@jonsblond i agree. it is an acquired taste. you either like beer or you don’t.
but to answer the question, think of beer as cereal. when you break it all down, that’s all it is—liquid cereal. you try the cereal at first and you don’t like it. but try it again and you, well, you “get it.” beer is in the mind. for americans it has to be cold and it goes well with cutting the grass on a hot summer day or as the first thing you drink when you arrive at a backyard BBQ.
it can be bitter or it can be sweet. it can have wet finishes and dry finishes. it can taste like toilet water or it can taste like fruit. beer, essentially, is a cup of black coffee—no sugar, no cream that compliments food like brats and pizza and steak. beer is a “finisher” and a “starter.”
it just goes with food.