Hop/bitterness Sensitivity?? Can it be lost?

[jamorgan3777]

Searched a bit but was not able to find any threads on this but a long train of through led to the following question.

Can you get desensitized to hop bitterness?

The thought came after some hot wings we were eating. I have a high "tolerance" for spice in my food. Others dont. Something that people think is really hot I may classify as mild. I then wondered does that carry over to beers. if I think something is really hoppy or bitter, could someone else (a real hp head for instance) think its less bitter?

Anyone know?

 

[dmtaylor]

This is absolutely possible, and has probably happened to every hophead on earth.

I remember when I was just getting into craft beer, back in 1998, ordering a pint of good old Samuel Adams Boston Lager, and while I loved the noble hop flavor, I specifically recall having to consciously take big gulps to choke it all down, thinking "holy cow is this beer ever bitter". Of course by any craft beer drinker's standards today, Boston Lager is NOT very bitter at all!!!! My point is that when I was very young, I know I was far more conscious of how bitter the craft beers were, and I know my abilities to perceive different flavors were probably even better then as compared to now, because as I consumed more and more, I've found I have become desensitized not just to bitterness but to other subtle flavors as well.

Yeah, this happens, probably to every craft beer drinker out there. Just like anything good, "it's an acquired taste, which I have acquired!".

 

[pvpeacock]

Before and After de-sensitization

 

[m1k3]

Same as coffee... I can drink it black. But I'd bet almost anyone who tried black coffee for the first time would say it is undrinkable.

 

[BigMack]

The Lupulin Shift. It is a real bitch.

 

[jamorgan3777]

Love me some hops!
thanks everyone

 

[zippybasher]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8585021370_c3abbe9d40.jpg

 

[Citizen86]

Happens every day to me. I drink an IPA and think "hmm, this is a little sweet", while if my wife tries it she exclaims how bitter it is.

Black coffee also probably doesn't help much.

But yeah, it's very possible to get acclimated to the bitterness of hoppy beer and simply not notice it like others who don't normally drink hoppy beer.

Edit: My wife also tells me it's because I've burned my taste buds off with all the bitter IPA's I drink