

I was actually recommending it more for the forums, festivals, recommended beer bars, beer stores and general beer culture that you can immerse yourself in, rather just than just the reviews. It's a wealth of information beyond just the reviews.

Ah gotcha. My bad.

[The_Whale]

..Where do I go?

go to different bars and beer stores and try different beers.

don't make it complicated.

[EricPeterson]

If you have local breweries, go to them. Talk up the brewmaster if they are around, I found that most of these guys are very nice and love to talk about beer and brewing, in fact, you will likely get bored listening before they are done wanting to talk about. Do some brewery tours. Take up home brewing. Try not to drink the same beer twice when you go out. Variety is the spice of life!

[JetBlue]

I agree with learning how it's made as a good start.

It sounds lame, but I didn't enjoy bitterness in beer until I knew what it was. Been on a Pale Ale and even IPA kick ever since.

[CharAznable]

Buying the 500 Great Beers book by Michael Jackson is what started it for me.

[EricPeterson]

I agree with learning how it's made as a good start.

It sounds lame, but I didn't enjoy bitterness in beer until I knew what it was. Been on a Pale Ale and even IPA kick ever since.

IPAs are my go to, when I first started drinking beer I remember we really liked cheap domestic lights, one day a kid got some Fat tire and we found it enjoyable and suddenly fancied ourselves beer snobs. Went and got some New Belgium "Blue Paddle" (I think, not even sure if they make it anymore) and we took a sip, spit it out. Read the side of the bottle "Refreshing bitterness..." took me years to try something similar again. Now I cant get enough, but it really started when I started brewing, when you see the ingredients and how they go in and the observe the process you start to appreciate all the flavors you encounter in a beer.

[swem]

Start brewing, and start actually trying to taste what you are drinking and distinguishing the different tastes. Homebrewtalk is an awesome forum, though it may take over your life just like the gear page. And you will soon find that just as like gear there is a LOt of corksniffing as well. Drink what you like and dont apologize for it.

[djdrdave]

http://www.BeerAdvocate.com

It takes a lifetime

I'm a member there too, just forget my membername and password!

[pedalcr8z]

Just drink a few 3 Floyd's from upper Indiana of all places and it will dutifullly kick your ass from here to China! At 15% alchohol likje the one my son Platypus one of TGP's IT guys gave me yesterday that I just drank that I got from him yesterday. Geez it feels like about 3 Guiness!...lol

[Weathered]

Start by sampling everything you can get your hands on. Learn what styles you really like, and what ones you're less fond of. Delve deep into those styles, and then expand to the related styles (like moving from porter to stout or scotch ale).

[TravisE]

Just start drinkin', my man. Start trying different types. Try Belgiums, Ales, Pale Ales, IPAs, Lagers, Stouts, Porters, Lambics, Hefeweizen, etc. Figure out what you like and don't like right now. However, once you progress and your palette changes, you'll want to revisit the ones you didn't care for.