What was your gateway?

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mikeosoft

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Sorry if this is a re-post, but I'm wondering what was your gateway to becoming a hop-head?

Years ago when I started getting into craft bears I couldn't tolerate bitter beers (sad I know). Then last summer I picked up a 6pk of Sam Adams Noble Pilsner. I know it's not particularly heavily hopped (around 35 IBU), but it was light enough that the hops weren't overpowering to me and it had an aroma that I really liked. After that it was all over.

Right now I'm enjoying a Founders Centennial IPA like it was hardly hopped.
 
I never liked BMC beers. Can't say I haven't drank my share, but even when I was young I preferred Guinness to Bud. If I have to drink American Lager, I go with Lone Star. I guess I have my parents to thank for turning me on to good beer early...like Guinness being a treat for my step dad when I was growing up. I was also lucky to have Shiner in Texas. It's weird, people who would be fizzy yellow piss drinkers anywhere else in the country love Shiner Bock around here.

That said, the first time I tasted a hoppy beer I was intrigued. I honestly can't remember exactly what that first hoppy beer was, but it was probably Sierra Nevada followed by Dogfish 60. I actually did not fall in love w/ SNPA until I started brewing and finally understood how fresh that hop flavor was. From there I was hooked. I eagerly seek out the hoppiest beers I can find now. I just finished a 102 IBU Hop Stoopid a couple of days ago and honestly did not find it that bitter. My brewing FIL says I won't be happy til I figure out how to make hops part of my grist!!!

I think Pliny might just be the best thing I ever put in my mouth...wait...the best BEER I ever put in my mouth...wait...the best thing NOT attached to SWMBO I ever put in my mouth :D

I am now and forever a die hard hophead :rockin:
 
$5 pitchers at a local bar that had 75 taps. I was in my early 20s We got whatever was the 5 dollar beer of the night and the rest as they say is history. I remember Victory Hopdevil and Middle Ages ImPaledAle
 
I remember drinking a Stoudt's American Pale Ale and thinking it was the most bitter thing I'd ever had.

Now I throw back Nugget Nectar and anything Stone and triple IPAs like they're water.
 
Longhammer IPA was the first hoppy beer I liked. I was always a staunch, "I'm not one of those hop-heads!" kind of guy. That beer one night changed my world.

While I still prefer a lot of hop flavor without excessive bitterness (I add all my hops to my pale ale in the last 10m), I still crave that crazy, over-the-top bitterness about twice a month. I rarely buy Longhammer anymore, though, because now it tastes...well...tame!
 
SNPA was the first craft beer I had (second beer overall, started off with Guinness Draught). I think the first IPA I had and liked was Lagunitas. I remember having a double IPA at a local brew pub in Monterey and wasn't too fond of it. Not sure how long it was after that when I had the Lagunitas though.
 
I've tried too many beers. I knew what an IPA was before I had one. But I can't remember not liking bitter beers and hops. I don't remember what it was but I instantly loved my first IPA. I tend to prefer big bold flavors. Heck, I've eaten acorns and can actually taste the nut through the bitter. No, they're not poisonous. Just full of tannins.
 
Good ole Shiner Bock was my gateway to good beer. I used to think it was the greatest beer ever. Now I get it whenever I visit the fam in TX, and although it's no longer the greatest beer to me, it will always hold a special place in my heart.
 
I always knew there wad more to beer than BMC offered. I would occasionally drink Sam Adams or go to a brewpub for dinner but I always just went back to Bud. Until one night I saw Bell's Best Brown on special while out for a friends birthday. The next day I bought 6 different Bell's beers and never looked back.
 
bells two hearted ale.
my g/f got it for me b/c it had the fish ont he label and i love to fish.
I spent the first 5 minutes just smelling it. it was all down hill from there
 
I like an IPA every ounce in a while but it's probably one of my least favorites, which is shocking, I know. To me, heavily hopped pale ales all taste very similar, there is not enough room left from the bitterness to feel the complexity of other flavors. It's one the easiest to brew too...
 
My first craft brew was a 90minute DFH. It got me interested, my "gateway" if you will. But once Pliny the elder and GreenFlash got a hold of me....... It was over.
 
Sam Adams Boston Lager was my introduction to good beer. I was 20 at the time, and as such I only really had access to the cheap stuff I could get at college parties. As a result, I wasn't terribly fond of beer or drinking. Then I started dating a girl a few years older than me whose go-to drink was Boston Lager.
Incidentally, this is the same girl who got me into scotch. She drinks 15 year old Glenlivet, loves beer, plays video games, and is a fantastic singer and pianist. I got me a keeper!
 
Central City/ Red Racer IPA. A total hop bomb with a lingering aroma that got passed around the table for sniffing before even trying it. Totally sticky with the classic PNW hops.

After that I tried a few other IPAs and just starting adding loads of hops to most beers.
 
My gateway to hoppy beer was probably gritty's Panhandle IPA, its one only brewed in the brew pub. The citrusy hops and almost piney flavor blew my mind, and ever since, I drink IPAs a lot to try and capture that burst of flavors.
 
I have just recently started to REALY enjoy hoppy beers.

It all started when I did a tour at the Sam Adams brewery and they had us rub hops between our hands and smell. Then had us drink the latitude 48 IPA (before it hit the shelves)

After that I was hooked.
 
It all started when I did a tour at the Sam Adams brewery and they had us rub hops between our hands and smell. Then had us drink the latitude 48 IPA (before it hit the shelves)

After that I was hooked.

Great responses from everyone.

To Cranny's point, I think home brewing does a lot for hop appreciation. There's something special when you can hold fresh hops up to your nose then taste them in your beer.
 
mikeosoft said:
There's something special when you can hold fresh hops up to your nose then taste them in your beer.

Absolutely, after the tour I started to research home brewing.
 
I started out saying I HATE bitter beers, then as I learned what hops were - through my brewing, I started detecting them in what I got at the bar. I learned that at least for me, hops aren't just bitter, they are aromatic, spicy, yummy smelling...
Then I tried SNPA and various Stone offerings.

I still dislike - true bitterness - I'm searching for what it is, for my tastes. I think its one or two of the more roasted malts that give true bitterness, I dislike that burt finish.

But hops? I learned that hops are not a bad thing, and make beer really a lot more interesting.

I've got a DFH 60 in primary right now! :mug:
 
I like an IPA every ounce in a while but it's probably one of my least favorites, which is shocking, I know. To me, heavily hopped pale ales all taste very similar, there is not enough room left from the bitterness to feel the complexity of other flavors. It's one the easiest to brew too...

I respectfully disagree. You aree right that anyone can throw a bunch of hops in a kettle and schiz out your taste buds, but creating a highly hopped but balanced brew is one of the greatest challenges we face as brewers. I LOVE REALLY hoppy beers, but they can't just be bitter. There has to be a malty backbone to support it and flavor and aroma that is not overwhelmed by the bitterness.

:mug:
 
This is a great thread, time to BUMP!

Bells Hopslam was my first big hoppy beer. I know, its sweet and malty too :D
Victory Hop Devil is freakin great too

Now I love most all of them :mug:
 
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA was my gateway to bitter beers. Still love it to this day.
 
First IPA I ever tried was Coronado IPA. I HATED it, I thought it was the most disgusting beer ever, after starting back at the bottom with SNPA and moving all the way up to stone, I can officially call myself a Hop- Head! Can't get enough. An there is always a hop for anytime wether it just be a nice refreshing session or something a little ( or a lot) stronger.
 
I used to be ridiculously anti craft beer, I even had a rant that BMC has to be better since they have more money for R&D. I was young and naive. I moved a few miles from a great brewery, victory, and loved all of their beers.
 
Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale and Stone Levitation Ale was my introduction to overly hopped beers! Granted their IBU's are 35-45but all I crave is 100+ IBU's :)
 
I took the exit years ago. There are way too many great styles out there to get stuck on megahopping.
 
I honestly think it was PBR that got me interested in the odd flavor it had that other beers didn't.

As for a truly hoppy IPA I'm not sure which was my first, it seems so long ago now.
 
While it might be pedestrian to most other IPA's out now, DFH 60 minute took me by complete surprise several years ago after enjoying the occasional beer in general. I tried it against the 90 minute, and liked the less malty sweet 60 even still.

One trip to world market where a single bottle of Green Flash WCIPA and others were bought..... I was done.
 
I don't consider my self a hop head, but I can enjoy hoppy beers...

My gateway was a tour of Sam Addams brewery... They gave us hop cones to smell and rub between our hands.. The connection between that and the flavors/aromas drew me in...

Two months after the tour I brewed my first beer
 
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