Periodic Table of Beer

December 16, 2009

Comments

Someone put in a lot of work in putting this together:

Via Will Hinton, who remarks, “Kudos to you if you have had 30+ of these. FAIL if you have had less than 10.“ As best I can reckon, I’ve tried at least 33 of these but I could be off by two or three either way.

Aside from whatever worldiness points there might be in having tasted a wide variety of beers is the fact that there’s a remarkable variation between the types. I thought I hated beer when I thought all beer tasted like the American pilsners that constituted the domestic market twenty years ago and wondered how anyone could drink that swill. But I very much like most wheats, pale ales, and stouts.

8 responses to “Periodic Table of Beer”

Steve Plunk

December 16, 2009 at 5:21 pm

Fail if you’ve had less than 10? Beer snobs are so irritating.
James Joyner

December 16, 2009 at 6:37 pm

Heh. I think people should branch out and try the myriad of styles out there, especially since they’re suddenly widely available. But, yeah, some people are perfectly happy with their Bud Lite and there’s no shame in that.
reid

December 16, 2009 at 7:28 pm

I have to say, this is your finest post to date. A subject we can agree on! FYI, I purchased a T shirt with something like this on it. (From the Brickskeller, near Dupont Circle. If you’re looking for a place to try lots of different beers, check it out.)
steve

December 16, 2009 at 11:56 pm

I am at about 25 of those. I have not developed a taste for stouts or porters. May I suggest you put Tom T Hall’s I Like Beer as your late night music piece in honor of this post sometime?

Steve
Franklin

December 17, 2009 at 1:42 am

Fail if you’ve had less than 10? Beer snobs are so irritating.

It’s very difficult to not pass 10 here unless you simply don’t like beer or never go to parties. Even my father-in-law has probably tried 20+, of which he still only really likes one: American Lite.
Richard Gardner

December 17, 2009 at 2:09 am

Interesting, similar to the Beeriodic Table T-shirts that have been available for years. Looking over the list, I see a few I don’t remember having sampled (had to go to the linked version for a better copy), under 10 styles. And there are even more beers that don’t fit into these categories from the American Homebrewers Association . However it has been many years since I last drank an American Light (or a Scottish Heavy (70 Schilling)). Many of the styles I’ve sampled at beer festivals, to include the old festival at Old Dominion in Ashburn VA. In the past week, I’m over 10 styles, having attended a Belgian beer dinner and beer sampling party. I probably had 2-4 ounces of each beer. Easy to rack up styles that way.

In the PNW, there is a huge beer culture. There is a beer festival almost every month, and in the summer there is one most weekends. Within 15 miles of my house are 4 stores that have over 500 varieties of beer (um, very little in the American Standard/Lite category — one has over 1000 varieties), sold mostly as singles (Bottle Shops). There are at least 9 brewpubs, and 3 small breweries with tavern licenses (no food). There are at least six great bars and bistros with over 20 beer taps, including two that are on Esquire magazine’s list of the top 100 bars in America. There is even a hot dog place with 12 taps, 11 of which are microbrews. Many of the places use Twitter to announce tap changes.

And no, I don’t live in Seattle nor Portland; if I did the numbers above would be much higher.

In DC, I agree on the classic Brickskeller, as well as their more modern RFD in Chinatown (same owner). For Belgians I recommend The Brewers Art in Baltimore, Belga CafÃ© on 8th St SE (Cap Hill) is also good.
And the 2005 “Beer Drinker of the Yearâ€ was from Alexandria VA.
Wayne

December 17, 2009 at 2:41 pm

Re “FAIL if you have had less than 10”

Most people after 10 don’t care what they are drinking. Pun off.