An Introduction into Craft Beers

Craft Beers are a wonderful way to open up your mind to an exciting world of flavours and combination of ingredients not normally found in the traditional beer.

The first experience I had with a craft beer was Blue Moon, an American Belgian-Style Wheat Ale. It was a learning curve and being a complete novice, I made a complete mess of it. The initial tasting was a master class poured to perfection a cloud of bright citrus over tones with a creamy taste and a full body.

The unfiltered beer may have traces of hops in the glass which does wonders for the flavour. It can also confuse the untrained eye. In a disastrous move, when I saw this hop content in my purchased Blue Moon and a best before date soon approaching I assumed the worst and poured every last drop down the sink....

Moving on from this, on the last bottle I noticed as an unfiltered beer there may be sediment of hop floating in the beer. I now know this is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. I have come a long way since then. I have sampled some beers which astounded me and having drank the normal traditional beers I didn't imagine beers would taste so different when compared to what I was used to.

Craft Beers maybe off putting due to the " Unknown Factor". As we are creatures of habit, we tend to stick to what we know and generally, in Ireland, we drink what ever we can afford that doesn't taste like the aluminium can it came out of.

If you do like to venture outside your comfort zone you won't be disappointed. Blue Moon is a good starting point but a few key tips to getting the most from your selected craft beer can really help you get the most out of your purchase. For example, Blue Moon is best enjoyed at a less frantic pace and also garnish with a slice of orange. Beware if you are placing the orange directly into the bottle as this will cause the beer to foam and you may end up with it on your shirt. Also, a good old fashioned glass with the orange on the side is advised.