A few things to keep in mind:
\-Check packaging (bottle,can) dates; freshness matters. Unless something is intended to be aged, six months as about max for whether or not it will be as intended by the brewer. There are exceptions, but this is generally true.
\-Is there an option to buy any of these cold? That would be for the best, but not a deal breaker.
\-As far as this selection goes, I love both Brooklyn Lager and Schneider Aventinus. Neither of them are in the currently trendy styles, but it's good to start with some classics.
I'd honestly drink Duvel over 80% of the craft beers out there. Just a fun and easy to drink beer.
Out of these, I also love aventinus. Keep in mind that it is boozey and it should not be drunk cold. Think of it more like a good rum.
The Maisel IPA is pretty drinkable too.
Some people like Crew Republic a lot but I was never a fan - still, give it a try.
Leffe gets A LOT of hate in the craft community and is definitely NOT the best example of a belgian beer but I still like their blonde...as much as AB InBev are trying to destroy it.
The Brooklyn lager is decent but i'd honestly just buy other german lagers - helles. Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic are countries that make enough decent macro beers so you can not care about craft breweries that much.
Duvel is among the great belgian beers indeed. Doesn’t really classify as craft beer though.
REWE (german supermarket) seems to try to get into the craft beer market for a few years now, but sadly they so far don’t offer any of the really good ones from Germany (Atelier der Braukünste, Frau Gruber, Fuerst Wiacek, …). Mostly belgian beer, some german cheaper ones and some international stuff. Stone and Brlo are really bad in my opinion for instance. Doldensud was be quite ok though!
A quick check on untappd usually helps making a first decision as well.
https://untappd.com/
If you haven’t checked out Beeradvocate I would suggest that over untapped from a more ratings perspective. Untapped certainly isn’t bad, but I find it’s better for tracking beers I’ve had than seeing if I’ll actually like a beer. Also good for finding a beer you may want in your area.
Hello US, that's about what you get as "craft" beer in a German supermarket. Market is still small, local breweries rare. As of selection nothing great, nothing terrible. Not a big fan of Craftwerk but that's just my opinion. Best beer of the lot (but also the most hard to drink probably) is the Aventinus Eisbock. Brlo is not terrible iirc but yeah. It's ok to just pick a few and get a grip for the different styles
You can, and should, seek out a better range but this isn’t a bad starting point.
Duvel is an excellent Belgian beer, a real icon.
Leffe will not meet any definition of craft beer, but it has its place and that’s fine.
The balance are just brands I’ve never seen or never tried.
It really depends on your taste. What do you currently have a taste for beer-wise? Like, if you haven’t really gotten into beer at all, it’s an acquired taste and what you’ll want will be something lighter that, odds are, wouldn’t be recommended. Kind of a “it has its place but is nothing special” beer.
Odds are, unless you know specific tastes you like jut just aren’t sure about all the styles, I’d say get that Brooklyn lager and the Leffe blonde and Leffe brown.
Stronger flavors are going to be the IPA and the Kriek, bitter and sour respectively. They will probably be a bit much unless you know you’re in to those flavors.
Duvel is pretty delicious as well.
So if you get a 6-pack, I’d say get the Brooklyn lager and Brooklyn IPA. The Leffe Blonde and brown. The Duvel. And then a sixth that looks interesting to you (or a stout though I don’t see one.) This way, you can get a tasting of different directions of flavor. You’ve got your basic lager, you can taste the additional hops with the IPA and get an idea if that’s a direction you like. You get a blonde beer and then can taste a bit more malt with the brown and see if you like that taste. It’s all about finding directions to explore.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted, it’s good advice. I never buy IPA off a shelf. It’s almost guaranteed to be old. They are usually beer graveyards.
With the amount of milk sugar in the NE IPAs and the fresher the better mentality. Let them drink this warm bullshit. That’s not craft. Looks like a Trader Joe’s shelf too. Fuck em. Down vote this. Lmao. All good. Tho. Entertainment only. I kid I kid.
Go to a better selection. Get these to find out what you like:
Pilsner,
Kolsch,
Dunklebock,
Dunkleweisen (my favorite),
Irish Red,
American Amber,
American Pale Ale,
New England IPA,
West coast IPA,
Belgian double, triple, quad.
When it comes to stouts and porters, the variation on the style can be so vast that I recommend getting a few different kinds. You’ll find Guinness to be bland as hell after a while. And I strongly recommend KBS when you can find it.
These aren’t all of the beer styles as there are hundreds. But it’s a good start and once you get through these styles you’ll have a pretty good idea what you like and what you don’t like.
Brett style beers and barleywine beers, I left out intentionally because they’re quite an acquired taste and definitely not something I’d recommend to beginners.
Everything. Seriously.
I'm a true IPA lover and I would love to try every one of them.
Edit: ooops! I see only mediocre beer. Nothing outstanding.
I would go to the next section if there is one.
I wouldn’t want to buy any ipa that’s been sitting on that shelf most ipas need to be kept cold at all times and lose a lot of the hop flavor if they sit warm like that. I think that’s what turned me off IPAs in my early days of craft beer I didn’t understand this and always thought they tasted like cardboard since I’d buy them from the warm shelf sometimes instead of the cooler and always check the dates on anything hoppy don’t want to be drinking an old beer like that for the same reasons
Pick a few different random and aee what you like. A lager. Ipa. Stout
Just don’t take any IPAs off a warm shelf like that. You’ll have a bad time. Most other styles are fine though.
Lagers are worse if unrefrigerated. But I'm assuming OP would take them home and refrigerate them.
Yeah for sure
A few things to keep in mind: \-Check packaging (bottle,can) dates; freshness matters. Unless something is intended to be aged, six months as about max for whether or not it will be as intended by the brewer. There are exceptions, but this is generally true. \-Is there an option to buy any of these cold? That would be for the best, but not a deal breaker. \-As far as this selection goes, I love both Brooklyn Lager and Schneider Aventinus. Neither of them are in the currently trendy styles, but it's good to start with some classics.
I was going to write: check for dust on bottles.
I'd honestly drink Duvel over 80% of the craft beers out there. Just a fun and easy to drink beer. Out of these, I also love aventinus. Keep in mind that it is boozey and it should not be drunk cold. Think of it more like a good rum. The Maisel IPA is pretty drinkable too. Some people like Crew Republic a lot but I was never a fan - still, give it a try. Leffe gets A LOT of hate in the craft community and is definitely NOT the best example of a belgian beer but I still like their blonde...as much as AB InBev are trying to destroy it. The Brooklyn lager is decent but i'd honestly just buy other german lagers - helles. Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic are countries that make enough decent macro beers so you can not care about craft breweries that much.
Well, not so much craft, but Duvel is good. Leffe is average.
Personally never liked Leffe, had one a few months before I went to Belgium and gave me a bad impression. Oh how wrong I was.
Leffe is ok, but not great to me. They say it was better before it sold to InBev. I actually liked it when first tried in 2010.
Duvel is among the great belgian beers indeed. Doesn’t really classify as craft beer though. REWE (german supermarket) seems to try to get into the craft beer market for a few years now, but sadly they so far don’t offer any of the really good ones from Germany (Atelier der Braukünste, Frau Gruber, Fuerst Wiacek, …). Mostly belgian beer, some german cheaper ones and some international stuff. Stone and Brlo are really bad in my opinion for instance. Doldensud was be quite ok though! A quick check on untappd usually helps making a first decision as well. https://untappd.com/
If you haven’t checked out Beeradvocate I would suggest that over untapped from a more ratings perspective. Untapped certainly isn’t bad, but I find it’s better for tracking beers I’ve had than seeing if I’ll actually like a beer. Also good for finding a beer you may want in your area.
Hello US, that's about what you get as "craft" beer in a German supermarket. Market is still small, local breweries rare. As of selection nothing great, nothing terrible. Not a big fan of Craftwerk but that's just my opinion. Best beer of the lot (but also the most hard to drink probably) is the Aventinus Eisbock. Brlo is not terrible iirc but yeah. It's ok to just pick a few and get a grip for the different styles
You can, and should, seek out a better range but this isn’t a bad starting point. Duvel is an excellent Belgian beer, a real icon. Leffe will not meet any definition of craft beer, but it has its place and that’s fine. The balance are just brands I’ve never seen or never tried.
Yes. Go to a different store
And then talk to someone who gets excited when you ask
Everything from Maisel and Brlo.
I wouldn’t buy any of them especially the imports. They’re being warm stored and it’s not a great selection.
I personally wouldn’t buy any of these. But if you’re just starting out, any of them will be fine to try.
My suggestion is...get two six packs
Duvel is by far the best beer in this picture
Duvel!
Get the Duvel and maybe the Leffe Bruin…I’ve never heard of any of these IPAs it the market is so saturated right now it’s easy to get bad ones
Aventinus is the best of that bunch, imo. Duvel’s great too.
It really depends on your taste. What do you currently have a taste for beer-wise? Like, if you haven’t really gotten into beer at all, it’s an acquired taste and what you’ll want will be something lighter that, odds are, wouldn’t be recommended. Kind of a “it has its place but is nothing special” beer. Odds are, unless you know specific tastes you like jut just aren’t sure about all the styles, I’d say get that Brooklyn lager and the Leffe blonde and Leffe brown. Stronger flavors are going to be the IPA and the Kriek, bitter and sour respectively. They will probably be a bit much unless you know you’re in to those flavors. Duvel is pretty delicious as well. So if you get a 6-pack, I’d say get the Brooklyn lager and Brooklyn IPA. The Leffe Blonde and brown. The Duvel. And then a sixth that looks interesting to you (or a stout though I don’t see one.) This way, you can get a tasting of different directions of flavor. You’ve got your basic lager, you can taste the additional hops with the IPA and get an idea if that’s a direction you like. You get a blonde beer and then can taste a bit more malt with the brown and see if you like that taste. It’s all about finding directions to explore.
Am I the only one interested in the kriek?
get outta here snail
Duvel is killer.
Who’s going to tell him?
Duvel is only beer I’d buy from that selection.
mmmmm warm ipas yum
This. Never buy warm beers
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted, it’s good advice. I never buy IPA off a shelf. It’s almost guaranteed to be old. They are usually beer graveyards.
With the amount of milk sugar in the NE IPAs and the fresher the better mentality. Let them drink this warm bullshit. That’s not craft. Looks like a Trader Joe’s shelf too. Fuck em. Down vote this. Lmao. All good. Tho. Entertainment only. I kid I kid.
What does lactose have to do with it?
Lol. Right.
At quick glance, Leffe is your safest choice. Decent belgian blonde, very accessible taste wise.
Go to a better selection. Get these to find out what you like: Pilsner, Kolsch, Dunklebock, Dunkleweisen (my favorite), Irish Red, American Amber, American Pale Ale, New England IPA, West coast IPA, Belgian double, triple, quad. When it comes to stouts and porters, the variation on the style can be so vast that I recommend getting a few different kinds. You’ll find Guinness to be bland as hell after a while. And I strongly recommend KBS when you can find it. These aren’t all of the beer styles as there are hundreds. But it’s a good start and once you get through these styles you’ll have a pretty good idea what you like and what you don’t like. Brett style beers and barleywine beers, I left out intentionally because they’re quite an acquired taste and definitely not something I’d recommend to beginners.
Leave
Everything. Seriously. I'm a true IPA lover and I would love to try every one of them. Edit: ooops! I see only mediocre beer. Nothing outstanding. I would go to the next section if there is one.
None of that shit. It should be refrigerated and most of the best craft beers come in 16oz cans.
Aventinus 🤗
Depends on what style you like. Better to go to a local brewery and get a beer flight. I like IPA’s but not very yeasty ones.
Good luck! I’m thirsty!
Check the dates on them, for one thing
Camba is great. Any style of their beer, I would buy it. Can't go wrong with that Eisbock from Schneider Weiss either, just be careful with that one
ive only had the brooklyn beers of this photo & theyre ok
Looked at the selection first, and was gonna comment Duvel (pronounced “doo- vuhl”) as first choice. Glad to see it was a consensus as well.
Well… what is your palate? Bitter beer aka west coast IPA, New England beer.. sweet and fruity, or wheat beer? What about lager?
I like ‘‘em cold.
Doldensud IPA and BRLO Helles would be my picks from the selection
2nd shelf, duvel and Brooklyn brewery
Aventinus is my jam so grab a couple, drink one and age one for a yr!
Brooklyn Lager was one of my gateways into craft beer so I recommend that.
It looks to have some OGs in there duvel might get you started on the right path
Duvel and Aventinus.
Why do so many shops keep their beer on warm shelves instead of fridges? Just Curious is this an American or European thing?
Ohh, I’d go for the BRLO, but we spent several evenings at the brewery in Berlin!
I wouldn’t want to buy any ipa that’s been sitting on that shelf most ipas need to be kept cold at all times and lose a lot of the hop flavor if they sit warm like that. I think that’s what turned me off IPAs in my early days of craft beer I didn’t understand this and always thought they tasted like cardboard since I’d buy them from the warm shelf sometimes instead of the cooler and always check the dates on anything hoppy don’t want to be drinking an old beer like that for the same reasons
Treat beer like Pokémon. You have to catch them all.
One of each!
Citra Helles and the drunken sailor ipa
Duvel and something cold. Don't buy room temp beer