Sometimes when I look at Untappd check-ins I wonder if they were done when the person started drinking the beer or when they finished it.

I’m very much in the former camp. I like to check in early so I can get back to enjoying the bulk of my beer. I’d reckon most people are like that, because I tend to assume my own behavior is reflective of everyone else’s (it’s safer than being the weird one).

Whether you check in early or late can make a difference. I think we’ve all experienced a beer where our feelings for it at the start of the glass aren’t the same as those at the end. Maybe it started out ordinary but, once the beer warmed up, you noticed some new, enticing flavours coming through. Or maybe it went the other way – it caught your attention from the first sip but, by the end of the glass, you were struggling to get through it.

I felt the latter while drinking the Lebanese pale ale 961. It’s a beer that beer people on Twitter kept banging on about so I figured there had to be something to it. And so I ordered a bottle from Slowbeer.

It is certainly different as pale ales go – this one includes thyme, sumac, camomile, sage, anise and mint. And those herbs and spices truly are the dominant characteristics of the beer. After a taste or two, I could appreciate what they’d done and note how well the herb and spice flavour came through (it tasted a little like Pizza Shapes). But I could also note that I had no desire – or need – to try it again. Because if I wanted to taste Pizza Shapes, I’d have bought some.

By the end of the glass, things had gotten worse. With each sip, the grimace I pulled got bigger and I thought, “forget about not trying another bottle, I might not even make it through this one”. By the end, the herb and spice flavour had become so overwhelming it was like I was drinking alcoholic pasta sauce.

And I have never in my life expressed an urge to drink alcoholic pasta sauce. So while there seem to be loads and loads of beer geeks who love this beer, I most definitely am not one of them.

NOTE: Since I wrote this – but before it was published – I had the guys from 961 contact me on Twitter and suggest I try one of their sessionable beers like the red ale or lager. Which surprised me a bit because I was only aware of the Lebanese Pale Ale. While I’ve left the initial post unchanged as it does reflect how I feel about the beer, this note is to point out that it isn’t meant to be so much of a sessionable beer. Which may well change the way people approach it; I’m sure it would have if I’d known (and the fact I didn’t is entirely my fault). So if I happen to come across either of those other 961 beers I’ll definitely give them a crack.