Anti-IPA ?

[Hikeon3]

I'm 23. My first beer I ever drank when I turned 21 was Stone IPA. Loved em ever since.

Of course I still drink other things. Last night me and some buddies cracked a few vintages of Deschutes "The Abyss" Stout, and then moved onto a six pack of Hoegaarden while playing some Resident Evil.

Today I have to survey the landscape, but most likely Kona Pale and what's left of my Franziskaner stash.

IPA is still my favorite style, and I love me a hop bomb, but it's not my normal beverage. Usually like to make a trip to O'Brien's for a pint or to Stone or Pizza Port and fill a growler.

 

[Rook]

Oh man. I loves me an IPA.

Almost 6 years ago a friend bought me a 6er of Lagunitas IPA as a housewarming gift. I hadn't ever met an IPA that I liked at that point. I tried it and it was terrible. I couldn't understand how anyone could possibly like this beer!! I was drinking copper and amber ales at that time, with no real appreciation for high hop content.

I kept that 6er around, every 6-12 months I'd crack another, having convinced myself that "geeze, someone must like this beer for it to be considered good". By the time I had 3 left, it was about 2.5 years later.

I tried my 4th of the pack then. I still remember where I was when it happened. It was like a switch went off in me. Something in my palate adjusted itself.. nay, corrected itself, and I was consuming liquid euphoria. Now I'm a junkie for IPAs. I love em. And living here in the PNW, I'm blessed to be around so many great breweries with so many great IPA options to choose from, whenever I don't have any of my own available.

Stone IPA - Probably my favorite. Such a wonderful beer.
Lagunitas IPA - Nearly misses 1st for 2nd place. Great beer.
Bear Republic's Racer Five - Another california IPA. Good brew in bottles.

WHO says Arrogant Bastard is an IPA? Its a bit malt-heavy to be an IPA. I enjoy it occasionally but I actually find it a bit... mild. lol. I did have to run out and pick up a Stone IPA, which I am currently enjoying.

If you don't like IPAs, fine. that just leaves more for the rest of us.

 

[Hikeon3]

Stone IPA - Probably my favorite. Such a wonderful beer.
Lagunitas IPA - Nearly misses 1st for 2nd place. Great beer.
Bear Republic's Racer Five - Another california IPA. Good brew in bottles.

All very excellent IPA's. I absolutely LOVE Lagunitas's offering because it is a bit more sessionable coming in just under 6%abv

Not sure what you can get a hold of up in WA, but I'd highly recommend Port Brewing's Wipeout IPA, Ballast Point's Big Eye IPA, and Alesmith's IPA (originally stood for Irie Pirate Ale, and is by far my favorite IPA).

*Note: Not posting to appear a hop-snob. Just being a San Diego beer lover, gotta plug these fantastic breweries and their beers.

 

[dmob29]

I really couldn't stand hops before I started brewing. Now, perhaps cause I brew or maybe my tastes have matured, but I love Stone's Ruination IPA. Not sure what happened, but I'm glad it did.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Been brewing for at least a dozen years, if not more. I lost count. If I'm not a hophead by now, I never will be.

IPAs = Blech!

 

[alexdagrate]

There's not many IPAs out there that I've NOT enjoyed.

The best thing about being in the PNW is that even in a bar with a lame tap selection, you can usually still find a macro "craft" IPA on draught like Widmer or Red Hook, which is still better than BMC.

To really experience the glory of the hop, I think a "Wet Hop" or "Fresh Hop" IPA or APA is a thing of beauty. To truly experience all of the hop's oils and acids intermingling with the malt is a revelation.

 

[waldoar15]

I love IPAs also and am drinking one right now. Having said that, I try to brew something that is like Dogfish Head 60 or Stone.

OTOH, I brew/drink lighter session ales too. <shrug>

 

[beerthirty]

While there are some IPAs that are worth visiting, most are over the top bitter. Don't get me wrong, I'm still searching for that first elusive tapped IPA I tried that had so much back flavor and aroma that defined what I think an IPA should be. I have almost given up the thought of finding it again. While I can't live without APAs, it seems that I cant find my elusive IPA love again. Every time I visit that bar I try what they have, but alas I feel like a jilted lover that can never be requitted.

 

[Handle]

I'm only 32, but when I'm not drinking an IPA, I'm drinking water or another good style of beer. I think your assumptions are way off base.

I agree. While I prefer stouts and porters, I do crave a good IPA now and then. It's funny: when I first tried an IPA, oh, three or four years ago, I could barely drink it. I just couldn't understand why anyone would drink something like that.

I heard a lot of talk about Dogfish Head, so this summer I picked up their 90-minute IPA and, much to my surprise, I genuinely enjoyed it. I've always preferred the darker beers, but I'm really making it a point to appreciate the hop character in all beers, whether that's an IPA or an APA, a porter or a Russian imperial stout. Actually, a third of a mix-six I just picked up was devoted to Bell's Two-Hearted and Sierra Nevada Torpedo. I can't wait to try them both.

To typify a group of people because of their taste in beer is, I think, a bit narrow-minded.

What I have wondered, however, is how spicy most IPA drinkers like their food? Despite my initial resistance to overly-hopped beer, I eat some painfully hot foods at times. I'm one of those people that really enjoys extremely hot foods.

 

[Rick500]

While there are some IPAs that are worth visiting, most are over the top bitter. Don't get me wrong, I'm still searching for that first elusive tapped IPA I tried that had so much back flavor and aroma that defined what I think an IPA should be. I have almost given up the thought of finding it again. While I can't live without APAs, it seems that I cant find my elusive IPA love again. Every time I visit that bar I try what they have, but alas I feel like a jilted lover that can never be requitted.

Try the All-Amarillo IPA recipe in the recipes section. It's the best IPA I've had. Not crazily bitter, and loaded with amarillo flavor and aroma. Good stuff.

 

[beerthirty]

Thanks rick I'll have to check that. I do like Amarillo.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I've come to be more hop tolerant, but I am in no way a fan of IPAs or APAs. Just not my thing. I'm more into wheat beers, and starting to develop a taste for stouts.

 

[Synovia]

As I said before I am a big fan of IPA's. Im also a big fan of taste.
What I mean by taste is...

I'm a big fan of taste, and when I drink most american IPAs, I can't taste anything for a couple hours. I don;t like burnt out taste buds.


There are some real good ones, but most are too unbalanced.

 

[MBasile]

I love IPA's, even the extreme hoppy ones. That being said, I do also love not so hoppy beers.

 

[Brewin_the_goods]

SNPA is my beer of choice, that is the one that got me liking beer in the first place. Torpedo is okay every once in a while, not a huge fan. Their Celebration Ale this year is a good IPA, and their Estate Ale (Wet Hop IPA) is phenomenal :rockin:.......worth every penny of $7.84

I also enjoy Stone IPA, I tried the Ruination and thought it was pretty good. Anderson Valley's Hop Ottin is a tasty treat, that's the one that got me hooked on IPA's.

 

[arturo7]

scheisse

my fingers malfunctioned, voted #4 instead of #2

I seem to be liking hops more and more every day.

 

[uechikid]

I love them. I brew one regularly.

 

[Irrenarzt]

A guy I work with is anti-IPA. I think he's a ******...

 

[StoutattheDevil]

You can totally continue to dislike IPA's, more hops for me, and less product wasted on a non hop head!!

 

[BillyVegas]

Wow... I don't believe this thread is still raging. That's great.

My opinion has shifted slightly from my original posting... The more I was exposed to brewing at home and hops in their raw form, the more I got to learn to love them. I'm still no uber- hop head but.. I can down some IPAs and appreciate them much more now.

Thank the Hoptoberfest I hit while I was in Denver a few weeks back. All local breweries with local hops harvested with in a few days... mostly wet-hopped. Mmmm... hops.

 

[Marko73]

The more exposed I have become to different beer styles, the more I have tried. I have begun to really appreciate hops more and hoppy beers. I stay away from the over the top IPAs, but it has become one of my favorite beer styles.

I really like the new SN Torpeda IPA quite a bit. . .

 

[santosvega]

American IPAs are one of my least favorite styles. I can drink them, sure, chilled on a hot summer day, but that's a rare occasion. The acidic C-hop mouthful is just unpleasant to me.
That said, British IPA is one of my absolute favorite styles; Sam Smith India Ale, Meantime IPA, Worthington, that stuff is nectar of the gods! I'd say the same for US versions of the style, eg Shipyard Fuggles IPA. Hoppy but balanced, and IMO a much truer representation of what an IPA should be. The whole American IPA phenomenon seems to me to be based on misunderstandings and myths about what the original beer was like. But to each his own, I suppose.

 

[DeathBrewer]

It's just the American "bigger is better" mentality. I agree on the English IPA...a good maris otter backbone with bold earthy hops like fuggle really make for an amazing beer.

If I do make a hoppy American beer, I prefer Amarillo over the C hops.

 

[TexLaw]

I'm in the "balanced" camp. I'm all for hops, but I want a malt backbone to hold them up. Otherwise, it's like drinking a one-dimensional hop tea that can put you on the floor. I lose interest in that sort of beer fairly quickly.

Don't get me wrong. I get a rush out of something that might make my head spin around four times and have me scraping alpha acids off my tongue after half a pint, but it's not what I want very often. Likewise, I don't want to spend my entire life on a roller coaster, but they are mighty fun now and then.


TL