Confessions of a former hophead. Or how I learned to love malt focused beers.

Also a new love if not down right preference for low gravity ales.


So it isn't that I used to despise malty beers or anything. I just liked really hopped up brews. I do not dislike them now, but for reasons beyond my control I cannot always enjoy them. My tastebuds are really whacked. However give me a malty mild or Scottish 60/- or even a nice bitter (which is now plenty of hop yummie-ness for me) and I am a happy boy.

I'm a little sad that I can not always enjoy a crisp APA or a hop bomb Imperial IPA. I take solace in the pint after pint of delicious malty and balanced brews though.

Case in point, I just tapped my first 60/- ale and I cannot get enough. It may not be perfect or even ready but there is something addictively delicious about it. It has no head yet but adequate carbonation. Been a week @ 7 psi and 43F so about 1.60-80 volumes (I don't have the numbers right but you get the idea) probably not all the way "there" yet. I love it though. Still a little cloudy too, as I did not end up cold condtioning it as long as I wanted. Again, despite its flaws it is a really nice drinkable pint.

What is this all about and who cares you say? Well, I dunno, it just surprised me how utterly delighted I am in these low gravity low IBU ales. I find them downright exciting which is kinda weird I know, but true.

Welcome to the "dark" side.

I like the lower grav beers also, I get to drink more! +1 also on malt over hops for the sake of hops.

I was going to make the 'dark side' comment, but I see the good gnome has beaten me to the proverbial punch!

I was the opposite not too long ago. I loved my stouts, porters and brown ales and would drink nothing else. Then something strange happened; I tried an IPA (Boulder Brewing Co Mojo IPA, IIRC). This was not my first experience with IPAs, my first was a DFH 60 Min, but I just loved it. I couldn't get enough hops in my life and drank, over the course of about a month or so, every IPA and IIPA my local beer stores stocked. Since then I've settled in to a happy medium between big hop bombs and low gravity, low IBU beers. I don't exactly know where this was going, but it seemed relevant when I started typing.

So, you're saying that you love beer? I'm right there with you!

I guess I'm not really adding anything to this thread....well uh...hooray, beer.

I've found I definitely prefer the balanced brew where malt meet hops in perfect harmony, like yin and yang. I DO appreciate a very hoppy IPA or Imperial IPA now and again, but it's just not something I'd want to drink every day. I also like very mellow brews where hops are almost non-existent, but again it's not something that is a staple. I really like a balanced brew where I can taste malt, hops, and yeast in perfect harmony, living happily together in my glass, and later inside ma belly! In my homebrewing, I'm trying to perfect this and not be corrupted by those breweries who prefer to brew the majority of their beers like hops are the only important ingredient. It's hard though...cause those breweries like DFH, Stone, and SN sure do put out some excellent brew. But in my own brewery, I'll continue to focus on balanced brew...!

I recently had pretty much the same realization.

I got into this hobby liking hoppy brews, but hop prices convinced me to try some lighter and maltier options, and I'm more than satisfied.

I really have to be in the mood for the hop bombs anymore, which is nice because the session able stuff is dirt cheap!

I agree. Hops are overrated as hops. When balanced though they are a thing of beauty, nice and malty with good acid and hop flavor.

I'm the same way, Zym. I like the occasional IPA or Oktoberfest, but my go-to beers are mid-range. And I always keep a low-gravity beer on hand... usually an Ordinary Bitter.

So, I guess we just like beers with "balanceability".

I guess I drift toward the malty in the winter and the hoppy in the summer. Drinking heavily-hopped beers in the winter just feels wrong (like eating fresh strawberries in January).

I'm normally a hophead too, but I greatly enjoyed the first three bottles of the six-pack of Troegs porter I bought on Saturday, and there's an English Mild brown bubbling happily behind me, so I'll keep everyone updated haha.

I bottle IPAs and IIPAs and keg bitters, ESBs, and the stouts. If I'm in the mood for hoppy beer, it's there but my preference is the malty side of the scale.

But I'll take a trippel anyday. Yum!

Anyone can pour a crapton of hops into a beer and make it intensely hoppy. The real skill is making a perfectly balanced beer.

I like beers with a .5:1 IBU:OG ratio, and beers with 1:1 IBU:OG ratio. Anything in between I find boring, so I've resolved to stop brewing balanced beers since I simply don't enjoy them. Give me malt, give me hops, or go home.

mmb said:

But I'll take a trippel anyday. Yum!

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I'm witcha!

I once heard that your pallet changes every 5-7 yrs. I don't know if that's true or not but I certainly like things now that I didn't like yrs ago or even in my child hood, and vica-versa.

TurboBrew said:

Anyone can pour a crapton of hops into a beer and make it intensely hoppy. The real skill is making a perfectly balanced beer.

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I disagree with this statement. The big, hoppy beers I love have a ton of hops in them, and they might be more hops than malt in a big way, but they're still well thought out and well crafted.

Making a balanced beer is a skill as well, but making a good hop bomb is also quite a task.

i'm all with the malty brews too, i find them more "satisfying" in a way... In belgium they used to call beer "liquid bread"... it sums up what i like in beer. mmmmhh bring them barley malts

Course, I will throw a monley wrench into my initial declaration and say this.

I still always LOVE a huge obnoxious American style barley wine. Tastebuds can appreciate that anytime. Yum.