Has Brewing Your Own Ruined It For You?

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I used to be a crazy never-enough hop-head that was always in search of really hopped-up, hoppy-hopped beer. Found a few that I loved, and then decided to start brewing my own.

I remember opening my first bag of hop pellets. Oh! That aroma! I was so excited and with every brew I made pushed the amount of hop aroma I could squeeze out of each batch.

But. Now it seems as though my palate has changed. It's like eating too much coconut and feeling sick, and then not really liking coconut anymore. IPA's don't seem that good. I cracked open a local favorite of mine yesterday and at first whiff thought I might pour it down the drain. Anyone ever change their preference by overdoing it?

I guess I'm going back to stouts.
 
You see the same thing happen with wine. A good friend that owns a vineyard south of me oaked a Frontenac for X4 longer than is really accepted, that blew it for me with oaked red wines for 5 years. Your pallet will come back with time but yes, give Centennial a rest for now.
 
My solution is to brew all types of beer all the time. Ales to lagers to wild beers. I drank a ton of IPAs in college, then got a little tired of them, but now that I make all types of beer, I don't get tired of any one style.
 
I never brew the same style in a row so I don't have that problem.
 
I agree with changing it up. A keg of IPA next to a keg of stout, next to a rauchbier, with various Belgians in bottles -- I never get sick of them!

That said, brewing my own has ruined commercial beers for me. I'll buy a bottled beer and be disgustingly underwhelmed by it. Straight from the brewery is a different story (usually), but I'm in a fairly dry zone for local breweries.
 
I really have not brewed enough of any one style to tire of it, but what homebrewing has done for me is to help me define what it is I like in a beer so I have become fussier when I do buy commercial brews. I always buy craft beers now and never bud-like products.
 
Brewing my own has pretty much ruined drinking most commercial "craft beer" for me.
If its not really exceptional commercial beer, I'm just not interested.
My local bottle shops have a lot of overpriced beers I think are pretty middle of the road with only the occasional good beer. Most pubs its the same thing, sometimes a pub will have some really good beer available, but the beer I can usually get seems boring and sometimes undrinkable. Make your own hoppy beer or other styles such as stouts, porters, kolsch, sours, belgians and etc., and the mass produced stuff just doesn't measure up.
 
I think that there's a natural tendency to start with extreme flavors, then "grow" into more balanced, sophisticated ones. I know I am very particular in the IPAs I love, used to love any overhopped anything.
 
Variety is the spice of life. If you keg, try to bottle a few so that you always have a little variety when you get tired of drinking what's on tap. If you bottle, try to save a few. If you are brewing the same style or similar styles, try to switch it up.
 
I used to not IPAs at all. It eventually dawned on me it wasn't all the hops, it was one dimensional (at least it seemed) IPAs. Once I had the opportunity to drink really well made IPAs, my life changed. My wife likes most hop forward beers; I am getting there. Because I brew my own beer, that is the reason I appreciate the beers I didn't use to like.
 
I wouldn't say it has ruined much for me, but it has definitely opened my eyes to what I appreciate or don't appreciate in a commercial beer. Some brewers seem to like caramel malts a lot more than me. I must be sensitive to that flavor because at low doses it's fine, but if the beer tastes like caramel I can't stand it. Balance is the key to most great beers. Although a hop bomb IPA is a thing of beauty when done right.
The thing it has ruined for me is craft beer prices. When I look at bottles of sour or belgian beer for $10-$20/bottle all I can think about is how I can produce that beer for a fraction of the cost.
 
All of the above! Love me some over the top hops! But not a steady diet. I love steak, but if I ate it every night a chili dog would taste gormet! This is a good time to expand your pallet and taste around. Try one of everything! It made me a better brewer and expanded my love of everything beer!
 
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