Hi All,

I thought that starting a forum where we could share our experiences would be a good place to start with this group.

Feel free to share any and all of your experiences, but if you'd like to take a slightly more formal approach and to be able to consistently compare your notes to others, I've shamelessly stolen the following from www.beeradvocate.com:

How To Taste Beer

When analyzing a beer, you can't just swill it down, burp and say "it's great" or "it's crap." And, even though tasting is an individual art, there are a few steps, which if followed, will take your beer tasting to a blissful level.
	Look Take pause and marvel at its greatness before you partake of it. Raise the beer in front of you, but don't hold your beer to direct light as this will dilute its true color. Describe its color, its head and its consistency.
	Agitate Swirl your beer, gently in the glass. This will pull out aromas, slight nuances, loosen & stimulate carbonation and test head retention.
	Smell 90-95% of what you experience is through you sense of smell. Breathe thru your nose with two quick sniffs, then with your mouth open, then thru your mouth only (nose and mouth are connected in the experience). Let olfaction guide you. Agitate again if need be, and ensure that you are in an area that has no overpowering aromas. Enjoy its bouquet.
	Taste Now sip the beer. Resist swallowing immediately. Let it wander and explore your entire palate. Let your taste buds speak. Note the mouthfeel, the consistency of the liquid's body, and breathe out during the process of tasting. This process of exhaling is called "retro-olfaction" and will release retained stimulations at the mucus and mouthfeel level, but at a higher temperature. At times this will be the same as the olfactory process if not different and complimentary. Try to detect any sweetness, salty flavors, acids and general bitterness. Explain what they are, or what they are similar to. Also, try tasting the beer after it warms a bit (just a bit mind you). Really cold beer tends to mask some of the flavors. As a beer warms, its true flavors will pull through, become more pronounced.

You can find some examples here: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/

Alright, my first.

Got my hands on the following this evening

:

Appearance:  Light in colour, but somewhat opaque -- cloudy even, but not overly so.  Downright mountainous head with incredible lasting power.  Left peaks and valleys behind like meringue as it slowly dissipated.

Odour: Malty -- that hits you right away, and underlying that a floral fruity smell.  Perhaps even apple?

Taste: Again, the malt comes through front and centre.  The fruitiness that I could smell was still there, but somewhat subdued.  Crisp and refreshing, and just when I though there was virtually no aftertaste, a mild bitter hoppiness comes through very late in the game.

All in all quite enjoyable.  Would make a good session beer.

Ok I am having a go here...

Right now I got this one called Fat Yak Pale Ale by the Matilda Bay Brewery 4.7% Alc. Used to drink thier stuff years ago cause it was cheap. Now with the ones I haven't seen it before.

 Smell good, seem to be a ting of nuts but dull. Kind of a strong tastse as you soon start to drink it. Light.

Grobe I think you turned me on to this beer and I guess I should thank you. I've been drinking it almost all the time. I'm a guy that gets in to a beer and drinks it to oblivion before moving on. This beer is very hoppy. Has a very clean finish. Is filled with....nuggets. Yes, solid chunks float in this beer. I don't know what they taste like and you can't feel them on your tongue. The beer is wonderful and must be high acohol content because I believe it messes me up, or maybe I just drink too much. Anyway - a great beer. Thank you!

Which one is you in the picture ?

Don't think that was me -- I'm familiar with it, but can't get it here so I've never tried it.

I'd be the one on the left, quietly laughing at the hyjinks of the more outgoing dude on the right. I've never had that charisma. Maybe another two years and I'll be perfect for a sit-in.