The first thing that really strikes me with decent beer is that you can let a beer sit on the table. Seriously, it gets a little warm, and it's still drinkable. That ****'s amazing to me!
The four beers I drank tonight were:
Sam Adams Pale Ale
Sam Adams Summer Ale
Buzzard Bay limited (I'm assuming this is also a pale ale of some type, but it doesn't really say)
Flying Dog - Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale.
If I had to rank them, it would be as I've listed them. 1, 2, 3, 4.
I've had both of the Sam Adams a few times before, and for some reason they vary between pretty good and a little bitter depending on how my taste buds feel that day. I don't want to spend much time on them, because it's ****ing Sam Adams and you've all had it, but as a base line, on a scale from 1 to 5, I'd say the
Sam Adams Pale Ale is a 2.5 and the
Summer Ale is a 3. The Summer Ale has more character. Not really sweeter, just not quite as bitter, with a pleasing flavor. I wish I knew the words.
The
Buzzard Bay was markedly better. It smelled stronger upon first whiff, but it was smoother and more flavorful. This is real beer. It's like, for most of my life I've been hitting ground balls off the range. I drank Sam Adams, and I thinned a few about ten feet high. The Buzzard bay was a well struck iron. You know you finally hit it. I'm positive my ranking system sucks, but for the sake of continuity, I'll say Buzzard Bay scored a 4.
Now the
Flying Dog. Maybe it's the beer talking, but this keeps getting better. The Flying Dog was even more nasally stimulating, and although I was prepared for it to be a little too much for my taste buds, it was ****ing awesome. I can't believe how much flavor this beer has....and yet I love it. Smooth and flavorful. I always thought this was just something people said. I'd like to give this a 4.5, but that seems ridiculous because it wasn't THAT much better than the buzzard's bay, so I'll give this one a 4 as well.
I know this is the ****tiest review in the history of beer reviews, but I thought this thread needed more good beer virgins giving their opinions of their first time. I can't speak for the beer, but it was good for me.