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11 Beers to Drink and Enjoy for the Brewski Newbie

Sarah Crocker
Sarah Crocker

Culturess

DENVER, CO – MARCH 17: Alex Wambaugh pours a beer at the Crafty Fox on March 17, 2016, in Denver, Colorado. The Crafty Fox, a tap house and pizzeria, opened in February. It offers 60 different taps featuring all craft beer. (Photo by Anya Semenoff/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

So, you think beer is gross? Think again. Follow this guide to different beer styles and you might rethink everything.

Let me begin by admitting that beer is an acquired taste. Like many fine things, it can be initially strange or even unpleasant tasting. Beer-detractors often complain of its bitterness. They may also think only of beer brewed by certain very large, very familiar breweries. And that beer is okay, I guess, but it’s also terribly boring.

Like many fine things, it can be initially strange or even unpleasant. Beer-detractors often complain of its bitterness. They may also think only of beer brewed by certain very large, very familiar breweries. And that beer is okay, I guess, but it’s also terribly boring.

Brewing is an ancient practice. It’s been around for thousands of years, ever since some brave individual decided to drink the weird liquid that came off fermented grain. We salute that intrepid pioneer and hope that they didn’t get too sick right away.

While there can be as many ways of making beer as there are stars in the sky, they all follow a basic outline. A brewer lets some sort of grain (usually barley) ferment. As it breaks down, the grain releases sugars, which feed yeast in the brew. Nowadays, brewers add yeast, though the earliest beers relied on wild yeast to come in and populate their mixture.

Freshly harvested hops are seen during inauguration of Europe’s first ‘Beer Fountain’ in Zalec, on September 6, 2016.

Several hundred beer-lovers and curious spectators gathered in a small town in Slovenia on September 6, 2016 for the inauguration of what is billed as Europe’s first ‘beer fountain’. Zalec’s new attraction, dreamed up by local entrepreneurs a few years ago, will not be gushing out gallons of amber nectar for thirsty visitors to scoop up and guzzle as they please, however.

/ AFP / Jure MAKOVEC (Photo credit should read JURE MAKOVEC/AFP/Getty Images)

As the yeast eats up the sugars, it produces alcohol. The fermentation process also creates a fair amount of carbon dioxide, giving beer its carbonation. Brewers also add other ingredients for flavor and presentation. Hops are especially popular here, as it gives beer its unique bitterness and unique floral notes.

Now, before we dive in, there are a few terms and phrases you should know ahead of time:

  • IBU – International Bitterness Units. Higher IBUs mean that a beer is going to be more bitter than one with a lower IBU number. IBUs measure Isohumulone, an acid found in hops.
  • ABV – Alcohol by volume. This is how boozy your beer is. Craft beers usually clock in somewhere around 5-6% ABV, though they can go much, much higher.
  • Ales vs lagers – This all depends on the type of yeast used to make the beer, and how it’s fermented. Ale yeast is fermented at higher temperatures (55-70 degrees Fahrenheit) and tends to do its work near the top of a brewing tank. Lagers ferment at cooler levels (38-50 degrees Fahrenheit), take longer to mature and usually hang out near the bottom of a tank.
  • Check your labels! A lot of information will be printed right there. Of course, if you’re at a brewery itself, you should see the same info on a sign or beer list. Of course, you can always ask the bartender about the beers at hand.

This isn’t a ranking of beers. No one style is necessarily better than another, and taste may vary from person to person. For example, I love Saisons, but my friends can’t stand them. They say that Saisons taste like a barnyard and musty hay, but I can’t get enough of them. So, don’t let someone else’s reaction to one beer keep you from tasting it.

CA.Beer.1.1203.IK ; Orange, December 03Six beer samplers, Searchlight, left, Weiss Guy Wheat, Big House Red, Birdman Brown, Lights Out Stout and Pelican Pale Ale are on menu at Alcatraz Brewing Co., a new bar and restaurant at the Block at Orange in the city of Orange. (Photo by Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Also, this list doesn’t encompass every single variation of beer that’s out there. There are far more than eleven styles in the world of beer. Even within styles, brewers can go wild with add-ins, cask conditioning, nitrogen taps, and so on. You can have a classic pilsner one evening, and a crazy pants stout the next. I’ve even had a cucumber sour, so nearly anything is possible.

If you really get hooked, check out The Naked Pint, by Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune. Of course, you should also get out there and check out some of the local breweries in your town. The craft beer movement is growing quickly, so you’re sure to find some interesting local spots.

ELMAU, GERMANY – JUNE 7: President Barack Obama drinks wheat beer with locals dressed in traditional Bavarian folk dress before the two leaders were scheduled to continue to the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau on June 7, 2015. (Photo by Goran Gajanin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

11.) Wheat beers

Wheat beers are the easy-going friends of the beer world. They can come in a few different guises, including witbier, weissbier, gose, and lambic. All are generally easy to drink, thanks to fermentation by-products like esters. Esters are chemical compounds that typically give off a fruity flavor. Isoamyl acetate often smells and tastes like bananas, while other compounds give off clove-like tastes or even a smoky smell. As the name suggests, the malt is largely made up of wheat grain.

Wheat beers typically sit around 15 IBUs, which is very low compared to other styles. While brewers might use some hops when creating a wheat beer, the presence of hops aroma and taste is usually very low. Some wheat beers are unfiltered, giving them a cloudy appearance.

Lambics, a kind of wheat beer, are especially cool. While most brewers use a dependable chunk of brewer’s yeast in their recipes, the adventurous lambic-brewers rely on wild yeast to get their brew started. This is how researchers think the earliest brewers began concocting their brews thousands of years ago. This gives lambics a dry, cidery sort of flavor, usually with a sour aftertaste.

Goses are also pretty tart and often use a touch of salt – a very unusual flavor for most beers. Brewers also use coriander, another weird ingredient that can work under the right circumstances. Gose beers are also sour, thanks to a good dose of lactobacillus bacteria in the brewing tanks.

Wheat beers to try:

A client holds a glass of Cologne ‘Koelsch’ beer on November 7, 2013 in Cologne, western Germany. AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ (Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images)

10.) Kölsches

A kölsch is a clear, well filtered beer that originated in Cologne, Germany. The IBUs are often between 20-30 units. This means that a kölsch will be a touch more bitter than a wheat beer, but not by much. You’re still in easy drinking territory with one of these brews.

A kölsch is warm-fermented like an ale but then conditioned at cold temperatures like a lager. This and the yeast used help to give it a slightly fruity flavor. It is one of only a handful of traditional German ales, like the weissbier. However, unlike wheat beers, kölsches are brewed with all barley, the traditional grain used in many other beer styles.

Speaking of tradition: native German beers are subject to a series of purity laws, called the Reinheitsgebot. However, beers brewed elsewhere often use the name and are made in the same style, despite not being subject to the Reinheitsgebot.

If you go to an Oktoberfest near you, chances are good that you’ll be sipping a kölsch at some point. However, kölsches are good for all times of year and are especially satisfying on a hot summer day.

Kölsches to try:

BERLIN, GERMANY – APRIL 22: A vintage advertisement for Berliner Pilsner beer hangs at the Alt Berlin (Old Berlin) bar on April 22, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. The bar, which opened in 1893 and is known for its familial atmosphere, is claimed to be the oldest bar in the German capital, a city with few remaining pre-War drinking establishments in comparison to other major European cities. A petition has been launched to convince the bar’s landlord to allow the business to stay open after its expected closure at the end of the month due to skyrocketing real estate prices in the city’s popular and central Mitte neighborhood. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)

9.) Pilsners

This is another traditional German style that you may have seen from one of the standard big, hulking breweries. However, don’t let the ubiquitousness of this style deter you. A good, carefully crafted pilsner is a beautiful thing.

Pilsners take their name from the city of Pilsen, in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. It was first produced in 1842. The extraordinarily soft, mineral-light water around Pilsen, combined with a local variety of hops, produced a clear, golden beer that became a sensation.

Brewers in the region had been brewing and aging their beers in caves in the region, which promoted the lager-style fermentation and long shelf life of pilsners. Later advances in refrigeration made it easier for brewers throughout the land to try their hand at making their own pilsners.

Modern pilsners typically have a very pronounced hop flavor and aroma. If you’re still a beer newbie, don’t let this scare you off! Hops lend bitterness to beers, sure, but that’s not all. They also have a distinct floral, almost pine-like taste that can really grow on you after a while. A pilsner is an excellent way to start getting your taste buds on board with hops. Pilsners usually hit somewhere between 35-45 IBUs.

Pilsners to try:

DENVER, CO – DECEMBER 08: Crazy Mountain Brewery has revamped it’s bottle labels these are some of the new ones left to right: Crazy Mountain Amber Ale, Hookiebobb IPA, Mountain Living Pale Ale, Lava Lake Wit, Snowcat Coffee Stout on Tuesday, December 08, 2015 at it’s Denver brewery. They have moved into the old Breckenridge Brewery space at 471 Kalamath Street in Denver. More and more breweries are seeking colorful and creative labels to draw customers to their beer. (Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

8.) Amber ales

In contrast with the very traditional German/Bavarian styles we’ve covered, amber ales are a more modern, American avenue for beer enthusiasts to explore. These beers borrow a lot from pale ales (more on those later) and can be anywhere from a light copper to a light brown in color. Unlike pale ales, amber ales can have a darker malt to it, sometimes even with a toasty or smoky flavor.

Hops might also be less pronounced in an amber, compared to an APA or IPA style. That’s thanks to American hops, which are right in the middle when it comes to hops-related flavors and bitterness.

I would also include “red ales” in this category, which can be – you guessed it – a dark brown to a rich, vibrant red. In general, this is a very loosey-goosey style that can produce some very interesting beers if handled correctly.

Since this is a pretty free-flowing sort of style, IBUs can range anywhere from 25-45 IBUs, and sometimes even a touch higher. Like always, check out the label on your beer to see exactly what you’re getting.

Amber ales to try:

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 24: Fig and Fennel Stout with oatmeal raisin, Citrus Saison with sugar cookies, Belgian Pale Ale with orange white chocolate chip cookies, Cranberry IPA with lemon sugar cookie. (Photo by Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

7.) Saisons

Sometimes called “farmhouse ales”, Saisons are pale ales that are just a little on the wild side. They are typically fruity, spicy, and are bottle conditioned. Bottle conditioned beers are naturally carbonated (compared to processes that artificially introduce carbonation using CO2 tanks). This means that yeasts remain in the bottle and are left to do the rest of the fermenting and carbonating work themselves.

Because the yeast is still in the beer and changes its quality ever-so-slightly over time, bottle-conditioned brews are great for aging. A small caveat – sometimes the yeast itself can taste a little strange, so pour gently to avoid getting them into your glass.

Originally, farmers in French-speaking Belgium would brew these beers as a refreshing summer drink. Seasonal workers (known as “saisonniers”) would consume these beers. Researchers think these early Saisons, which were unique to each farmstead, were pretty low on alcohol – somewhere around 3-5% ABV. Modern Saisons usually sit somewhere between 5-7% ABV.

The IBUs for most Saisons are 20-35, meaning they’re relatively less bitter than other styles. However, they often have a funky “farm” flavor, which may be a gold star or a turn-off, depending on your taste. Drinkers can pick out flavors of fruit and hay. Some breweries will use our pal lactobacillus to make sour Saisons, and can really amp up the fruit flavor with other ingredients.

Saisons to try:

Germany Berlin Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf) – German beer Lausitzer Porter at the Gruene Woche, Exhibition for the Food Industry, Agriculture and Horticulture (Photo by Martin Sachse/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

6.) Porters

Now we’re getting heavy! Porters are a dark style of beer originally brewed in London. The name was first recorded in the 18th century, though we suspect that the porter style has been around for longer. Supposedly, it was extra popular with street and river porters, urban workers who would have enjoyed a good, strong beer after a long day working in the bustling city.
Unlike some of the other beers on this list, historic porters were often stronger than their modern counterparts, and could easily pass 7% ABV. Nowadays, you can find porters as low as 4% ABV, though, naturally, some breweries are more than happy to take it up to 7% and beyond.

IBUs are frankly all over the place here, with some porters clocking in at only 20 and others hiking all the way up to 60 IBUs. Definitely take a second to check the label on the porter you’re about to drink down.

When drinking a porter, you might detect flavors like coffee, chocolate, and a roasted, smoky note. Smoky beers, known as “rauchbiers” are a German style, but were virtually unknown in the U.S. until the 1980s. Of course, the artistic interpretation of the individual brewer leaves a lot of room for more adventurous brews. Americans especially have taken this style to new levels, with the addition of ingredients like corn and molasses.

Porters to try:

WASHINGTON, DC May 4: Pale Ales photographed on May 4, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Deb Lindsey for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

5.) American Pale Ales

American pale ales (APAs) are a distinctly American style of beer, developed in the United States sometime around 1980. This style is somewhere between an amber ale and an India pale ale (to be discussed in just a minute), though ambers tend to be maltier and IPAs are heavier on the hops.

APAs and IPAs are variants of the pale ale tradition, a largely British style of brewing beer that uses pale malt. Barley is used to make most pale malts, which are toasted at relatively low temperatures in order to preserve most of the enzymes in the grain. The term “pale ale” first appeared in the early 1700s and has been an entrenched British beer for centuries.

The first well-received batch of experimental APA was made by the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, based in Chico, California. Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale is currently the second-best selling craft beer in the United States, after the Samuel Adams Boston Lager. New Albion Brewing Company and Yakima Brewing also created early popular APA beers in the mid-1980s, inspired in large part by beers sampled in the U.K.

IBUs for APAs are usually between 30-45 units. ABV is between 4.5-6%. If the hops flavors in other styles are starting to grow on you, then an APA is a smart next step.

APAs to try:

WALTHAM, MA – MAY 11: Aaron Mateychuk, master brewer at Watch City Brewery in Waltham, proudly displays Indian Pale Ales, left to right, Red, American and Dunkel Weizen. (Photo by Essdras M Suarez/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

4.) India pale ales

If an American Pale Ale went down well, then your next step should be to reach for an India Pale Ale. Despite the name, this beer style was first mentioned in an Australian newspaper in 1829. The high hop content was supposed to preserve the beer for long overseas voyages to locales such as India, hence the name.

Like APAs, IPAs are brewed with lightly toasted pale malt. Unlike APAs, however, an IPA is a really hop-heavy kind of beer. Many beer newbies fairly freak out at the mention of “hoppy” beers, but you should really give this style a chance.

IBUs for IPAs are anywhere from 40-120 units. English IPAs are the mildest, while Imperial IPAs can really pack a punch. Imperial IPAs can also be pretty boozy, with as much as 10% ABV. Most other IPAs will be somewhere between 5-7% ABV, however.

A well-brewed IPA shouldn’t punch you in the face with a single, overpowering bitterness. Depending on the kinds of hops flowers used and how they’re incorporated into the brew, you might encounter a wide variety of flavors. Hop-heavy beers can be grassy, citrusy, floral, piney, lemony, and earthy, among other flavors.

Don’t be scared of this style! Once you start in on IPAs, you’ll start to crave more complex, bitter flavors in your beers.

IPAs to try:

Troy Casey brewer for A.C. Golden holds the cherry sour beer from of the Hidden Barrel Collection at the Coors plant in Golden on Friday, March 2, 2012. Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post (Photo By Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

3.) Sours

Ready to get weird? You’ve already read about lactobacillus here and there, but this is where that bacteria really gets to shine. If the sour notes you get from a gose or a lambic really piqued your interest, then it’s time to try sour beers.

Technically, sour beers can be found in other styles, like wheat beers and red ales. I’ve even had a sour porter here and there. However, I’m classifying this as its own style because of the effort and risk involved in making it, and because it’s one of my favorite kinds of beer out there. Yes, I’m biased. Get over it.

At one point in time, all beers were at least a little sour. That’s thanks to wild yeast. Before brewers started cultivating their own yeast, they had to rely on wild spores floating through their environment to populate their brews. This is an unpredictable process that can make modern brewers nervous – it’s easy to tip over from perfectly sour to unacceptably funky, especially when you’re dealing with wild yeast.

Still, there are some breweries today that are bravely using wild yeast. Others rely on carefully introducing bacteria like lactobacillus, Brettanomyces, and Pediococcus into their tanks. Sometimes, fruit can also be added to intentionally tart up a beer. One of the oldest breweries that still makes sour beers is the Rodenbach Brewery in Belgium, which started brewing  in 1836.

Since sours take extra effort, they are often produced in small batches and may cost a little extra. I would argue that it’s well worth the money.

Sours to try:

DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 30: Thomas Ledder, a Barrel Romancer as he calls himself for Avery Brewing Company, and Walter Becker, right, Events specials, tap into a barrel of Uncle Jacob’s Imperial Stout as their team sets up for the Great American Beer Festival at the Denver Convention Center in Denver, CO on October 1, 2014. The brewing company, based in Boulder, has aged three different beers in Kentucky bourbon and rum barrels and will be taping into those kegs at certain hours during the festival. The Great American Beer Festival is the premier U.S. beer festival and competition. Each year, GABF represents the largest collection of U.S. beer ever served, in a public tasting event plus a private competition. GABF brings together the brewers and diverse beers that make the U.S. the worlds greatest brewing nation. GABF was founded in 1982, and has been growing and evolving along with the American craft brewing industry ever since. This year’s tickets to the event sold out in 32 minutes. (Photo By Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post)

2.) Stouts

Stouts were traditionally the name for the strongest porters around. However, they’ve since developed into their own unique style. There’s actually a fair amount of disagreement (both chivalrous and not) as to whether stouts and porters are two different beers at all. Given that I’m giving stouts their own section, you can probably guess where I land.

A stout is typically dark and hearty, with a thick pour and a strong, heavy head (that’s the amount of foam that accumulates on top as you pour a beer). Some stouts are poured from a nitro tap. These beers are infused with nitrogen bubbles instead of the typical carbon dioxide; the smaller nitrogen bubbles stay in the beer longer and make for a smoother, silkier beer.

There are many different kinds of stouts to try. You might taste an oatmeal stout, where a significant portion of the malt is made up of oatmeal instead of the traditional barley. Milk stouts (one of my other favorite styles) contains lactose derived from milk (duh). Because yeast can’t process lactose, it hangs around in the beer to give it a creamy, sweet flavor. It was billed as a “nutritious” beer and was even given to nursing mothers. Imperial stouts, including Russian imperial stouts, are especially strong and might just put a little hair on your chest.

Stouts tend to hang out in the 7-8% ABV range, but I’ve seen stouts that creep past 10% ABV. Milk stouts, which tend to be a little milder, are often 15-25 IBUs, while other styles are more close to 30-35 IBUs.

Stouts to try:

CHICAGO, IL – NOVEMBER 29: Nationwide on Black Friday, Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Company released limited quantities of their award-winning Bourbon County Brand barrel-aged beers —- Bourbon County Brand Stout, Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout, Bourbon County Brand Barleywine and Backyard Rye Bourbon County Brand Stout.  at Binny’s on November 29, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Goose Island)

1.) Barleywines

Despite the name, this is actually a beer style – and it’s one of the strongest out there. If none of the other beers faze you – not the hoppiness of an IPA, the mouth-puckering sensation of a sour, or the hearty slap of a stout – then you, my friend, are ready for a barleywine. Just make sure you’ve got a designated driver ready in case it’s a touch stronger than you anticipated.

This style is related to an ancient Greek beverage, though the Greeks did not use hops in the alcoholic brews. Barleywine is fruity and typically very strong. The “wine” portion of its name is used to indicate the high alcohol content of most of these brews. Many barleywines can be cellared like traditional wines and benefit from a bit of aging, somewhat like bottle conditioned beers.

Barleywines usually contain somewhere between 8-12% ABV. English barleywines hit between 35-70 IBUs, and American style barleywines can pack a whopping 50-120 IBUs. English versions tend to be a little more balanced between the sweetness of malt and the bitterness of hops, while Americans clearly can’t get enough of hops in the barleywines.

Barleywines to try:

Next: 10 Ways to Keep Farm Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for the Winter Months

Remember, this list is only the beginning. There is a great, wide world out there of beer for you to try. Some are good, some are bad, and some are so fantastic that you won’t believe you ever said: “I don’t drink that stuff”. Good luck out there, you budding beer enthusiasts!

Sarah Crocker

Sarah Crocker

Educator, writer, and perpetual sass mouth