BeerBorg

Besides the fact that I've got opposable thumbs, I mean. Anywhich, here's the sitch:

I never considered myself a fan of hoppy beers. Way too bitter. It just got in the way of the beer flavor. Didn't care for them much. But a couple of years ago, I bought a six-pack of Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPA. Again, didn't care for the assault on my taste buds, but I acknowledged that it was a well-made beer.

Fast forward to yesterday. Worked a long day for a Saturday, and was pretty tired when I was done. I stopped off and bought a six-pack of Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPA. Boy, did that go down smooth! I felt it had a nice balance and a great aroma and flavor. Good bitterness.

So yeah... I may be turning into a hop-head.

Right there with ya, Dave.

Welcome to the club, we have a secret hand shake and everything.

That's how I felt about a year ago. Now I am enjoying hoppy beers more often than not.

And it's not that don't recognize that it's bitter and has a lot of hops up front. It's just that now, I enjoy it. And I can actually say I've had more bitter IPAs than the 60-Minute, and I've enjoyed them, too.

I still dont like the bitter. I do like some IPAS though because I like thehop flavor. Odells and Lagunitas come to mind. And when I brew an IPA I hop burst it to avoid the bitter.

Gymrat wrote:I still dont like the bitter. I do like some IPAS though because I like thehop flavor. Odells and Lagunitas come to mind. And when I brew an IPA I hop burst it to avoid the bitter.

Lagunitas make several styles that I like a lot too. The best craft IPA I've had in recent memory is still Dragon Slayer, but it's a far drive from here to Cali. to get one on draft.

I've gone through the exact same process. I wouldn't call myself a hop head but my idea of what makes a balanced beer is starting to lean towards hoppy.

The same thing happened to me many years ago with Racer 5 though now, it's not hoppy enough. I agree with Roger in so far that just being bitter doesn't mean hoppy. I need to have a bitter flavor, not just bite,
And beware of Jeff's handshake. You never even realize his other hand.

Banjo-guy wrote:I've gone through the exact same process. I wouldn't call myself a hop head but my idea of what makes a balanced beer is starting to lean towards hoppy.

This.

And Vince, I can get some Lagunitas in bottles at my local Fairway. But yeah, draft would be awesome.

I like both hoppy and malty beers. I like bitter, and not bitter. I like huge amounts of hop flavor *a lot*, but I also like huge amounts of yeast contributed flavor in some styles with very little hops *a lot* as well. I like beers that are sour as hell, I like beers that are salty and sour, and I like funky beers too.

What I don't like is tasteless. It has to have flavor, be that from yummy malt, yummy yeast, or yummy hops, or yummy bugs. As long as they are yummy.

This happened with me for Stouts, don't know what turned for me but I enjoy them now. Before I could only take them as a Black and Tan.

It's fun appreciating styles you didn't really care for before.
I don't think I'll ever really enjoy witbier, but maybe I should give them another chance, it's been a while since I tried one.

haven't been brewing all that long but in going over some brewing notes the other night I have noticed in 3 of my regular brews a slight increase in ibus. just on the order of 5 ibus but the same increase across al 3 brews. so 5 ibus in 1.5 years...at that rate I'll probably start liking IPAs in 5 or 6 years.

Inkleg wrote:Welcome to the club, we have a secret hand shake and everything.

Is that what the Naked Cat has been demonstrating all this time???