I've noticed a distinct change in my perception of a beer depending on when I drink it during the day. Founders Breakfast Stout was a 4.5 when I had it in the evening, but a perfect 5 in the afternoon. Reconfirmed multiple times, for my palate this is the PERFECT afternoon beer. Somehow I taste more harshness in the evening. For my "Had", averaged out to a 4.75. And yes, I suppose I should try this in the morning, considering the name. My wife would probably start looking up numbers for AA if I broke out a beer at breakfast though... What beers have you had where your perception changed depending on when you drank them?
I like to drink my IPAs and pale ales in the afternoon or with lunch, and save my stouts and barleywines for the evening. Hoppy brews are almost like my afternoon coffee; they slap my taste buds around and wake me up. Also I usually don't have time to savor a real big stout or barleywine in the afternoon.
I don't really care about the time of day, rather the time of year. I can't drink big stouts or barleywines unless its cold weather. In California that equates to basically a 3-4 month window, 2 months of perfect stout weather IMO, but 3-4 months where I can drink a stout and love it. Other times it just feels out of place and way too hot for it. That said, I can drink IPA's and APA's all day and night in the summer and all afternoon year round. I prefer Sours, wheats, saisons in the spring and summer.
ha, this should be merged w/ the beer belly thread! I seldom drink a beer before dinner, and usually try to keep it to one (hasn't been working this week... thanks to sucks ) . So, pretty much nothing is an "afternoon beer". If I'm doing a ton of work around the house, I might pop the daily beer early... and in that case, it's usually something "lighter" (my def of lighter = not bcbs)
Nah, Black Tuesday all day long. But seriously, I could never convince myself that a beer tastes better at a certain time of day. My thought is that there are always multiple other factors at play I'd overlook. Mood, what I ate earlier, the weather, etc., ...to me, factors like those always make one moment different than the next, and therefore I could never feel like I was able to do a true controlled experiment around this. But I know I'm probably being too anal and scientific about it. Still haven't brought myself to drink beer with breakfast for similar reasons the OP stated. Plus I like my coffee too much.
I don't know if the time of day changes my taste perception but I tend to drink beers that get better as they warm at night, because I usually have more time to let them sit.
imho, this is too hard to nail down. the individual making this assertion could routinely be in a different state at different times of given days. i have kids. i know my morning time is usually rushed/crammed, afternoons too. evenings not quite as much, but often i'm beat by then. i know that beer, cigars etc. etc. don't taste as good when i'm under the gun - they're much better when i'm relaxed &/or sharing the experience with someone like minded. OTOH, i also don't like to go to bed on a bunch of heavy stuff, so the evenings that i do pour, depending on the time - it's usually something not too big ("big" both in bottle size & style).
Trust me, I'm happy to drink FBS whenever I have it. Just mentioned that I've enjoyed it more during the afternoon. Agree with some of the other comments, there's likely multiple reasons; most of it could be that when the kids & wife are napping, I have a great beer in hand, and there's a good game on, life in general feels pretty damn good.
I've noticed that Farmhouse Belgian Sours are not a good option at 3:00 am. Other than that, I'd tend to agree with the trend of earlier rather than later, especially if I'm having 2-3 beers. I like to have the best one first, regardless of the color of the beer. Usually, it's a beer I want to review or take notes on to see if I'll repurchase it, then I'll have one or 2 homebrews. I am usually just conscious that my perception will be different of the commercial beer if my mind and palate have already been influenced by a little bit of alcohol.
I prefer to at least start drinking in daylight and since my drinking is 99% during weekends, it's not too difficult. The beer doesn't matter, it's just a personal preference.
I find that drinking in the morning always brings out the best in beers. Unfortunately I have many "stakeholders" that insist that I hold off until after lunch (at the earliest).
Quite honestly, I've only had FBS for early tailgates. It IS breakfast! Move on to lighter pales and IPAs as the day progresses.
I prefer IPAs and other lighter beers pre-dinner, and stouts and other darker beers post-dinner (as dessert!).
It's just that your taste buds are much more fresh early in the day. Rather than at night after they have become diminished.
I think I'm an early evening sort of person. Between 4 and 7 is optimal for me. I have the time to snap some photos, write up my notes and enjoy the beer without a lot of interruptions. But as for my palate? I don't think the time of day matters as much as the season, the distractions around me and if I'm eating while drinking. Those factors change the way I view a beer more than the time.
Generally speaking, I enjoy the lighter stuff (Bud Light, Mickey's) earlier in the day and the heavy duty stuff (Budweiser, Heineken) in the evenings.
I only drink beer during weekends. Regardless of the kind, I prefer to drink at night. It gives me a goodnight sleep all the time.
For me it all depends on how full I am. Beer tastes best to me when I am hungry so my most enjoyable beers are late afternoon before dinner. I've tried to sit and have a world class beer after a huge holiday meal, and have had to drainpour because it makes me feel sick. Drinking it pre-meal, and it would have been incredible.
I just hate those busy days when you finally get a chance to sit down and want to have a beer and notice its too close to bedtime, then you have to decide if its worth busting it open to drink vs being woken up an hour after you fall asleep to go pee.
