Does Anyone Else Dislike Hops?

I love very hoppy beer, but it ruins my taste buds. Luckily I also love beer with a good malty flavor or balanced flavor. So I tend to drink that and I save the DIPA's for desert.

Nope, I love the intense hop flavor found in IPA's. Before I even really knew it was fad I knew I really liked this type of beer. I also love salt-n-vinegar chips whereas most people can't stand them. The more intense the better.

Logzor said:

I also love salt-n-vinegar chips whereas most people can't stand them. The more intense the better.

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Someone else mentioned liking spicy and salty foods as opposed to their woman liking sweet soda and candy and what not. Probably onto something there as far as a correlation between food preference and beer preference. DUH, huh? I'm going to spend some time asking people what kind of food and beer they prefer to see how consistent it is. As far as I can tell ... those more inclined to salty and spicy foods like less IBU's and those more inclined to sweet food like cake and what not seem to like more IBU's. Interesting topic I think, despite how obvious it is that there would be a correlation.

If you really dislike any particular style of beer, the odds are you're not trying hard enough. I've disliked every type of beer that wasn't Bud, then anything but Bud and Sam Boston Lager. Then...... you get the idea. Palettes tend to get acclimated to unfamiliar flavors over time. If you told me 8 years ago that one of my favorite beer styles would be Farmhouse and Lambics with a teeth enamel dissolving sourness, I'd call you a liar to your face.

Realistically, that whole thing is tongue in cheek. I realize people have favorites and tend to avoid styles since there's only so much blood to dilute in any one drinking session.

By the way, you like hops just fine. Without them, you'd have Malta Goya with a shot of vodka added.

there is never enough hops. Except maybe in Ruination, they might have gotten the balance right there.

My wife says all beers with hops taste like dirt. I think the more she complains about the "dirt" flavor the better the beer taste. I guess that's why I try to brew for myself. Call me selfish but my supply lasts longer.

I'm not a big hops fan. I had a 6 pack of Sam Adams Noble pils, drank two and that's all I could drink because it was just too hoppy. Last week I drank a Mr. beer witty monk, then drank a noble pils, and it tasted pretty good, so I drank another. Then I had a Fat Tire and it tasted really sweet after drinking the noble pils. Hoppy beers might be growing a little on me.

Nothing like the smell of a freshly opened bag of German Hallertau . . . yum! I love earthy, floral, and piney hops most of all especially in belgian ales of all sorts. I strongly dislike stricly bitter hops when they are noticeable. Malt profile is my particular taste preference.

I've heard of the difference between a Rochefort bsda enjoyed fresh in Belgium and that one after it is shipped, stored, passing through various temperature changes, and then dispensed into my glass here in the states and long for a try of the fresh "hoppy" one.

I love hops, spicy food and will lays take a bag of chips over ice cream. Big and bold for this guy.

I love hoppy beers, i love some malty beers,i think i just like beer altogether. I can learn to like a style by trying a good handfull of the style before deciding i just dont like the style.Ive been pretty impressed with some cheap lagers time to time.
Taste can change time to time,depending what you eat,your ph that day,and who hasnt had a day when any beer has kinda sucked? Ill blame that on your ph that day too.

Show me the malt, baby!

Thanks for reviving the thread, I hadn't seen it.

I wouldn't say I dislike hops, but I certainly don't care for super-hoppy beers. I'm generally happier staying away from IPA/APA styles. Super-malty beers don't do it for me either. Actually, too malty is a bit worse than too hoppy.

For me, it's not the bitterness so much as the grapefruity hops flavor. I don't mind bitter flavors. Some hops flavor is ok, particularly the milder varieties, but the beer needs to be more complex than just a hopbomb.

Also, I like extraordinarily spicy foods and other intense flavors. So I don't think it's fair to say that there's a universal correlation between eating heat and adoring hops. Or maybe I'm the exception that proves the rule...

I like hot sauce,sometimes i dislike habanero sometimes i dont, i just hate getting the hiccups sometimes.Sometimes that happens.I made a saison that i hate cold but when it warms its impressive

My very first post. Heck no, I love hops, and in fact I cant get enough of them. I am about to palnt my own in the garden and trying to find a way to work them into my morning oatmeal.

I like hop flavour/aroma but I can't handle too much bitterness. I tried an IPA the other day that tasted like grapefruit which I didn't really care for

When I brew, the smell of hops is almost naueseating to me. When I put them in and take them out of the wort, it's all I can do to not loose my cookies. Very weird, since I don't mind the taste of hops in my beer. They are in the same family as cannibis and back in the day, I couldn't stand the smell of fresh weed either.

chetduggan said:

When I brew, the smell of hops is almost naueseating to me. When I put them in and take them out of the wort, it's all I can do to not loose my cookies. Very weird, since I don't mind the taste of hops in my beer. They are in the same family as cannibis and back in the day, I couldn't stand the smell of fresh weed either.

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Yaaaay this thread is going to get shut down!

Love love love love hops.

I prefer stouts over any other beer. As a matter of fact, I commonly brew stouts year round so I've got no issues with drinking them in the summer. With that being said I also love IPA's and have brewed my fair share of them as well.

It really just depends on what I'm in the mood for.

I love Hop Bombs, I love them so much I have a hop bomb tattoo on my left bicep, I also love IPAs and IIPAs that have loads of hop flavor and aroma with balanced bitterness.

That being said i also love a nice malty RIS or Imperial Porter, and to a lesser extent regular stouts and porters. I haven't found a single style I don't like, but I have found plenty of beers i would rather not drink.

Hoppy beers are not my favorite but I have definitely learned to appreciate them more over the past three years of homebrewing.

Double tap kegerator = IPA on one side and stout on the other. Make's it impossible to make the wrong decision!

hops are king!!Ive got several strains growing in my back yard.but my wife on the other hand she cant stand hoppy beers.she prefers a good german style lager.wich i might add has hops in it.

I like hops, but not burn-your-nose-hairs-off bitter IPAs. If I'm buying beer I'll go for a bock or Scottish ale since I prefer the malty goodness.

My second batch was a honey amber ale at about 35 IBUs and that was plenty bitter for me. Now that it's a few month's old the bitter balances the honey pretty well, but I don't think I'd go much higher than that. But my 5th batch was a Pilsner-clone Ale at about 18 IBU with lots of Saaz for flavor and smell and that's just great.

Mike

This thread saddens me LOLOL.

I'm right with you - I think it's a natural progression of beer drinking.

When I started drinking craft I loved hops - then you start to get into the subtle nuances that malt and yeast can bring to a brew.

Hops are one dimensional - give me a balanced beer where all 4 ingredients play well together and I'll get excited

shoreman said:

I'm right with you - I think it's a natural progression of beer drinking.

When I started drinking craft I loved hops - then you start to get into the subtle nuances that malt and yeast can bring to a brew.

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True, I slowly got into hoppier beers over several years. Now the in your face burn beers I can tolerate but, slowly I am weaning myself off them. I blame Flemish Red /Lambic / Gueze and other sours for this. I still like a over the top hoppy beer every now and then but, something more well rounded (I'm looking at you Saison) is more my go to style.

Side note, because of Flemish, Lambic etc... I think I am starting to appreciate wine more.

shoreman said:

I'm right with you - I think it's a natural progression of beer drinking.

When I started drinking craft I loved hops - then you start to get into the subtle nuances that malt and yeast can bring to a brew.

Hops are one dimensional - give me a balanced beer where all 4 ingredients play well together and I'll get excited

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With all due respect, hops are not one dimensional. Different types in different combinations will completely change the taste and character of any given beer. If they were truly one dimensional it would not matter what type of hop or how many of each type you used.

I also take exception with your statement about the "natural progression" of beer drinking. Perhaps it may be true for someone who is relatively young and new to beer drinking and who starts drinking IPAs because all of their friends do so. There are many of us, however, who have been drinking beers for decades, appreciate and enjoy many different styles of beer, and love hop bombs.

Personally, I tend to prefer big beers, whether it is an IIPA or a RIS, but have yet to try a Belgian that I really enjoyed. The yeast taste reminds me of the very green beer my college roommate use to brew back in the seventies. I just don't really like the taste. I understand, however, that others like or even love Belgians. It is all a matter of individual taste - not any natural progression.

DirtyOldDuck said:

With all due respect, hops are not one dimensional. Different types in different combinations will completely change the taste and character of any given beer. If they were truly one dimensional it would not matter what type of hop or how many of each type you used.

I also take exception with your statement about the "natural progression" of beer drinking. Perhaps it may be true for someone who is relatively young and new to beer drinking and who starts drinking IPAs because all of their friends do so. There are many of us, however, who have been drinking beers for decades, appreciate and enjoy many different styles of beer, and love hop bombs.

Personally, I tend to prefer big beers, whether it is an IIPA or a RIS, but have yet to try a Belgian that I really enjoyed. The yeast taste reminds me of the very green beer my college roommate use to brew back in the seventies. I just don't really like the taste. I understand, however, that others like or even love Belgians. It is all a matter of individual taste - not any natural progression.

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Hey no biggie - you like what you like in just going on what I've noticed in craft amongst friends over the last 15 years - I see people all over ipas for a few years and then dig deeper - just going from personal experience.

I still do think that these hop bomb beers are one dimensional - its all about that combo of hops and that's it - that's why most brewers use a neutral yeast like Chico - it doesn't get in the way of that one dimension - the hops.

I still don't like high IBU brews, but I DO enjoy an English pale ale, or IPA, that's more moderate in it's IBU level, but also has good hop flavor/aroma. It's not difficult to get that either. I dry hopped in keg a batch and it has GREAT hop flavor/aroma from the dry hop addition (1oz whole hops in a 3 gallon keg) for the entire keg. MUCH better, IMO, than when I dry hopped before kegging the batch. I've also done a few hop-burst batches which were balanced (IBU/GU ratio worked really well) and had great hop flavor to it.

I would suggest making a batch where you target the middle of the IBU range for the style, with a solid flavor/aroma addition to the batch. Use software so that you can be sure the IBU's don't get too high. I would do an ounce (or more) for the flavor and another ounce for aroma additions if an ale. Porters and stouts would be just flavor, and probably an ouce... If you're set up for kegging, try dry hopping in keg for either an ale or IPA and see how you like it. I would drop the hops (whole hops being my preference) in a nylon bag and let them float free. I didn't send mine to the bottom in the last batch and really enjoyed it. I also found that the hops (in the hop bag) were just wet from the brew, with no extra beer in the bag, or bottom of the keg.

If you want, experiment with hop bursting batches. There's plenty of info on it online. Basically, you add ALL your hops from 20 minutes from the end forward. It means you're adding a lot more hops to the batch, but what you get is really worth it in the right style brew (ales, pale ales and IPAs especially). It's another case where I'm glad I use a hop spider with my kettle/keggle...

I like both Malty Brews and Hoppy Brews.... I like Beer!

richbrew99 said:

I like both Malty Brews and Hoppy Brews.... I like Beer!

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+1 and most of the time, but not always, it depends on the weather

I have said this before and I will say it again. Hops in beer are a lot like pepper in chili. Guys will cram in as much as they can just so they can watch you make a face when you try it- then they get to call you a wuss and tell you that you don't know what is good. I like my chili just hot enough to make my nose run. Any more is too much. My threshold with hops is prolly a strong APA. Any more is too much. I will smell your IPA; they smell great, but they taste horrible.

"Does Anyone Else Dislike Hops?" BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lumpher said:

"Does Anyone Else Dislike Hops?" BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Says the man with two Hefeweizen's in the pipeline! Those should be around 10 IBU's if I'm not mistaken. Just messin with ya of course, but you see where we are coming from. Bottom line, I don't think any of us would turn down ANY beer!

To me, it all depends on the style of beer and the hops themselves, but overall, I like the hops. Most of my favorite beers have an IBU around 40 (+/- 10 or so). That would be like most American Pale Ales or mildly bitter IPA's. My favorite recipes that I have created include a big flavoring hop addition added at the last 20 minutes left in the boil using something that has a lot of citrus character like Amarillo, Cascade, or Falconer's Flight. So I guess that means I enjoy the hop flavor, but don't care much of the extreme bitterness. The aroma is great and I enjoy standing over the kettle taking in all the smell when I add hops, but I really want the flavor to come through more than anything in the final product.

Some of my other favorite beers included traditional hefes, saisons and other belgians, that have a prominent and unique yeast flavor, with low IBU, and low hop flavor. Some day soon I'll try making one of these styles with the same late addition of a citrus flavored hop. Just off the top of my head maybe something like 50-60% wheat, 2 row and munich, WLP380 for more spice and less banana, and lots of Amarillo and/or Falconer's Flight added in the last 20 minutes of boil. I'm imagining a mix of malty, spicy yeast, and citrus flavors that I think I would really enjoy.