What is alcohol like?

Fox-Trot-9

Foxy, the fluffy butt-stabber!
Joined
Nov 17, 2020
Messages
1,174
Points
153
It varies from beer to whiskey, but beer tastes like a really stale/bitter apple cider, and bourbon whiskey really burns going down your throat.
 

Representing_Tromba

Sleep deprived mess of an author begging for feedb
Joined
Jan 29, 2020
Messages
5,986
Points
233
Depends. Hard alcohol such as rum, bourbon, and whiskey burn when they touch you lips but the taste is dependant on how they were aged or flavored. Personally I enjoy a 48% -60% alcohol vanilla spiced rum the best. Tequila and other alternative sugar based distilled alcohol still have a burn to them but they're much sweeter than rum, bourbon, and whiskey so they go great in mixed drinks but taste almost sour by itself with an average alcohol content of 35% - 42%. Wine can be white, red, or sparkling and have an alcohol rating of 12% - 20%. The red wine tastes sweet, like a grape juice that warms you up. White wine tastes more bitter than red wine in my opinion but it is much smoother. Sparkling wine is okay but it's basically carbonated white wine. Champagne is like sparkling wine but it's pretty expensive due to how hard it is to make traditionally. Mead, like what make ranges from 10% - 18% alcohol but can be made with almost any fruit so long as there is honey mixed in. It could taste like the fruit, the spices added, or just the honey but that depends on the mead. My favorite would have to be cherry vanilla mead that is similar to what is known as Viking's Blood. Sake is next with an alcohol content of 6% - 14% but it is the most smooth as it tastes like sunny flower water with little to no burn. I personally don't see how anime characters keep getting drunk off this stuff when it does so little. There's sparklers next which are alcoholic seltzers ranging between 4% and 8% each they taste like a hint of whatever drink flavor it was supposed to be. Would not recommend. Then there's beer with around 2% - 6% alcohol in it, it tastes like grain and/or fruit diluted it carbonated water depending on which one you get. I personally cannot stand IPA beer which just tastes like watered down alfalfa.

I hope this helps and let me know if I've missed one. I don't think I discussed vodka but imagine the rum alcohol content and burn but with little to no flavor unless if the rum is preflavored. Just want to say in addition that I do not condone heavy drinking and personally believe that some people who have little self control should never touch alcohol for their own sake, if not their family's sake.
 

Representing_Tromba

Sleep deprived mess of an author begging for feedb
Joined
Jan 29, 2020
Messages
5,986
Points
233
Lambics, Stouts, Porters?
I've never had alambic beer but I wouldn't mind trying one in the future. Porters are just double distilled wines. They burn like hard liquor but it tastes smooth. Oh, you meant porter beer. It's just beer with brown dark malt. Don't like them myself. Stouts are just dark beers as the beermaster accidentally burnt the hops and said oh well. They taste okay, especially in the winter and fall.
 

RepresentingWrath

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 7, 2020
Messages
13,556
Points
283
I've never had alambic beer but I wouldn't mind trying one in the future. Porters are just double distilled wines. They burn like hard liquor but it tastes smooth. Oh, you meant porter beer. It's just beer with brown dark malt. Don't like them myself. Stouts are just dark beers as the beermaster accidentally burnt the hops and said oh well. They taste okay, especially in the winter and fall.
I meant that beer can have a taste other than fruits or grain. Stouts and Porters might taste like coffee, chocolate, and raisins. Lambics can be fruity, Kriek is a good example as it's a very popular style of beer that use cherries, but Lambics use wild yeast, so the taste can be extremely varied. A style that I didn't mention before, Gose, can be salty.

Also, as far as I'm aware, no one burns hops. Only malt is subjected to being smoked or burnt.
 

Representing_Tromba

Sleep deprived mess of an author begging for feedb
Joined
Jan 29, 2020
Messages
5,986
Points
233
I meant that beer can have a taste other than fruits or grain. Stouts and Porters might taste like coffee, chocolate, and raisins. Lambics can be fruity, Kriek is a good example as it's a very popular style of beer that use cherries, but Lambics use wild yeast, so the taste can be extremely varied. A style that I didn't mention before, Gose, can be salty.

Also, as far as I'm aware, no one burns hops. Only malt is subjected to being smoked or burnt.
There are a lot of flavors in beer outside of grain and fruit. Yes. However, most people aren't going to be able to pick those flavors out at first due to an inexperienced palate.

Had to double check my sources on the cooked hops. It is a popular idea that dark beer makers would cook hops slightly in order to produce miniscule increases in sugar yield from the hops, kill of potential bacteria, and make an interesting flavor. However, there are no credible sources for this information. Sorry for the misinformation.
 

Representing_Tromba

Sleep deprived mess of an author begging for feedb
Joined
Jan 29, 2020
Messages
5,986
Points
233
The only right answer

And honestly... dry if you pick dry ones, sweet if you pick sweet ones, and of course, death if you pick ethanol.
You mean methanol, right? Not ethanol? I mean, yes ethanol can kill you but you would have to drink a ton before you had enough to kill and the alcohol content would probably kill you first. Methanol is the stuff that makes you go blind from a sip and die from a shot. Personally, I keep it in a bottle after distilling that I can use for cheap rat poison. Works wonders on unwanted pests and for starting quick fires.
 

StrongArm

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 28, 2022
Messages
284
Points
103
Just curious, what does alcohol taste like?
Why have you never tried this nectar of the gods? Religious reasons or too young? Because if you are too young, then its not a real excuse not to get hammered.

I started drinking when i was twelve, and look how i turned out.
(wiriting shitty webnovels to deal with repressed emotional damage)
 

RepresentingWrath

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 7, 2020
Messages
13,556
Points
283
There are a lot of flavors in beer outside of grain and fruit. Yes. However, most people aren't going to be able to pick those flavors out at first due to an inexperienced palate.
Nope. Guinness is extremely popular, and you don't need a refined palate to notice that it doesn't taste like grains or fruits. Different Stouts are less popular than your typical Lager, that is true. But you don't need a refined palate to taste the chocolate or coffee, as those styles are A LOT more flavourful. Tomato Gose is only popular around beer geeks, but you don't need to taste beer for decades to notice that it tastes like a tomato. You don't need a refined palate to taste the Rauchbier, a smoked beer.

You do need a refined palate for styles that use a lot of hops or some styles that use wild yeast. But there are a lot more styles that will have a taste other than grain\fruits, yet don't need a refined palate to appreciate them.
Had to double check my sources on the cooked hops. It is a popular idea that dark beer makers would cook hops slightly in order to produce miniscule increases in sugar yield from the hops, kill of potential bacteria, and make an interesting flavor. However, there are no credible sources for this information. Sorry for the misinformation.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I only heard of smoking\burning malt, wheat, or rye. Malt\wheat\rye is the source of sugar. Hops are your spices; you use them for aroma and taste. Also, hops are too delicate. I think it is because they are packed with oils, acids, or something similar.

An example of hops being delicate is New England IPA. If I'm not mistaken, this style has so many hops that the beer will spoil in a few months, which isn't typical for a beer. Also, let's say you brewed a batch of NE IPA. This batch will be less tasty even after a week, so you need to drink it fresh.
 

Representing_Tromba

Sleep deprived mess of an author begging for feedb
Joined
Jan 29, 2020
Messages
5,986
Points
233
Nope. Guinness is extremely popular, and you don't need a refined palate to notice that it doesn't taste like grains or fruits. Different Stouts are less popular than your typical Lager, that is true. But you don't need a refined palate to taste the chocolate or coffee, as those styles are A LOT more flavourful. Tomato Gose is only popular around beer geeks, but you don't need to taste beer for decades to notice that it tastes like a tomato. You don't need a refined palate to taste the Rauchbier, a smoked beer.

You do need a refined palate for styles that use a lot of hops or some styles that use wild yeast. But there are a lot more styles that will have a taste other than grain\fruits, yet don't need a refined palate to appreciate them.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I only heard of smoking\burning malt, wheat, or rye. Malt\wheat\rye is the source of sugar. Hops are your spices; you use them for aroma and taste. Also, hops are too delicate. I think it is because they are packed with oils, acids, or something similar.

An example of hops being delicate is New England IPA. If I'm not mistaken, this style has so many hops that the beer will spoil in a few months, which isn't typical for a beer. Also, let's say you brewed a batch of NE IPA. This batch will be less tasty even after a week, so you need to drink it fresh.
Guinness is extremely popular and many people will tell you that it has a cholate or coffee undertone. That is not the flavor that I and some others who I have met as our first taste of Guinness tasted like burnt wheat and malt. It was the same for every beer that I tried for the first time but after drinking one beer a few times, I was starting to pick out the subtle flavors and undertone. If you've had a lot of beer then it would be easier to pick out those flavors just like people who drink a lot of tea or coffee. If you don't drink beers often and also haven't had a lot of beer then it would be harder to taste beyond the initial flavors.

All beers can be enjoyed without a refined palate as it depends on each person's taste buds. Some beers, as you have already said, have distinct tastes like Kriek that are easy to pick out. Beers that heavily use barley, wheat, malt, and/or hops in their mash usually have very strong grainy and/or fruity flavors.

As for the hops, they are considered a spice for beermakers. However, when stouts and porters were being made during the British industrial revolution, many beer makers would use hops because they weren't taxed like malt and barley. this caused many beer makers to experiment with drying, baking, and frying hops for different flavors. Eventually, dark syrups would take over as a flavor additive as it was cheaper, easier to work with, and tasted better than hops.
 

RepresentingWrath

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 7, 2020
Messages
13,556
Points
283
Guinness is extremely popular and many people will tell you that it has a cholate or coffee undertone. That is not the flavor that I and some others who I have met as our first taste of Guinness tasted like burnt wheat and malt. It was the same for every beer that I tried for the first time but after drinking one beer a few times, I was starting to pick out the subtle flavors and undertone. If you've had a lot of beer then it would be easier to pick out those flavors just like people who drink a lot of tea or coffee. If you don't drink beers often and also haven't had a lot of beer then it would be harder to taste beyond the initial flavors.
Perhaps you have an overly refined palate? Because everyone I know said Guinness taste like creamy coffee\chocolate. No grainy taste.
As for the hops, they are considered a spice for beermakers. However, when stouts and porters were being made during the British industrial revolution, many beer makers would use hops because they weren't taxed like malt and barley. this caused many beer makers to experiment with drying, baking, and frying hops for different flavors. Eventually, dark syrups would take over as a flavor additive as it was cheaper, easier to work with, and tasted better than hops.
I have never heard about it, but I'm no beer historian, so maybe you are right.
 
Top