New obsession with IPA's!

I've always hated IPA's. Always thought they were extremely bitter, taste like a pine cone, or even taste like a flower bed. I've always loved stouts, porters and brown ales. But, recently I had the best thing that ever happen to me. I feel totally in love with IPA's!!! My conversion to this nector of the
God's was Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale and Stone's Levitation Ale. I know their not super hoppy but I had these two at the local bar and since then I've craved nothing but HOPS! I see myself buying nothing but IPA's, brewing nothing but IPA's and trying to find the strongest, hoppiest and bitteriest IPA I can find. Just thought I'd share my wonderful transformation into such a great beer!

Mirror pond is an IPA?

I had levitation once but I was so drunk I don't remember what it was like.

Its inevitable to switch styles after a while. Never liked wheat beers so I brewed everything else. Got used to it, now I'm starting to like wheats

No mirror pond isn't an ipa just a hoppier pale ale and i fell in love with it!

New Glarus Moon Man is the nectar of the gods.........

BillyBock said:

New Glarus Moon Man is the nectar of the gods.........

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MOOOOOOON MAN. one of the best. Makes me want to move back to CheeseLand. Congrats on the new obsession.

I believe we all have an IPA switch nestled inside of us. For some it takes longer than others to discover your love for them. When I started my adventures into trying the various styles of beer out there I was convinced I would never like IPAs. I drank wheats, Belgians, stouts, you name it but one day the switch was flipped and I never looked back. The only beer style I've found that I don't care for is reds but I might not have found the right one yet.

xMalachi said:

I believe we all have an IPA switch nestled inside of us. For some it takes longer than others to discover your love for them. When I started my adventures into trying the various styles of beer out there I was convinced I would never like IPAs. I drank wheats, Belgians, stouts, you name it but one day the switch was flipped and I never looked back. The only beer style I've found that I don't care for is reds but I might not have found the right one yet.

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If you could get Bear Republics Red Rocket Ale I would highly suggest that one. Not too many people make great Red Ales but this one is definitely a keeper!

Just go ahead and try a Ruination! It will all be ok in the morning.

Congratulations, now you're addicted to heroin....I mean hops.

Congrats. Now get ready for higher hop expenses.

Welcome to the club!:rockin:

Same here, until a couple months ago, I avoided them like the plague. I always like big belgian malty beers then I brewed one for my dad and since them all I want to brew are ipa.

I already brewed 4 and planning many more in the future.

I've been stuck on IPA's for a few years now. My favorite style is still double IPA. I have recently started getting more into stouts so I will probably try brewing a few of those next. But the majority of beers on tap at my house will always be some sort of IPA.

Welcome to the dark side! I was the same way- for many years, my favorite beer was Capitol Brewery's seasonal called "Blonde dopplebock". My second favorite was Rogue's Dead Guy. Both are malt bombs, and I thought they were the best beers in the world. I even made a good clone recipe for Dead Guy.

But then........one day, I needed hops. And then more hops. And then more and more and more. I started brewing IPAs and hoppy APAs, along with hoppy ambers, almost 75% of the time. It took longer, but then my husband started adding a shot of IPA to every other beer to get "a few hops". Pretty soon, he was right there with me, loving hoppy beers.

Right now, I have two IPAs and one APA on tap with a hoppy amber in the fermenter. All of them are hop bombs!

Brewing a Pliney the Elder Clone today....96.00/Batch! At least half of that cost was due to hops. Definitely Heroin-like addiction!

shaneogle89 said:

If you could get Bear Republics Red Rocket Ale I would highly suggest that one. Not too many people make great Red Ales but this one is definitely a keeper!

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+1 love the Red Rocket

I went through this as well. Always thought IPA tasted like bitter flowers. Then I started trying more of them because it seemed like so many beer drinkers raved about IPA. So I figured there must be something to it. Now I love them. Try:
Bells two hearted IPA (tastes like fruity pebbles)
Avery Brewing Maharaja
Lagunitas Lucky 13

It's awesome! I just find myself ordering nothing but IPA's at the bar and just craving that hop aroma! Right now I'm absolutely in love with Ruination. I live about an hour and a half from Stone so I'm going to make a drive down there with some buddies and get some fresh Ruination in a growler

Mmm Stone's Ruination 10 anniversary IPA. Almost double the hops as normal

cknittle said:

Mmm Stone's Ruination 10 anniversary IPA. Almost double the hops as normal

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It's amazing! Stone actually is having a special growler fill August 19th for the Stone Ruination 10 anniversary. I will definetly be there!

Yeah, I was just down there and they had some, got my 2 liter growler filled. The BevMo in my area also has bombers of it for a decent price.

shaneogle89 said:

I've always hated IPA's. Always thought they were extremely bitter, taste like a pine cone, or even taste like a flower bed. I've always loved stouts, porters and brown ales. But, recently I had the best thing that ever happen to me. I feel totally in love with IPA's!!! My conversion to this nector of the
God's was Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale and Stone's Levitation Ale. I know their not super hoppy but I had these two at the local bar and since then I've craved nothing but HOPS! I see myself buying nothing but IPA's, brewing nothing but IPA's and trying to find the strongest, hoppiest and bitteriest IPA I can find. Just thought I'd share my wonderful transformation into such a great beer!

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Congrats.

Those are two good beers that I drank nearly every week when I lived in California. Loved MIrror Pond because Von's would deliver it to my house!

August 3rd will be my 1 year anniversary of home brewing. In that time I've noticed that when I buy craft brew at the store (need the 22oz bottles) I find my self choosing the IPA's more and more. I still love my Pale's, Amber's, blonde's, brown's, and Wheat's. I'm brewing my 1st IPA tomorrow, Rogue's Brutal IPA. Should I worry

You should always worry when homebrewing. And don't drink too much. Charlie Papazian is an idiot.

Welcome to beer. Where do you live, I'll tell you some really mind blowing beers to buy.

Know what you mean. I had a hard time with IPA's and it took about 2 years of trying hoppy brews. Then one day my balls dropped and I love IPA's. I have two recipes that are great still some tweaking but really good IIPA's. There is as others have said a progresion of taste. I can say that now IPA and Sours are my fav.
The only thing better to me is Barrel ageing your own brew. The magic that happens in a barrel is to me the coolest transformation a beer can go through. I give a big thanks to Whisky, Bourbon, Wine and Rum producers for the great vessels that brewers can get and use.

Sounds like you need a new hop supplier....

Darkness said:

Know what you mean. I had a hard time with IPA's and it took about 2 years of trying hoppy brews. Then one day my balls dropped and I love IPA's. I have two recipes that are great still some tweaking but really good IIPA's. There is as others have said a progresion of taste. I can say that now IPA and Sours are my fav.
The only thing better to me is Barrel ageing your own brew. The magic that happens in a barrel is to me the coolest transformation a beer can go through. I give a big thanks to Whisky, Bourbon, Wine and Rum producers for the great vessels that brewers can get and use.

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That's the best way to put it! Haha, I actually went to the local store to pick up some beer for the fridge and all I bought was IPA! I built my own 6 pack with Bear Republic Racer 5, Victory Hop Devil, Green Flash West Coast, Ranger IPA, Ballast Point Scuplin IPA and Stone Ruination. I also bought a six pack of stone IPA and 2 bombers of Stones Sublimely Self Righteous! Man I'm so in love

I went through the same shift. For me it was DFH 90 minute. At the time it seemed super hoppy to me, though going back and trying it again it leaves me a little disappointed.

shaneogle89 said:

It's amazing! Stone actually is having a special growler fill August 19th for the Stone Ruination 10 anniversary. I will definetly be there!

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I will be there that day. My wife and I will be making the trip with a 3-week old because damn it, I need to get a growler fill of that. Plus we both really love the Stone brewery.

ktblunden said:

I will be there that day. My wife and I will be making the trip with a 3-week old because damn it, I need to get a growler fill of that. Plus we both really love the Stone brewery.

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Hey you gotta do what you gotta do to get your fix! Hahaha

xMalachi said:

I believe we all have an IPA switch nestled inside of us. For some it takes longer than others to discover your love for them. When I started my adventures into trying the various styles of beer out there I was convinced I would never like IPAs. I drank wheats, Belgians, stouts, you name it but one day the switch was flipped and I never looked back.

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This was exactly my line of thinking / path as well.

Belgian fan first, IPA fan later. Now, I almost brew and buy IPAs exclusively.

I like a nice IPA but find the style to be boring and predictable. I'd rather brew something that is not stylistically on the commercial market.

There is nothing wrong with making a good home brew IPA...the challenge of IPA for homebrewers is getting good hops. Now that you've taken the plunge into IPA admiration, you must now complete the full hop head right of passage...

Grow your own hops

I would love to grow my own hops! Is it fairly easy to do? I looked at some of the pictures on the hop growing forum and it looks like a lot of work!

First IPA i ever had was a FFF Dreadnaught bomber. From that moment on I had instantly fell in love with the floral, piney, spicy, grassy, earthy, dank, and fruity little cones we know as hops. Excuse me, i need to wipe the drool from the keyboard.

You are down in california so you are lucky enough to get some FRESH Hop Stoopid from Lagunitas. Seriously, try it...

H-ost said:

You are down in california so you are lucky enough to get some FRESH Hop Stoopid from Lagunitas. Seriously, try it...

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I will definitely have to try it! I've heard it's real good

I remember someone, in some thread, wondering if there was a hop scented air freshener for his car. Might be a good seller for this crowd

A hop air freshener would be an awesome idea hahaha

A Hop flavored Condom would be great fir the ladies.

Hello, my name is ridire and I have become a hop addict...


I am exactly what the OP describes. I went from BMC to realizing that beer could have flavor, which made me adopt the mantra "the darker the better". I started drinking nothing but stouts and porters. I would go to restaurants and just say, "give me a glass of the darkest beer you have in tap". While in that mode, a friend from Texas told me I was a fool because the greatest beer in the world is brewed in my home state and that I was oblivious to it...he was talking about Bell's Two Hearted Ale. I finally caved in and bought a sixer...now crave hops. I love the IPA's.

I still love a good porter or stout but I have slowly been corrupted into a hop head.