I dislike IPAs...

Hmm. I have a confession to make.

Seems like everyone I know is a huge fan of drinking hugely bitter IPAs. But I cannot bring myself to enjoy them. I can drink one bottle, then its just to much.

They seem to be super popular around here. Every micro brewery has one or two. Even the ales are bitter as hell. But I cannot develope a taste for them.

I was the same, I liked big malty beers but couldn't bring myself to enjoy the really bitter beers. My tastes have expanded though. There isn't much I can't enjoy anymore I'm happy to say.

oh, I can enjoy one of them. But that is my limit.
There is a point of bitterness that no longer becomes a flavor. I went to a brew fest in Feburary. The overal winner was an IPA that was so bitter it gave me goosebumps.

IMO, it was not an enjoyable beer.

Gfei said:

I was the same, I liked big malty beers but couldn't bring myself to enjoy the really bitter beers. My tastes have expanded though. There isn't much I can't enjoy anymore I'm happy to say.

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That's funny. When I first started brewing, I asked my buddy (who got me started brewing) for some good, lightly hopped beer recipes. He asked why so little hops, so I told him that I didn't care for the bitterness. His response was "Don't worry, you'll learn to like it."

One bottle might be enough, those IIPA's arnt "session beers" I tend to start off with one, sip away on it for a while, then switch to something "lighter".

Often its just one of those evening beers I take, I cant even remember the last time I drank 2 IIPAs in a row.

IMO the best IIPAs are the ones that are HUGE in flavor and aroma, but not terribly bitter. I really enjoy a good IPA and IIPA, but rarely have more than a bottle or two in a day. To me they are special beers to savor briefly. But I like variety overall, so it's not uncommon for me to order or drink something different all night long.

I don't mind IPA's now and then, I think the aroma of a good IPA is amazing however after two, my cheeks are puckered and I need something matly to relax my face.

Don't feel bad. They're are crazy trendy in the beer market but you should still just drink what you like. You should also try different beers too. I know personally, my preference for hops vs malt usually shifts back and forth every year or two.

I love IPAs and APAs, and those are what I mostly drink. I love hops flavor and aroma.

It's funny, but the longer I brew the more I want hops. Even Bob is becoming a hophead- he told me last night that my amber ale on tap "needs more hops". I told him that it is pretty hoppy for an amber, and he just sort of laughed and said to make an IPA.

My taste in beer and "favorite style" is always changing. For me, Stone Ruination put me on a huge IPA kick. At the time I hated porters, stouts, or anything else that felt more like a meal then a beer. For about a year IPA's and IIPA's were, for the most part, all I drank. Then I got hooked on Oaked Arrogant Bastard, then it went to Chimay red as my favorite. I tried a smoked porter out of the blue (which I normally can't stand) and completely fell in love. Now my favorite beer is Sinebrychoff (a porter). All I have been drinking lately now are porters and stouts. IPA's are just an every once in a while thing. Who knows, maybe eventually it will go full circle back to my high school/college days and my favorite will be Budweiser again? I doubt it, but at this rate anything is possible.

Wow, went a bit off topic there... Oh well...

I have to agree. I love a lot of hops flavor and aroma, but don't like the overwhelming bitterness.

I use to be a big malty guy but that has all changed and now it is the opposite.

Gotta admit, I posted almost the same thing back in May https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f5/ipas-whats-draw-176164/ In just over 4 months I have come to truly appreciate the hops, especially served just under room temp. Matter of fact, there are 3 bottles of a case of Stone IPA left in the fridge that need finishing tonight

the best IPA's feature more hop *flavour* than bitterness. Look at the specifications of a lot of winning IPA recipes and published IBU's for commercial IPA's, and there are many that are only 'moderately' bitter at 30-50 IBU's. Such a beer, when loaded up with lots and lots of late kettle additions and a healthy dry addition in the fermenter will be massively hoppy with lots of fruity and citrus-like aromas and flavours, and yet not particularly bitter.

I prefer immense flavor and dry hop aroma to over powering bitterness, but I would still prefer an overbittered IPA to anything with English and Belgian yeast-THOSE taste sour/bitter to me.

IPA's are no fad, they are generally a flagship beer at most breweries, due to a large deomgraphic that love that aroma and flavor. To be sure, the PNW brewers have taken this to an extreme, but it may be a regional taste-it ain't like that in the Midwest/Great Lakes.

I do love the new belgium Ranger IPA.

But not for the bitterness. They must either have a late addition of cascade, or dry hop with cascade. Because the beer smells and tates exactly like my garage last year when I was drying out my hops.

LOL! I had a long post almost done but the stupid cat closed my window running across my laptop. Screw it I'm going to bed. I'll make it an IPA night in honor of this thread since my car died and I can't go to work tonight.

HenryHill said:

I prefer immense flavor and dry hop aroma to over powering bitterness, but I would still prefer an overbittered IPA to anything with English and Belgian yeast-THOSE taste sour/bitter to me.

IPA's are no fad, they are generally a flagship beer at most breweries, due to a large deomgraphic that love that aroma and flavor. To be sure, the PNW brewers have taken this to an extreme, but it may be a regional taste-it ain't like that in the Midwest/Great Lakes.

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Hey man, don't dis the sours. Mmmmm sour beer...

No, Henry got it right. Lots of hop flavor and aroma, and sour sucks!

he he...

When my kids would return home from college for a visit I would always offer an IPA to them.They would always drink one but that was it. I never realized that they didn't like them and only drank it to be polite. Years later my son admitted that they thought I was crazy to be drinking them. My wife was a Porter, Stout, type of girl but would try a sip of my IPA whenever I ordered one.
Well, now I have a family of hopheads. (dad was not so crazy after all). It's an acquired taste to be sure but try a taste every once in awhile, soon you will know what to expect when you taste one. Then I bet you begin to understand...

I'd guess 80% of homebrewers go through a "hophead and massive IPA" stage. There was a time I was a hophead, but when breweries started heavily hopping all styles, I got really annoyed and branched out looking for beers that were brewed to style. Many homebrewers around here have done the same thing. I haven't brewed an IPA since March of '07.