SWMBO rejected my IPA

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Ilan34

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SWMBO loves IPAs. I open up my latest one tonight and I'm blown away. I only have one chilled because I was checking for carbonation. I immediately give her the glass to try.

She sniffs it. "Whoa, that's strong!" I nod enthusiastically. She takes a sip. "ooh, that's fruity. It's too fruity, why's it so fruity?" Another sip and she hands it back. "I don't think I like it, it's too fruity for me."

I'm goddam crestfallen. This thing is loaded with tons of late hops - galaxy, cascade, and amarillo. Not to mention it was my first completely original recipe, which I think she forgot.

I sincerely think this is my best batch yet. Kind of frustrated and confused.
 
SWMBO loves IPAs. I open up my latest one tonight and I'm blown away. I only have one chilled because I was checking for carbonation. I immediately give her the glass to try.

She sniffs it. "Whoa, that's strong!" I nod enthusiastically. She takes a sip. "ooh, that's fruity. It's too fruity, why's it so fruity?" Another sip and she hands it back. "I don't think I like it, it's too fruity for me."

I'm goddam crestfallen. This thing is loaded with tons of late hops - galaxy, cascade, and amarillo. Not to mention it was my first completely original recipe, which I think she forgot.

I sincerely think this is my best batch yet. Kind of frustrated and confused.

Sorry to hear that, man. What kind of commercial IPAs does she like? I imagine what she's calling "fruity" is all those late hops.

If it's any consolation, I love IPAs and my SWMBO generally doesn't like them. I can usually tell how hoppy a beer is just by looking at the expression on her face after she takes a sip. :drunk:
 
That's rough. I'd definitely find out what commercial IPA she likes. I bet there isn't a ton of late hop additions. Just try again and now more for you!
 
Her favorites are probably Dogfish 90 min, Firestone Union Jack, and Bells Two Hearted. She's tried Heady a few times and loved it - and while it goes without saying that my IPA ain't no Heady, they're both big on the late tropical and citrusy hops.
I guess there's more for me!
 
SWMBO loves IPAs. I open up my latest one tonight and I'm blown away. I only have one chilled because I was checking for carbonation. I immediately give her the glass to try.

She sniffs it. "Whoa, that's strong!" I nod enthusiastically. She takes a sip. "ooh, that's fruity. It's too fruity, why's it so fruity?" Another sip and she hands it back. "I don't think I like it, it's too fruity for me."

I'm goddam crestfallen. This thing is loaded with tons of late hops - galaxy, cascade, and amarillo. Not to mention it was my first completely original recipe, which I think she forgot.

I sincerely think this is my best batch yet. Kind of frustrated and confused.

The highlighted text suggests that this is a very young beer. The hop aroma will subside as the beer matures. Give her a sip (just a little sip, mind you) when it has been in the bottle for a month. If it is still too fruity, let her try it in another month (if there is any left by then). I've found that by 3 months most of the aroma has gone.
 
SWMBO loves IPAs. I open up my latest one tonight and I'm blown away. I only have one chilled because I was checking for carbonation. I immediately give her the glass to try.

She sniffs it. "Whoa, that's strong!" I nod enthusiastically. She takes a sip. "ooh, that's fruity. It's too fruity, why's it so fruity?" Another sip and she hands it back. "I don't think I like it, it's too fruity for me."

I'm goddam crestfallen. This thing is loaded with tons of late hops - galaxy, cascade, and amarillo. Not to mention it was my first completely original recipe, which I think she forgot.

I sincerely think this is my best batch yet. Kind of frustrated and confused.

Well, it's time to get rid of her.

Just kidding. I guess she's more of a fan of piney hops instead of citrusy hops.
 
PRE66_6TART said:
At least she likes beer. I have to practically force mine to try my beer. And the only comment I ever get is "it tastes like beer." I should start saying "it tastes like food" whenever she cooks something...
Prepare for couch time if you do that! :p

OP, if she likes heady and such then who knows why she didn't like this. Maybe try it on her again in a week.
 
PRE66_6TART said:
At least she likes beer. I have to practically force mine to try my beer. And the only comment I ever get is "it tastes like beer." I should start saying "it tastes like food" whenever she cooks something...
Does your wife have a long lost twin sister? I must have married her.
 
Don't take it personally, each person has their own tastes. Also remember that some of the aromatic hop aromas which will influence the strong fruit taste will slowly blend in and diminish with time. Give it a few weeks and have her try it again.
 
I have to just say that although she gave my ipa the smack down, she has been just unbelievably supportive of the way this hobby has overtaken our apartment and our lives in less than a year. I read a lot of SWMBO stories on here and generally feel pretty lucky.

And no, she didn't discover this thread. :)

She's promised to try it again with a fresh perspective. As for it being a young beer, I don't think that's the case. It was in primary for four weeks and bottle for 25 days before I cracked it open.
 
I have to just say that although she gave my ipa the smack down, she has been just unbelievably supportive of the way this hobby has overtaken our apartment and our lives in less than a year. I read a lot of SWMBO stories on here and generally feel pretty lucky.

And no, she didn't discover this thread. :)

She's promised to try it again with a fresh perspective. As for it being a young beer, I don't think that's the case. It was in primary for four weeks and bottle for 25 days before I cracked it open.

I take back what I said about it being a young beer. You've let it mature just fine. The hop "punch in the face" aroma will fade with more time though.
 
Sounds like you've aged it well. As you try different styles, you will probably find a few that she likes. I've brewed a couple that I think are OK, but not great and my SWMBO has ordered me to re-brew, as she and her friends like it.
 
My SWMBO asked me to make her a clone of Alaskan Black IPA, and I think sure, why not, I've never brewed a BIPA before, this should be a good challenge. (yeah, right, i'm toast...) So I looked up quite a few recipes and decided to give it a shot. Ok, I was clueless, time to get busy, where to start? After perusing lots of answers, I had even more questions. So Brew Mate had a CDA recipe builder, and I used it to get to the proper style. Style, schmyel, who really cares if it isn't being sent off to a competition? Well, I do and I don't. As IPA's are notorious for being spendy due to the hop costs, I do care about the flavor of the finished ale. I took a chance and created a recipe, hoping my choice of hops would work well together. The beginning IBU was 91, and I dry hopped with another 2 oz., and I knew for sure my wife would like it as she is a borderline hop head, but I am not. Initially, the beer was very hop bitter, and sort of dry hop flavor was only a small addition. We tasted one last night (3-1/2 weeks in bottle) and I was amazed. The overpowering bitterness was gone, and this kind of floral and citrus aroma hit your nose before the beer was in your mouth. Yeah! I will wait 2 or 3 more weeks before I crack another one, and I do hope at 3 months in the bottle, it should be great. Sorry for the long post, I have ADHD and tend to forget this forum is not a blog.
 
I'm lost here. Check my math:

You brewed a batch of IPA that you really like.
She doesn't care for it and likely won't drink any of it.
Equals you get more of this IPA for yourself.

Please point out where the problem is...
 
I'm lost here. Check my math:

You brewed a batch of IPA that you really like.
She doesn't care for it and likely won't drink any of it.
Equals you get more of this IPA for yourself.

Please point out where the problem is...

Lol. Fair points. Well, believe it or not, I do need help drinking all this beer, and she hasn't been crazy about my last few brews. So, the stockpile is building up, and we live in an apartment. Besides the fact that it's just nice to enjoy a beer together that I brewed.
 
next time, maybe make an IPA using only chinook, columbus, apollo and simcoe... if she doesn't like fruity, hit her with the dank.

ok, you don't need to go full nuclear on the dank, but galaxy and amarillo and among the fruitiest hops out there (add some citra for the trifecta). maybe use only one of those two and balance out with something else.

I've found that by 3 months most of the aroma has gone.
but what's the point of adding all those tasty & expensive hops if only to end up aging the beer until those hops can't be perceived?!? :cross: might as well not add them in the first place and make a mellow pale ale.
 
My wife would never turn down one of my IPA's. She can't get enough of hop aroma and bitterness. The taste of a green IPA is completely different from a 3-6 week old IPA. I personally love my IPA's green and full of fruity hop aroma! :tank:
 
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