Looks like you’re building quite a list of beers! I’ve yet to find any Sam Smith’s in my area. Have you tried Smithwick’s Irish Ale? I thought it was pretty good.

I’m still tasting different kinds of beer and filing them down in my mental list of likes and dislikes. Hopefully, my palette will develop over time so I can enjoy the stronger beers out there.

@Ben – Interesting. I haven’t embraced ciders as an alternative to beer. I don’t hate them, but at the same time they just haven’t grown on me. Maybe you’re something of the opposite of Jane. Maybe you should check out some lighter beers like Belgian Wit, Hefeweizen, or something like the Sam Adams Boston Lager?

I prefer Chocolate stouts AS dessert!

I still have a couple of cans left of the stout and was wondering if anyone knew what kinds of foods go well with chocolate stouts. I have heard that not-too-sweet desserts are a good choice. How about other foods? Thanks everyone.

A rule of thumb is that beers tend to taste better at the temperature they were brewed at – check my post : http://thebrewclub.com/2008/09/11/warm-beer-in-the-soft-summer-rain/

I would recommend any other Sam Smiths ales, or looking out for Porters (particularly Fullers London Porter, or any French Bieres de Garde.

* Sam Smith’s Winter Welcome: What a lovely drink! Drank it room temp (I didnt like it cold) which seemed to make it taste “correct” somehow. Accompaniment with homemade sharp mac chee (English style with bite of dijon and worchestshire sauce) enhanced the food. Starts off quite sweet and the concluding lightly bitter taste stays with you but not in a bad way. Beautiful amber color. Sweet aroma. Gentle frothiness that made me smile.
* Black Toad dark ale: pleasing rich color, heady frothiness, easy to drink and great with potato chips!
* (3rd place but probably not comparable to these others bcs it was on tap: Sam Adams Boston Lager. I liked it much better than Bass due to the tartness you finish with.
* Bass: Enjoyable, light, tasty on its own (ie, doesnt seem to enhance food). Probably a good beer to fall back on when in doubt.
* Full Sail Wassail: tasty enough but not special
* Fat Tire Amber Ale: i dont even remember what it tasted ,but i recall that it was not objectionable.
* Fransiskaner: boring but had a ‘clean’ sort of taste
* KBC porter: decent but unmemorable.
* Pilsner Urquell: Surprisingly I disliked this. I thought it would be innocuous and easily likeable, but I found it slightly bitter and very, very boring.
* KBC winter: wow, i HATED this. i found it very bitter. i drank it room temp as well as chilled and disliked both versions. Ended up pouring it out.

Well that is where I am at for now. Any new directions to recommend? I live away from civilization in the mountains, but, I do occasionally have access to BevMo and Trader Joes for example in northern LA county. If anyone has recommendations of where to buy, I’d be curious.

I agree with Scott on the glass -vs- bottle. From the bottle you miss most of the aroma. It just doesn’t make it out of the bottle. From a glass it’s well, right under your nose! Also you can SEE the beer, the color and clarity are different for each style and the head differs too.

BTW, a goblet is great for beer tasting.