I'm home! Having some dinner and a nice Belgian Ale. Anybody want to hang out?

[Aristus]

15. Well, simple girl,

you hit the nail on the head. Never mind all the fancy stuff, topnotes and finish, color and nose. If you like it, that's the most important quality a beer, wine or scotch can possess. If you don't like it, all the flowery, descriptive language in the world won't change a thing.

Most microbrewerys offer a tasting platter; a rack of shot-glasses each with a sample of the brewery's offerings. This way you can choose which style you like best before buying a big, honking pint of it that you might not finish. Give them a try.

Oh, and if you like scotch, try Lagavulin. It's a single malt scotch. That high-tension stuff from the Outer Islands. It's very smooth, and simply wonderful. A good reminder of why the Scots call whisky "The Water Of Life". A very special quality of Lagavulin is, when you crack the seal and twist the lid off, the peaty liquid smells like a campfire. I recommend it.