Changing taste in beer

[duck911]

I am curious about everyone else's changing taste in beer over time.

I am guessing it's somewhat common, but I also surmise taste has evolved differently for different folks.

In college, my palette was not exactly refined, but I drank many different beers and like them all: malt liquors, PBR and other cheap beer, oatmeal stouts, porters, light ales, you name it. I lived in Chico and worked at Sierra Nevada and Butte Creek brewery, so there was no shortage of different beers to try. We also brewed as many different beers and had fun experimenting, too. Barleywine? Yes! Oly dark? OK! A wheat with an orange in it? Why not!

But over the years I have gravitated to certain beers which I brew and drink far more than others.

These days, I choose a good IPA over much else. Pale ale - yes please! Cheap mass brewed beer has been replaced by a good Czech or german Pils. But it MUST be home brewed. My Pils blows any greed-bottled, store bought pils away. I no longer enjoy a wheat beer, unless it's brewed crisp and with hoppiness. I haven't had a malt liquor beer in years. I am also no longer a porter or stout fan if I have a choice. 2 years ago I loved a good amber ale but these days a malt forward red ale with good bitterness sounds better.

Anyone else have this experience?

 

[CRoth36]

Definitely had this experience. My go to beers are typically English brown, IPA, stout and porter. This cam change st the drop of a dime. I may be drinking a lot of IPA and then all of a sudden go on a stout kick. I use to like wheat but really don't care for it anymore. There was a time I loved ambers but can't even remember the last time I had one. I hope I never shy away from IPA though. Love me some hops.

 

[ScottG58]

For me, brewing makes me appreciate the different flavors associated with beer. I think we train our pallets to discriminate more to improve our own beers. I think homebrews taste better to me because I drink them when they are at their best. I also tend to tune recipes to my own taste.

 

[MindenMan]

I used to not like hoppy beers, or stouts, or porters, etc. Hey, when Coors lite came out only being 100 calories, instead of 150, we could drink 2 instead of 3, and still watch our weight. (ha, ha) I openly plead ignorance to many styles of beer, okay, most styles of beer, but now I am not afraid to try them. I was a chef for a lot of years and missed so many opportunities to branch out and open up to the world. Belgian beer, whats that? Etc.,etc. I am grateful for my wife first, and the wealth of kindness and information given so freely on this website, and without, my beer would still suck second. Believe me I had a few batches that flat sucked, but I would not pour them out,(a) because they cost money to make, and (b) well, I don't remember why, but I remember when Rogue was something I had only heard of, and not really understanding what a IPA was, or a sour, or a Bock or a Eiswein I have only been brewing for a year and a half or so, but now I am willing to at least try, and in some cases, try to make a reasonable facsimile when practical.
I will say though, the beers I brew are the ones I like, and of course my fantastic wife likes them too.
She is my all in all, the reason I home brew, the mother of my children, and I am grateful to God for Him giving her to me.
Back to the point: of late, many of the commercial beers we drink on a regular basis, just don't seem to taste the same. One example is Black Butte Porter: man, I used to love that stuff. Coffee and chocolate and smoke, just amazing. But we bought a sixer this week, and it just wasn't the same. It seemed thin, and w/o depth, and a unremarkable finish. Please tell me it was us, and not the Brewery. I have great respect for them, both ethically and globally, and I really do want to be wrong about our taste buds this week. Once again I apologize for this becoming a blog of sorts, ADHD at my age really sucks a cold one. Or two.