Still not an IPA guy

[homebrewdad]

I recently picked up a "make your own six pack" of beers at Publix. I love this method for trying beers new to me - I get to taste without committing to drinking six of something I might not care for.

One of the bottles I chose was Sierra Nevada's Ruthless Rye. I keep seeing rye mentioned in recipes, that it adds a bit of a spicy character, so I wanted to check this out for myself. I did not, however, pay attention (darned pretty bottle art) and overlooked the fact that this was an IPA.

My favorite beers are malt forward - give me a nice English brown ale any day. I have tried several IPAs, and have yet to find one that I enjoy.

However, I hadn't tried an IPA since February or so. Perhaps, I thought to myself, my pallate has expanded a bit.

Not so much.

I found this beer to be bitter to the point that I could taste little else - and was not a sensation that I enjoyed. I suppose that the issue must be with me - I see that this is a well received beer at BeerAdvocate, and that a lot of the reviewers seem to think that it is well balanced beer that simply lands a bit on the hoppy side. I certainly didn't get that at all.

Ah, well. I'll continue to stretch my horizons. Sadly, this particular six pack has been full of disappointment so far - I didn't care for the Ruthless Rye, I made the horrible mistake of trying Wild Blue (blueberry lager overwhelmed with artificial blueberry syrup flavor), and I found the Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown ale to be slightly beery water.

I did enjoy the Leffe Blonde (but I knew I'd like it... I put two in this pack to help compare my clone brew with)... as for the new stuff, it's all up to Ellie's Brown (Avery Brewing) to save this sixer for me.

 

[Yooper]

I like Ruthless Rye, but even my husband (who is really digging IPAs now) doesn't.

One thing that Bob likes is big hops flavor and aroma, but without a harsh or heavy bitterness. So you may find the some IPAs are much more to your liking than others. Many commercial IPAs have over-the-top bittering.

When you're ready to try again, maybe try a Dogfish Head 60 minute or 90 minute IPA. They seem to have more hops flavor and aroma, and less strong bitterness. I can't think of any others at this moment, but there must be more that would be more hop forward and less bitter.

 

[BlakeL]

Have you tried Bell's Two Hearted? That is a very balanced IPA that I really like. I tend to prefer more balanced IPA's than super hoppy like Stone Ruination. Also, have you tried any Imperial IPA's? The malt and high ABV in imperials seems to balance it out better for my palate. I'm a big fan of Southern Tier Unearthly, Bell's Hopslam and Great Divide Hercules. Those should be pretty easy to find.

 

[homebrewdad]

Thanks for the advice. The best IPA to my own taste that I have had so far was Heavy Seas Loose Cannon - I could at least enjoy the aroma, though the grapefruit and sheer bitterness pushed it into the realm of beer that I don't particularly enjoy.

I have yet to have a Bell's beer that I haven't enjoyed; I may try the Two Hearted - it's easily available here. I'll keep an eye open for the Dogfish, as well.

Like I said, I will contine to try to expand my horizons. I doubt I'll ever be a hophead, but it would be a shame to shut myself off from a huge category of beers based on a few that I haven't liked.

And hey, my pallate may still grow up one day.

 

[bobbrews]

You just have to immerse yourself in the hoppy styles. Buy a bomber or two a week for about a month and you'll probably start to understand the fascination/addiction some of us have for hops. Initially, I despised bitter, hop-forward beers... now I either buy or brew them at least 90% of the time.

One thing I learned from my experiences is to start with the sweeter hoppy beers with slightly higher FG, and then later move to the drier styles finishing around 1.010-1.013 FG. Dry, harsh, bitter, low malt presence versions are not commonly appreciated as much by beginner's as the bitter-sweet versions higher in malt character, which can be a little smoother on the palate. Beginner's and Intermediate's will use the word "balance" a lot to describe what they enjoy most in an IPA... when realistically the IPA/DIPA style is truly about a graceful mastering of "un-balance". Aficionado's, on average, tend to enjoy the drier, cleaner, hop-forward, bitter examples.

 

[BrewKnurd]

I did enjoy the Leffe Blonde (but I knew I'd like it... I put two in this pack to help compare my clone brew with)... as for the new stuff, it's all up to Ellie's Brown (Avery Brewing) to save this sixer for me.

While this may not hold much water with you, since I love Ruthless, and therefore our tastes may not align.... but i recently had Ellie's Brown for the first time, and LOVED it, so hopefully that one will be a winner for you.

 

[TobiasIsQueenMary]

I am a huge IPA lover, and was not a fan of the Ruthless Rye. Perhaps try some kind of IPA collaboration. Deschutes (OR) makes a White IPA or Dogfish head's Aprihop may be an interesting route to try. These IPAs are less bitter and more Floral.

 

[BlakeL]

I am a huge IPA lover, and was not a fan of the Ruthless Rye. Perhaps try some kind of IPA collaboration. Deschutes (OR) makes a White IPA or Dogfish head's Aprihop may be an interesting route to try. These IPAs are less bitter and more Floral.

Aprihop would defiantly be a good beer to try. I went through a 4-pack really quick and wanted more but my Total Wine ran out.

 

[bigljd]

+1 on the Bell's Two Hearted. It's like the gateway IPA. I had a few of those and ended up brewing a clone of it and loved it. Now 1 out of 3 beers I make is some variation of an IPA. I've become a hophead.

 

[Sippin37]

Yeah I think Two Hearted is very balanced and while the bitterness is there I feel that the flavor of the Centennial is more apparent and the aroma gives the deception of even more flavor. That one and A Little Sumpin Sumpin by Lagunitas are my favorite IPA's. I do not like the very bitter IPA's either but more the malt forward, balanced IPA's.

And I agree with you, I just don't think you can beat a good English Brown Ale. Just so damn good!!!

 

[homebrewdad]

Thanks again for the recommendations.

 

[seanybubbles]

Harpoon IPA is also a less bitter ipa. Almost an introduction ipa.

 

[ktblunden]

I like Ruthless Rye, but even my husband (who is really digging IPAs now) doesn't.

One thing that Bob likes is big hops flavor and aroma, but without a harsh or heavy bitterness. So you may find the some IPAs are much more to your liking than others. Many commercial IPAs have over-the-top bittering.

When you're ready to try again, maybe try a Dogfish Head 60 minute or 90 minute IPA. They seem to have more hops flavor and aroma, and less strong bitterness. I can't think of any others at this moment, but there must be more that would be more hop forward and less bitter.

These are good suggestions here. 90 minute is one of the IPAs that got me into the style. Ruthless is a particularly bitter IPA and I find I have to really be in the mood for it or I end up pouring most of it out.

 

[Weizer]

I feel like the people who like IPA's are the ones who drink so much coffee that they have no taste buds anymore. The only IPA i've been able to continuously enjoy is pliny. If you can find a good balance in an IPA, you've found a winner. I just really don't care for them that much. The maltier, the better.

 

[Homercidal]

I have to recommend Two Hearted as well. It's probably the most malty IPA I've had that still gives you a good amount of hops. The hoppiness seems to me to be more flavor and aroma and less bitter than a lot of the IPAs I've had.

Maybe buy a 6 pack and drink one or two a week. I've seen many people end up with a huge lupulin shift after trying a few good IPAs.

You could also go for a nice Pale Ale, which is usually less bitter than an IPA.

 

[bobbrews]

I feel like the people who like IPA's are the ones who drink so much coffee that they have no taste buds anymore. The only IPA i've been able to continuously enjoy is pliny. If you can find a good balance in an IPA, you've found a winner. I just really don't care for them that much. The maltier, the better.

I feel like the people who dislike IPA's are the ones who have not yet accustomed their taste buds to appreciating bitterness. The only IPAs I've been able to continuously NOT enjoy are the overly malty ones. If you can find a good un-balance in an IPA, you've found a winner. I really care for them that much. The hoppier, the better.

 

[StoneHands]

HBdad, I'm right there with you on IPA's. I like hops, but some are just so over the top with bitterness, they're impossible to drink. I guess I like flavor and aroma over the bitterness. I could be wrong, but I think the "extreme" beer phase is just that - a phase. I think a lot of these beers will go away eventually. In all fairness, I'm a German lager (read - I like malt) kind of guy, but I do enjoy a nicely balanced American Ale, even a nicely made English or (standard) American IPA. If you read the guidelines for these two, the face melting bitterness isn't supposed to be in there. I'm not giving up on IPA's personally, but given a choice between a helles or an IPA, I'm going with the helles (if it's well made).

 

[phenry]

I feel like the people who dislike IPA's are the ones who have not yet accustomed their taste buds to appreciating bitterness. The only IPAs I've been able to continuously NOT enjoy are the overly malty ones. If you can find a good un-balance in an IPA, you've found a winner. I really care for them that much. The hoppier, the better.

This. I can't stand a beer that calls itself an IPA when in fact it barely passes for an APA in terms of hop/malt balance. IMHO, an IPA should be 3 things: hoppy, bitter, and dry. Having a little bit of a malt backbone present so you're not just drinking hop water is fine in some cases, but everything else is frivolous for the style. True, there are some IPAs that take the bitterness too high without enough focus on aroma or flavor, but there's even more that are guilty of finishing too sweet. I've dumped many a commercial IPA (especially IIPA) for being hoppy, syrupy messes.

 

[Brewmasters Warehouse]

IPA lover usually start out as pale ale lovers looking for something more out of the beer. If you do not like the bitterness of an IPA then just stick to APAs until you hit that point where the APA seems a little tame for your taste. Same thing applies to malt forward beer lovers. Not everyone starts out loving big stouts and porters you usually have to build up to them. Seems like now a days breweries are just putting out bigger and bigger beers to stand out which is really making it harder to find those beers that many of us drank when we first got hooked on the style.

 

[BrewKnurd]

I feel like the people who like IPA's are the ones who drink so much coffee that they have no taste buds anymore. The only IPA i've been able to continuously enjoy is pliny. If you can find a good balance in an IPA, you've found a winner. I just really don't care for them that much. The maltier, the better.

I feel like the people who dislike IPA's are the ones who have not yet accustomed their taste buds to appreciating bitterness. The only IPAs I've been able to continuously NOT enjoy are the overly malty ones. If you can find a good un-balance in an IPA, you've found a winner. I really care for them that much. The hoppier, the better.

I feel like the people who like IPAs and the people who don't like IPAs should really not concern themselves with what the opposing group does or does not like or dislike about IPAs. Drink what you like and be happy that the people who don't like what you drink are drinking other things, leaving more of what you like for you.

 

[oakbarn]

I generally thing most IPAs are overhopped because of my hop is bigger than your hop. I also think a bottle commercial IPA is overly bitter. Try a draft Serria Nevada IPA or a Harpoon.

 

[monkeymootj]

IPA's like any other style are open to a wide interpretation. A significant hop presence is always a constant. The degree is always varying. Not all are face puckering. I happen to think that Bridgeport and even Hop Ottin by Anderson Valley have a rather balanced flavor IMO

 

[bobbrews]

I feel like the people who like IPAs and the people who don't like IPAs should really not concern themselves with what the opposing group does or does not like or dislike about IPAs. Drink what you like and be happy that the people who don't like what you drink are drinking other things, leaving more of what you like for you.

What happens when the opposing group is also the same group?

 

[homebrewdad]

I feel like the people who like IPAs and the people who don't like IPAs should really not concern themselves with what the opposing group does or does not like or dislike about IPAs. Drink what you like and be happy that the people who don't like what you drink are drinking other things, leaving more of what you like for you.

I agree with this 100%. I do not drink beer to align myself with some faction of beer fanboys. I drink beer because I enjoy it, and I try different beer to discover new beers that I might enjoy. I don't feel deficient because I don't enjoy IPAs, but I do want to give myself the chance to enjoy them (if such a thing is possible for me).

Insulting someone else's tastes because they don't match yours is asinine and childish.

 

[BrewKnurd]

What happens when the opposing group is also the same group?

Well by definition, if one group and the group opposing the group are the same group, then there really is no opposition, and only one group. So i guess everyone is happy and sings kumbaya?

If this was a serious question, then I guess all I can say is I did not understand the question as you phrased it.

 

[ArtVandelay]

I've never had an IPA that was bitter enough

 

[BrewKnurd]

I've never had an IPA that was bitter enough

Perhaps you could carry a small bag of hop pellets with you and sprinkle them in your beers!

 

[opiate82]

I would second the notion of checking out some Imperial IPA's. They tend to have a much stronger malt characteristic while still bringing the hops. Plus they do the other job that beer is supposed to do better as well.

Be careful of some of the "Double IPA's" though as they tend to up the IBU's without upping the ABV, meaning they most likely they won't suit your tastes.

I, for one, love the IBU arms race that is currently happening in the beer world. I love big hop flavor. From beer to wine to coffee, bring on the bitter! I also usually don't prefer overally malty beers as I feel they are to sweet for my tastes. But as I get more and more into home brewing I find my appreciation for styles that are outside of my preference to be increasing.

 

[bigebrewer]

I used to hate IPA's, and the more I tried them and my tastes evolved, the more I like them. Right now I can't get enough Boulevard Doublewide IPA.

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

Lagunitas IPA is a good one that's not ridiculously bitter, Bridgeport makes a nice IPA also, it leans a little towards the English style. Also if you can find it, try Firestone Walker Pale 31, it's not an IPA but is pretty damn close(IMO) and really has great Flavor & Aroma when it's fresh, without a ton of Bitterness. I'm not sure if those make it out your way or not, but it's something to look for.