Random thought.

[Chrisde]

So I am sitting here looking through my brew book,buzzing on some homebrew, and realized I keep increasing my ibu's.

I started brewing in February. Before I drank bud light or Busch light. I liked craft beers but couldn't justify 10$ a 6 pack then started looking into brewing my own. Before I hated IPAs or any beer that was hoppy. My first brews were Belgium wits and cream ales around 15 IBUs.

I just kegged an IPA at 80 IBU and I am keg hopping it. It is still flat, kegged 3 days ago, but tastes great.

Anyone else experience this? What changes have you made since you started brewing?

 

[FatDragon]

I'm not exactly the opposite, but living in China and not wanting to pay the crazy prices for craft beer here (usually $4-$10 a bottle for basic stuff), I only drank much quality beer during my month and a half in the States every summer, and I couldn't justify drinking anything that wasn't a hop bomb because those are my favorite beers. Now that I brew here in China, I brew a lot of styles that I would never have bought before, not just because I'm trying to appeal to people with palates different from my own, but because I'm learning to appreciate styles that never held my interest before I started brewing. I'm also brewing lower ABV stuff more often - on one hand, since I bottle, it's more work to brew and package, but on the other hand I get to drink more beer, so it's worth the extra effort.

 

[jdp]

I always preferred maltier beers. If they were hoppy, they had to have the malt to support it. I have gradually seen that I have been gravitating more towards the hoppier beers too though. I still don't care for hop bombs but lagunitas lil sumpin sumpin is one of my favorites now and I would have hated it 5 years ago.

The first IPA I brewed I actually gave the whole batch away. There might be a thread about it from around 2010 lurking somewhere waiting to be brought back to life. Who knows.

 

[slym2none]

So I am sitting here looking through my brew book,buzzing on some homebrew, and realized I keep increasing my ibu's.

I started brewing in February. Before I drank bud light or Busch light. I liked craft beers but couldn't justify 10$ a 6 pack then started looking into brewing my own. Before I hated IPAs or any beer that was hoppy. My first brews were Belgium wits and cream ales around 15 IBUs.

I just kegged an IPA at 80 IBU and I am keg hopping it. It is still flat, kegged 3 days ago, but tastes great.

Anyone else experience this? What changes have you made since you started brewing?

Heh - my craft brew experience stared with red & brown ales, and I stuck with them for a long time. All of 3 years ago, I thought Sweetwater 420 was too bitter for me - I had it on draft and just thought it was too dang bitter.

Now, Stone's Ruination isn't too much hops & bitterness for me. I have become a hop-head, but I still like my malty beers as well.

All of our tastes change as we age, and things like hops take a little time to acclimate toward. Now, I still don't like IPAs that taste like the pith of a citrus fruit, but I am not scared of 100+ IBUs.

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

I'm gravitating towards low alcohol beers with balanced hops and malt. Lame yes I know. My friends and I all have families and no one wants to drink a boozy beer and the real hoppy stuff is harder to quaff. Just tapped the keg of Ed Wort's haus ale. Hoppier than my average but ohh soooooo delicious.
Draft beer not troops!

 

[AK7007]

Evolving tastes just happen naturally. "What if I added a little more aroma to this cream ale?" - you just added 5 IBU. The journey to get to 100+ IBU from there is easier than you would think.

I didn't get there from homebrew like others might have though. I rapidly went Coors -> Blue Moon -> Sierra Nevada -> Lagunitas -> Pliny-> Triple IPAs -> Homebrew (I just call them IPAs, but they routinely have over a pound of hops in a 5gal batch, with like 95% of that post-boil) I'm one of the few who spends less on ingredients than I would at the store because of 10$ bombers of IIIPA. I just need to avoid buying new equipment so that I can actually spend less on this hobby than I would if I just had a drinking problem.

 

[Chrisde]

Evolving tastes just happen naturally. "What if I added a little more aroma to this cream ale?" - you just added 5 IBU. The journey to get to 100+ IBU from there is easier than you would think.

I didn't get there from homebrew like others might have though. I rapidly went Coors -> Blue Moon -> Sierra Nevada -> Lagunitas -> Pliny-> Triple IPAs -> Homebrew (I just call them IPAs, but they routinely have over a pound of hops in a 5gal batch, with like 95% of that post-boil) I'm one of the few who spends less on ingredients than I would at the store because of 10$ bombers of IIIPA. I just need to avoid buying new equipment so that I can actually spend less on this hobby than I would if I just had a drinking problem.

1 pound in 5 gallons. OMG. I thought 5 oz was a lot. I may get there some day though. I planted a Chinook and cascade plant this spring. If those do well (they r only 6" tall in over a month for some reason) I will plant more so I don't have to spend 2-3$ an oz.

I understand the new equipment issue. I am working on upgrading to an electric biab systems now so I am spending A LOT right now.

 

[kh54s10]

I haven't gravitated in either direction. Before homebrewing I drank mostly low end craft beers that were on tap or similar from the liquor store.

I now brew whatever strikes my fancy for brew day. One will be a mild, the next might be a IIPA and after that an Stout followed by an APA.

I like variety....

 

[dpatrickv]

1 pound in 5 gallons. OMG. I thought 5 oz was a lot. I may get there some day though. I planted a Chinook and cascade plant this spring. If those do well (they r only 6" tall in over a month for some reason) I will plant more so I don't have to spend 2-3$ an oz.

I understand the new equipment issue. I am working on upgrading to an electric biab systems now so I am spending A LOT right now.

Heh, Ive done that a few times as well. I buy all hops in bulk so I'm certainly not spending 2-3 bucks an oz though.

 

[m1k3]

Over time I have reduced my bittering charge and moved my hops to later in the boil.

IBUs only tell part of the story... this is even more true in hoppy styles.