I was drinking a Flanders Oud Bruin last night and really enjoyed the cherry flavor I was getting from the beer. It's funny because I don't like cherries by themelves all that much. The same thing goes for a few other styles like coffee stouts. I'm not really a big coffee drinker, but love the flavor when combined with the components of a stout. So this leads to my question, are there any flavors or foods you enjoy more because of beer?
I used to hate cat piss but now I drink it like a fish. I eat the shit out of some horse blankets these days too.
Doppelbocks turned me on to figs, dates, etc. Fig newtons have become one of my favorite types of cookies, especially to eat while drinking something dark and malty.
Not a flavor or food, but a scent. My wife uses this grapefruit facial scrub in the morning and every time I go in the bathroom after her and smell that, it makes my mouth water for a nice, floral IPA.
Whiskey and bourbon. Now i can actually drink it straighy and taste the flavor profiles rather then just a strong burn
I'm the same way - I couldn't stand even the smell of whiskey or bourbon a few years ago. Now with the popularity of BBL beers, I've turned into a big bourbon and scotch drinker...much to my wallet's chagrin.
Since I started reviewing beers, I now appreciate the subtle flavors in most good food and drinks. I also have a greater appreciation for good wine and scotch now too.
It's definitely given me an appreciation for bitterness, particularly bitter greens. I used to hate bitter salads, but after finding IPA's, I could put back a whole plate of radicchio and love it.
farm stink, cat piss, hay, cucumber, peach, wood (learned from wine but now notice it much more), pear, sage, And of course varying degrees of sourness/acidity in general And i also now really love carbonated/sparkling waters. after years of noticing the different effects of varying levels of carbonation from a a lambic busting out of the bottle to a old strong ale so flat and still that it looks like milk, i really feel like different strength carbonated waters and flavored waters vary considerably. In fact i like it so much i bought a water carbonating machine and i make sparking water every day (often it replaces beer when i can't/don't want alcohol or lots of calories too)
Licorice. I was never a big fan of licorice but I do love the flavor now especially when it is mixed with the typical stoout flavors
I second bitterness in general as something I've grown to appreciate with a nod also to carbonation. I think it wasn't just beer but also green tea and a brief fascination with Yerba Mate. Double IPAs really sold me on it in the end. I've gotten to the point where I tell people I enjoy foods that taste like dirt, grass, and rotten fish. Yum. Come be like me.
Not that I appreciate flavors more because of beer but I've carried over my love of coffee and brown sugar to my beer drinking. I drink mostly darker beers, imperial stouts and Belgiam Darks. I'm just as big of a coffee geek as I am a beer geek...
I've always hated coffee, but I love the coffee beers. My wife thinks that if I try black coffee I'll like it, but I really don't need another vice in my life.
I have found I dislike vinegar a lot more than I did before trying some sours. Maybe that should be another thread. Sorry.
Vanilla. Crazy about all things with real vanilla bean flavor, and it was beer that started me on that kick. And sour things in general--I was never one of those kids who loved eating warheads or whatever but sour beer made me realize how much I like sour stuff in general.
