Has your taste in beer changed since you bagan brewing?

[beergolf]

Before I started brewing, I did always like a lot of different styles of beer, but probably 95% of the time I would just grab an IPA from the store.

I always liked Belgians a lot, and Saisons too but rarely drank them at home, but would often order them when I went out. I would buy some stout in the cooler months.

Now that I am brewing I am drinking a lot more of these styles on a regular basis. I currently have on hand 4 different Belgians (Blonde, Dubbel, Trippel and a dark strong ale) and 2 different Saisons.

Planning some brews for the cooler weather, stouts, porters and maybe some more Belgian strong dark ales. yum.

Gotta love this hobby/addiction. Making good tasty brews is fun and very satisfying.

 

[jsweet]

Funny, I was going to say something similar, that Belgians and such are more interesting to me now. Used to be a pure hophead all that way -- well, I still am I guess, but I'm a little more interested in diversity now.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I wouldn't call it so much "changed" as "expanded". So many more styles than I was aware existed, and I have that habit almost every brew is a style I haven't brewed before. At the bar, I still typically fall back on APAs, IPAs, and hefes, but that's more due to craft brew availability than taste (all the good selection beer bars around here are more expensive than I can routinely afford, however, when I can, I always try something I've never tried before)

 

[Dane]

Began. A lot more hops these day's, I'm much pickier

 

[BertusBrew]

I was never a BMC drinker but before brewing I would stay away from anything hoppy. Most pale ales and all IPA's were off limits to me. Now I have turned into such a hop-head, I have no choice but to laugh at my former ignorance.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I definitely had a more limited understanding of beer and a narrow (by our standards) knowledge of beer. Now I drink a more varied selection of styles and beers.

 

[joeldp144]

When I first started brewing all-grain, I was really into dark beers. I filled my closet full of them and would drink 5 or 6 different dark beers in a single session. Now, I am more inclined to hoppy beers.....IPA's, IIPA's, and even just lighter beers (cream ale, kolsch, etc).

I guess you just develop a desire for different tastes over time, or maybe you just burn out.

 

[tdogg]

i was never much of a hop head, until one of my brewing friends had me try 2 hearted ale. its been all down hill since then. not just hops though, imperial stouts and brown ales are among my favorites.

 

[Revvy]

I've never baganned my brewing, so I wouldn't know....

 

[edie]

when i first started drinking beer i tried just about anything. wasn't long before i found 3-4 that i liked and for years i'd buy one of those and really just had a couple i'd choose from. since we started brewing i've found that i'm back to trying something different just about everytime we're out. cheers!

 

[heywolfie1015]

Before, I appreciated beers, but now I can pick out different varieties of hops, malt, yeast. It's a little crazy because I never considered my palate all that sophisticated. However, I now appreciate the subtle differences between beers in the same style.

 

[beerloaf]

Yes it has. I drink more Belgians now as well, and they are some of my favorite beers. A very unique yeast and flavor profile which I've have learned to enjoy. As far as BMC. I hardly ever drank that prior to hombrewing, but now I would rather milk a squirrel before drinking any BMC mass produced pee water.

beerloaf

 

[Schemy]

Brewing didn't change my drinking, rather drinking changed my brewing. I moved to Omaha about 9 months ago. I am lucky enough to work across the street from a great beer store. Before the move I was almost exclusively American Wheat, Stout, or Porter drinker. The staff at this store saw what I was drinking, asked if I wanted to try something else, and then made suggestions. I would come in ask more questions, step further outside my comfort zone, and pretty soon this amazing world really began to open up. I am now into the Belgian scene, big beers, barley wines, lambics, IPA, IIPA's, Black IPA (won't beet that horse anymore), well just about anything. I have found some amazing beers, and more over people. All this new drinking inspired my brewing again. I am now in the process of a setup for all grain, thinking about brewing some IPA's, Stouts, Porters.................and really having fun with it. Really I owe it all to one guy that took and interest and helped to educate me. Thanks Aaron and Beertopia.

 

[volsfan5012]

I was never a BMC drinker but before brewing I would stay away from anything hoppy. Most pale ales and all IPA's were off limits to me. Now I have turned into such a hop-head, I have no choice but to laugh at my former ignorance.

Describes my situation to a T...

 

[Stoutman82]

Mine has changed prior to home brew I was a new Belgium only man. I also was not a fan of ipa's now ipa's and I'll try just about anything and search for anything with citra hops in it.

 

[jsweet]

What I'm hearing from people, it appears that it's a general broadening trend. There are a lot of "I only liked IPAs, now I like Belgians too" and also a lot of "I only liked Belgians, now I like IPAs too". heh... (Not that those are the only two styles, hahaha, but there seem to be folks who look to hops for depth of flavor, and those who look to malt and yeasts for depth of flavors, and it seems like brewing broadens what you look towards)

 

[GreggZ]

I was deffinately in to the bigger beers (belgains, Ipa, Iipa, imperial stourt, etc...) and now I definately appreicate the lower gravity styles alittle more.

My dislike of hefs has remained throughout, but I still do try them on occasion.

 

[beergolf]

I've never baganned my brewing, so I wouldn't know....

oops fat finger typing..

 

[ktillman1]

Yes it has. I drink more Belgians now as well, and they are some of my favorite beers. A very unique yeast and flavor profile which I've have learned to enjoy. As far as BMC. I hardly ever drank that prior to hombrewing, but now I would rather milk a squirrel before drinking any BMC mass produced pee water.

beerloaf

How do catch the squirrel? More important how do you know when one is lactating?.....I used to think bmc was good beer. I remember I drank a snpa several years ago and thought it went bad so I poured it out! Tried another and decided I got a bad sixer:cross: Its funny how your tastes change after you take the pill and step out of the bmc matrix.

 

[SimBrew]

I was a BMC like drinker her in Quebec, so I drank Coors light, Bud light, Sleeman Clear(I think it's even more water taste than Coors). I really didn't like red beer or stout. Now that I brew, red ale are my favourite, I really like an imperial Stout the other night, it's a new world for me. And when I accidentally taste a Coors, god I don't understand what was happening with me before. I think it's because we have our pride and if we brew something that we don't like at first, we will try it later and again up to the point that we kind of like it. Same thing would have happen with those same kind of beer that we can buy, but since we pay for it, why not buy something that we like more, like BMC that is more easy to like.

 

[beerloaf]

How do catch the squirrel? More important how do you know when one is lactating?.....I used to think bmc was good beer. I remember I drank a snpa several years ago and thought it went bad so I poured it out! Tried another and decided I got a bad sixer:cross: Its funny how your tastes change after you take the pill and step out of the bmc matrix.

I just pour one of my Belgian Tripels into a bowl for them and usually find them passed out not far away. Then you can go to town and milk them!

I have definately expanded my beer knowledge by homebrewing and also my tastes. I hardly drank IPAs prior and now like them. Porters, Stouts, Belgians all great now. I agree, it definately opens your eyes and gives you a different outlook on trying different beers that you may have not even known about previously.

beerloaf

 

[the_trout]

I was a hop head and still am but my appreciation and intrest in other styles has grown considerably. Now I'll often try a new beer just to see what it's like and to help expand my pallette.

 

[realjd]

Personally, it sounds like I went backwards from everyone else here. My favorites were Budweiser, Michelob Lager, and MGD. When I moved to Florida, I switched mostly to Yuengling with an occasional Shiner Bock. Then a craft beer bar opened up about half way between my work and home. We first went for their amazing BBQ and kept going for their 50 taps of craft beer and extensive bottle list. I started drinking amber ales, brown ales, and the like, and eventually got a taste for hops, Belgian beers, and other more aggressive styles. It was my love of craft beer that got me into home brewing.

Today, I still can't drink stouts, some porters, and other really bitter dark beers - but I can't stand the taste of coffee either so I'm not surprised. I also can't get the taste for wheat beers. I keep trying but just haven't had the right one at the right time yet I guess. Any other style of beer (including Lambics and other sour Belgian beers) I'll drink.

As for BMC beers, I do still have a soft spot for those. I consider them sports drinks - the Gatorade of beers. After a hot afternoon of yard work, an ice cold Budweiser really hits the spot in a way that something complex and heavy like an Arrogant Bastard doesn't.

 

[MoPhunk]

I remember 4-5 years ago buying a 6 pack of beer that was in the 8-9% alcohol range and being disgusted by it. Now I know that big beers need more attention and deserve to be drank slowly not like bmc. I drink less beer than before but by far better beer

 

[unionrdr]

Since I got into home brewing,I don't drink much BMC's anymore. Still do when $ & hb gets low. But I have found myself going back to some ales I used to drink to remember the flavors & aromas,etc.
And now I also try new ones to see what my more educated palette might like. It never ends...just changes.