I may be a loner in this lol But I dont like Hoppy beers

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Big_Cat

Big_Cat

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I don't understand the following in the high hops beer, its like drinking medicine that you are forced to drink. I like beers that have a malt or almost sweetness to it... A friend keeps telling me that beers high in Hops its what beer is suppose to be and I firmly disagree ... Can someone explain why is it so important to have high hop smells and taste? Just wondering
 
Plenty of great hoopy beers exist but so do great malty beers. Don't let people tell you that what you like in wrong becaues it is not what they like. That said you may want to try a hoppy beer every once in a while to see if your tastes have chnaged.
 
Totally opinion. My favorite type of beer is IPAs. Very little history: when the English shipped beer to India, they used extra hops (it is a natural preservative). To balance the bitter, they used extra malt and got a stronger beer 6-8 abv instead of the more common 5ish.

When I brew, I usually use extra hops because I like it hoppier. I also smell the empty hops bags like they're attached to an oxygen tank because I love the smell so much.

Totally opinion. Its like making a sandwich with or without mustard. Anyone who tells you that you made your beer wrong (assuming you didn't just miss the mark on a very specific style) is wrong to tread on your opinions and preferences. Make whatever you like. You can't really be "wrong".
 
It's all preference. A few years ago IPAs were not a palate pleaser for me. I , like you, was into maltier beers. But over time I've grown into a full blown hop head with IPAs being my favorite style. Hops have a weird way of growing on ya. Stay open minded.
 
It is very important to match many American styles like APA and IPA. You just prefer the European styles that are more malt forward.
So it is really just personal preference, I prefer my homebrew to be easy drinking and medium to low hopped ( 40 ABU is about the max that I brew).
I do enjoy high hop beers every once in a while so I just buy a few bottles rather than have a large batch that will take me forever to drink.

Quick tidbit:
Hops are a natural aphrodisiac for women but a sexual sedative to men.
Order the IPA for your lady friends and order the bock for yourself :)
 
I brewed up a West Coast IPA last year hearing so much about how great this kit was I figured it would be great. At that point I had never tried one, I went to the store got one and had to choke it down. Man was it bitter. Needless to say over the next 2 months I dreaded the thought of having 6gal of beer I couldn't stand. Well I started to drink it (obviously couldn't let beer be wasted) and by the time the 6gal was gone, I was fully hooked. Can't get enough of that great bitter IPA taste now lol. To each his own, and I still do love sweet malty beer, I have to agree with a previous poster though that you shouldn't give up completely on the style and try one once in a blue moon. Who knows it might grow on ya and it might not. Cheers :mug:
 
I love a nice hoppy beer, but my favorite styles are almost all malt centric. My wife would replace her blood with baltic porter if she could. I don't understand the tooth enamel eating hop bombs either, but to each his/her own!
 
Big_Cat said:
I don't understand the following in the high hops beer, its like drinking medicine that you are forced to drink. I like beers that have a malt or almost sweetness to it... A friend keeps telling me that beers high in Hops its what beer is suppose to be and I firmly disagree ... Can someone explain why is it so important to have high hop smells and taste? Just wondering
Click to expand...

Blasphemy! Shun the non believer!

Just kidding. I am a lover of hoppy beer, although I enjoy others as well. I do not agree that there as a certain why beer should be.

Fo me its just the taste, I think its amazing.
 
mredge73 said:
It is very important to match many American styles like APA and IPA. You just prefer the European styles that are more malt forward.
So it is really just personal preference, I prefer my homebrew to be easy drinking and medium to low hopped ( 40 ABU is about the max that I brew).
I do enjoy high hop beers every once in a while so I just buy a few bottles rather than have a large batch that will take me forever to drink.

Quick tidbit:
Hops are a natural aphrodisiac for women but a sexual sedative to men.
Order the IPA for your lady friends and order the bock for yourself :)
Click to expand...

Totally agree. It is possible to miss the mark on a specific style. Hopefully my meaning came through in my last post.

I guess my point is that if you make something you like, keep it up. Don't let people's negative opinions get you down. I don't care if you ferment apple juice and TP in your prison cell toilet, if you like it go for it.
 
Big_Cat said:
I don't understand the following in the high hops beer, its like drinking medicine that you are forced to drink. I like beers that have a malt or almost sweetness to it... A friend keeps telling me that beers high in Hops its what beer is suppose to be and I firmly disagree ... Can someone explain why is it so important to have high hop smells and taste? Just wondering
Click to expand...

I'm with you on this. The only IPA I will ever go out of my way for is Bell's 2 Hearted Ale. Sometimes it seems that people will go for the hop bombs just to prove they're a hard core beer lover. Kinda like how some people will eat the hottest hot wings out there to prove how tough they are. If I drink an IPA (forget IIPAs) it has to be the last beer of the night. The residual hop flavor/bitterness will linger to the next beer.
 
KeyWestBrewing said:
It's all preference. A few years ago IPAs were not a palate pleaser for me. I , like you, was into maltier beers. But over time I've grown into a full blown hop head with IPAs being my favorite style. Hops have a weird way of growing on ya. Stay open minded.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Just a few years ago I drank Bud Light. I discovered craft beer and immediately started leaning towards the maltier beers, but as i got more and more into brewing my own beer i wanted to try a bunch of different styles and i'm gradually expanding my palate. I only have the occasional IPA but i quite enjoy it now.

I remember my first IPA and it made me pucker and i said "people actually drink this?". It's amazing how tastes change. :mug:
 
dstranger99 said:
I'll join you, Sierra Nevada is a hoppy beer and I hate it !!!!.............
Click to expand...

Their Stout isn't hoppy at all. I think you are just doing it wrong.

Which one, thay do have about 15 beers they offer throughout the year.






As to the OP. I can enjoy a uber hop beer now and again but, they are not something I want 5 gallons of. And yes, some do go over the top to medicinal with their hopping rates.
 
Everyone becomes a hophead eventually.

Buy a 6-pack of Bells Two-Hearted and make yourself drink one or two a day. After that, buy a 6-pack of Bells Hopslam. Drink one of those each day.

At the end you will have a whole new outlook on hops.
 
I've had plenty of beer, and loads of IPAs. And I like them every once in a while, but one is enough. After that I'm looking for a brown ale or an Oktoberfest, or a dopplebock, or ...
 
Yeah, I'm with the OP so far. Can't stand bitter beer. I had a Stella once that I'm guessing was served through a hopback, because it had a lot of hop aroma with very little bitterness, and I liked that, but I haven't had an IPA I could say I actually liked. Even my own, where I didn't put in any hops until 5 minutes left in the boil. Still bitter.

But to each his own. I'm still waiting to see if my tastes change, like some people say, but so far my favorite beers are Kolsch, Maibock, and Wee Heavy, all of them almost no hop presence.
 
I'm with ya. Tell your friend that before the 1500s, real beer was hopless. I'm starting to like hops, but I start adding them at 30 minutes for flavor and aroma, not bitterness. There's a reason I have a ginger ale, pumpkin ale, wee heavy, and maibock double batch on the horizon. Besides, hops are expensive! I mash high and hop late and love it. I thought I hated beer until a few months ago because of hop bombs. My roomie is a supertaster, and he can't handle even 1 IBU. It's just the way his tongue chemistry is. I started homebrew so I could have better access to sweeter, less hoppy brews more often and cheaper.
 
I agree. I can't wait for the hoppy extreme beer trend to be over. They give me worse hangovers, take the enamel off my teeth, and generally aren't any fun to drink- why would you want to be in pain while drinking beer?

And a totally selfish reason- malty beers are easier to brew- less hops to weigh out and no dry-hopping.
 
I like hoppy but not bitter. I think the water profile has a lot to do with it too. Some brews just have way too much Sulphate in them and I think that really comes through in the beer.
 
Mmm, I love hoppy beers that are bitter - to me, they're delicious and I can't get enough of them; to each his own.
 
dstranger99 said:
I'll join you, Sierra Nevada is a hoppy beer and I hate it !!!!.............
Click to expand...

First of all, Sierra Nevada makes many beers, many of which are not hoppy and most of which are very good. That aside, I assume that you refer to their pale ale, which brings me to my next point: If you think SNPA is overly hoppy, there are some beers out there that would make your tongue cry. ;)

To the OP, a beer is certainly not more or less of a beer based on its hop profile. Asking hopheads (and I am one) why hop aroma and flavor is important is like asking you why you like your beer malty. Its all a matter of preference. :D
 
concur 100%

that's why i brew my own!!
prefer belgian beers because they aren't hoppy.

also a few german styles and a porter or stout of my own hopping rate.

also some of those scottish malt beers like a wee heavy....

GD
 
I like the diversity of choices we have in Beer. Some days I want Hoppy other days Malty, I don't feel like pegging myself to one taste or another. I like choices!
To each, their own!
 
I was in a I hate IPA mode for many many years,,,,but unless you've tried a few IPAs over the past couple years, you really never know. With the boom of late hops, c hops, wet hops, etc. There are many types of IPAs with many different flavor profiles, from pine, to floral, to citrus, from light and dry, to sticky and sweet.

It may be that you've just not found "your" IPA yet.

The one that did it for me was Big Sky IPA. Considered an average IPA by many, I just love the sticky sweet, citrus, grapefruit explosion it gives. Still hard to have more than two, but what a wonderful 2! And I say, drink them first before the other beers dull your taste buds. (then there's that whole drink it fresh problem,,,take the same great IPA and age it for 6 months, and you'll get a bitter skunky smelling beer)
 
I remember when SNPA used to taste really bitter to me and I was not a fan. Now I really enjoy hoppy beers. I think it is just an acquired taste for some people. It's like red wine...I used to hate that tannic bite of it, but now it's one of my favorite parts of it.
 
I thought I didn't like hops. But then after I started making my own recipes, I made it a point to brew beer styles I don't like (or didn't, rather). I figure that if I can make a beer that matches my tastes as much as possible within the guidelines of a style that I don't prefer, and if that beer ends up tasting good enough to drink, then I know I'm doing well. So I brewed an IIPA. It was amazing. Not just good, but one of the best things I've ever made!

I still don't prefer very much bitterness, but now through my own experience, I know hop flavor and aroma are where it's at.
 
My opinion is anyone that follows beer long enough will grow to love hops. I remember when I did not like IPAs and now they are battling their way into my favorite style.
 
Subsailor said:
I like the diversity of choices we have in Beer. Some days I want Hoppy other days Malty, I don't feel like pegging myself to one taste or another. I like choices!
To each, their own!
Click to expand...

I am the same. In my beer fridge I always have a range of brews so I can drink what I feel like at the moment. Right now in my fridge is an IPA, an Amber ale, a porter, a stout, a Tripel, a Dubbel, and a Saison. I just opened a saison and may have an amber afterer that.

Variety.
 
Hops were originally a way to help prevent the brew from going rancid and being no good in the old wooden kegs. Hops have some weird chems that actually reduce oxidation and work against certain bacteria. I'm with you though, I prefer a good smooth malty brew with a firm head and a good coat the inside of your moth goodness mothfeel. But thats just me, Your tastes may be different, and that is OK too, thats why homebrew has different recipes. One will suit you too..
Wheelchair Bob
 
Subsailor said:
I like the diversity of choices we have in Beer. Some days I want Hoppy other days Malty, I don't feel like pegging myself to one taste or another. I like choices!
To each, their own!
Click to expand...

Well said, sometimes at a good beer bar I have to sample 2-3 different styles to really know what I'm in the mood for. My tastes range from an enamel wrecker like 90 minute pale ale, to something smooth and malty like St. Peter's cream ale. But what is always tue for my taste is that a big hoppy beer needs to have some malt balance to even out the bitterness.
 
Drink what you like, and like what you drink!

Anybody who tells you what a beer is "supposed to be" is blowing smoke, unless it's the brewer, talking about what they were trying to achieve in that particular recipe or batch. Heck, even Bud-Miller-Coors deserve some props for hitting the exact type of beer they intend to, day in and day out, millions of gallons a day, 365 days a year. Somebody who's willing to write off the whole spectrum of beers that aren't hop-forward is missing out on almost as many beers as somebody who's willing to write off the whole spectrum of beers that aren't fizzy yellow rice water.
 

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