What beer should I drink if I don't like beer?

Start with something that doesn't taste like the beer you've disliked. A fruited sour or a gose is tart and fruity, a witbier is light and citrusy, and a clean Mexican-style lager is very mild. Many people who say they hate beer have only tried one or two styles.

What is the easiest beer to drink for beginners?

Light lagers such as pilsner, Kölsch and Mexican-style lager are the easiest for most beginners. They are crisp and mild, with little bitterness and usually around 4 to 5% ABV. A wheat beer is another gentle option if you like a softer, slightly fruity taste.

What beer should I order at a brewery for the first time?

Ask for a flight or a few tasters so you can try several styles in small pours. Include one light lager, one hoppy beer and one dark beer, then order a full pour of your favorite. Telling the bartender two or three things you like to drink helps them point you in the right direction.

What beer goes with pizza?

A crisp pilsner or an amber lager is the safe choice, because it cuts through cheese and grease without overpowering the food. A hoppy pale ale works with spicy toppings. Save big, strong beers for after dinner.

How do I know if I'll like a beer before I buy it?

Match it to flavors you already enjoy, and ask for a taster when you can. The style name tells you most of what to expect, so learning a handful of styles goes a long way. An app that learns your taste, like Barley, can also point you at beers on a tap list that match what you've liked before.

What Beer Should I Drink Tonight?

By Brian Winckel · Founder, Brewlytics.ai

Beginner4 min readSeptember 29, 2026Outcome: Pick a beer style that fits tonight in under a minute, using three quick questions about your mood, your food and what you already enjoy

Seen from behind, a guest in a denim jacket sits at a taproom bar with a glass of water, chin on hand, studying a long row of twelve wooden tap handles.

Short Answer

Ask yourself three things: what you usually like to drink, what kind of night it is, and what you're eating. If you like crisp and clean, get a pilsner or light lager. If you like juicy and fruity, try a hazy IPA or wheat beer. If you like coffee or chocolate, order a stout or porter, and if you like sour candy, try a gose or fruited sour. Still stuck? Ask for a taster.

Barley's Take

There's no wrong first beer, only a wrong fourth beer when you should have switched to water. Tell me one thing you like and I'll find you a pint.

The short version

You don't need to know beer to pick a good one. You need to know what you already like, what kind of night you're having, and what's on your plate. Answer those three and you'll land on a style fast.

A beer style is a family of beers that taste roughly alike, such as pilsner, IPA or stout. Once you know which family you like, any tap list gets a lot less scary.

Five beers glowing in a row along a sunny patio railing, from pale straw pilsner through hazy orange IPA, ruby sour and copper lager to black stout, each in a different glass.

Start with what you already like

Your taste in other drinks is the best clue you have. Find yourself in this table:

If you like...	Try this style	What it tastes like
Crisp white wine, soda water, a cold lager at a ballgame	Pilsner, Kölsch, Mexican-style lager	Clean, crisp, lightly bready
Orange juice, mango, citrus	Hazy IPA, wheat beer	Juicy, soft, tropical or citrusy
Black coffee, dark chocolate	Stout, porter	Roasty, chocolatey, smooth
Sour candy, lemonade, kombucha	Gose, fruited sour	Tart, fruity, sometimes a little salty
Caramel, toast, a cozy sweater	Amber ale, Märzen, brown ale	Malty, toasty, gently sweet
Grapefruit, pine, bitter greens	West Coast IPA, pale ale	Bitter, piney, dry

IPA stands for India pale ale, a family of beers built around hops, the flowers that give beer its bitterness and fruity or piney smell. ABV means alcohol by volume, the percentage printed on the menu.

Then match the night

The same person wants a different beer at a backyard barbecue than on a cold night by the fire.

Hands open a tall can of pale lager on a butcher-block kitchen counter beside a takeout pizza box and an empty pint glass, dusk in the window behind.

A long, social night: stay under about 5% ABV. Pilsners, Kölsch and session IPAs let you have a second without regretting it.
One slow beer: go darker or stronger. A stout, a barleywine or a Belgian tripel is made for sipping.
Hot day outside: light, cold and tart. A gose or a witbier refreshes better than anything heavy.
With food: crisp lagers go with almost anything, especially pizza and fried food. Hoppy pale ales stand up to spice, and stouts are great with dessert.

How to order tonight

Barley slides a small taster of golden beer across a high-top table to a smiling woman in a knit sweater who holds another taster, with three more tasters on a paddle between them.

Pick your row in the table. Say it out loud to the bartender: "I usually like crisp and clean" or "I like juicy stuff."
Ask for a taster. Many breweries will pour a small sample before you commit to a full glass.
Try a flight if you're torn. Four small pours of different styles is the fastest way to learn what you like. Our guide to building the perfect beer flight shows you how to pick them.
Remember the winner. Note the style, not just the name. Next time, look for that style on any menu.

If you've written beer off entirely, start with the best beer styles for people who think they hate beer. For a fuller tour of the main families, read beer styles explained.

FAQ

See the FAQ block at the end of the page for quick answers on beginner beers, pizza pairings and what to order if you don't like beer.

Let Barley answer it for you next time

Working through a table is fine once. Barley learns what you like from the beers you rate, reads the tap list at the brewery you're in, and points you at the ones that match, so tonight's question has an answer before you reach the bar.

→ Get the free Barley app → Read more Barley Reads, or head back to the Barley homepage.

Frequently asked questions

A dimpled mug of copper-amber Oktoberfest lager beside a salted soft pretzel on a weathered picnic table scattered with maple leaves, with a busy beer garden glowing in low autumn sun behind.

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Seasonal Beer Guide: What to Drink and When

Crisp lagers and sours in summer, Oktoberfest and fresh-hop in fall, stouts in winter. A season-by-season beer map, and why each style fits its time of year.

4 min readBeginnerOutcome: Walk into any brewery in any month and know which styles are in season, why they taste right then, and which one to order first

The same hazy golden IPA poured into a straight pint glass, a stemmed tulip with a tall domed head, and a stemmed pilsner glass, side by side on a dark wood bar by a sunny window.

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Why Glassware Changes How Your Beer Tastes

Glass shape changes what you smell, how the foam holds and how fast your beer warms. Here's which glass helps which style, with zero snobbery required.

4 min readBeginnerOutcome: Pick the glass that makes the beer in front of you taste the way the brewer meant, and know when a plain pint glass is fine

An overhead view of a wooden flight paddle on a dark taproom table, four small pours running pale straw to hazy orange to blush pink to black, with a hand reaching in for the third glass and a water glass, pencil and coaster alongside.