So do you have a beer baseline?

[snailsongs]

Is there a certain style that you come back to over and over again no matter where your beer exploration takes you? What is it and why do you think it is your beer baseline? I know that's a goofy question, but I literally can't get away from APA's even though I pretty much started brewing because I wanted to do just that - to expand my beer knowledge/horizons. Reluctantly, if I go a week or two without I find myself craving some damn cascade hops in a glass of orange/gold beer with a solid carbonation level and ice cold, please. Then I brew some and I don't want to look at the rest of my homebrew until I tap the APA out.

 

[Big10Seaner]

Keeping making your pale ales and drinking them, then once in a while throw in a few that need to age a while and forget about them. I'm a big sucker for APA's as well, there are so many variations in that style alone.

 

[enderwig]

I dont really have a baseline, I go through phases. I'll make 3 different brown ales, then 3 or 4 stouts, then 3 or 4 APAs. Every now and then I throw in an IPA or RIS. I also go through regional phases when I make a bunch of british beers, then a bunch of german beers etc....

 

[snailsongs]

I dont really have a baseline, I go through phases. I'll make 3 different brown ales, then 3 or 4 stouts, then 3 or 4 APAs. Every now and then I throw in an IPA or RIS. I also go through regional phases when I make a bunch of british beers, then a bunch of german beers etc....

This sounds a lot like what I do, actually, (for example, I brewed 5 different bavarian dunkels, ryes and weizenbocks earlier this summer) but I always end up with this nagging thirst for an APA....everything else is a phase, but apparently not that!

 

[eschatz]

APA and IPA. I've had one or both on tap for the last 3 years.

 

[Buffman]

Just like you, except my baseline is IPA. Every other batch is a different IPA. I know I'll always have something I love to drink in the fridge, but every other batch is a foray into other beer types.

 

[BrewOnBoard]

Great question!

I am a seasonal beer drinker, by that I mean as the PNW gets dark for winter, so do my beers, as the sun comes out (if it does) my beer lightens. This year, we had a snowy hardcore winter and I was chugging the Jolly Roger Christmas ale. Man that is a serious beer! Now that we're hitting record highs, I'm drinking caronas (usually too light for me).

I definately do have a baseline. My baseline is the west coast Pale Ales, as well as Redhook ESB and the like. I go far north and south of this line, but at any time of the year I can drink a Red-Hook ESB or a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I am always on the lookout for new things though. Seasonal, Belgians, festives, pumpkin ales etc. As I look for new things though they're usually also dark in the winter, and light in the summer.

I expect when I'm brewing regularly (soon!) my brews will reflect this. One pale, then one of something cool and different, then another pale or amber etc...

BrewOnBoard

 

[KYB]

I've only brewed 11 batches, but I've been mainly just brewing a bunch of different styles, although I am trying to perfect my Foreign Extra Stout, and now a Kentucky Common. I love Stouts, but I also love hoppy beers.

 

[Lefty]

Main reason my kegerator will always have at least two taps. One will always be stocked with APA/IPA and the other is some other experiment. So glad I do not have to choose between the two!

 

[Homercidal]

Nope, I just love so many different styles. If I had one, though, it would probably be an IPA or Wit. A good pale would be nice too, but the IPA just trumps that IMO. Maybe even a IIPA... Oh God, hops are sooo good!

 

[chumprock]

If I can, I try and keep my House ESB on as much as possbile.

I also make a Porter about every 3-4 batches because I love porters.

I was on a big experimentation kick at the beginning of the summer and it left me with beers I dont "run to" but will drink on occasion.. I think I'm just going to go back to 4-6 regular recipes for a while and keep my pipline drinkable. I ended up bottling a lot of the experimental beers just so I could use the damn kegs.