The Hype About Hops

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skitter

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Ok, so yes I have only been brewing my own for about 6 months. That being said while I can drink IPA's they aren't exactly my favorite. I have been looking through this site and I keep seeing many many comments about IPA's and not a whole lot else other than seasonals.

My personal tastes are Ambers, Browns, Porters, beers that tend to have an IBU of 30 or less.

Am I alone in this? I don't understand where the hops hype comes from as anything higher than 60 is so bitter I can't hardly stand it.
 
Look in the recipes section and you will find a ton of discussion about the styles you like. IPAs tend to be an aquired taste. A friend of mine hated them when we started brewing 3 years ago and now that is all he wants.

There is no accounting for taste though. We all have different likes and dislikes.
 
I agree, hops is an acquired taste. Some IPA's tend to taste bitter and others not so much. IBUs aren't always a good indication of bitterness either. Try some north-west style IPA's. These tend to be more on the aroma side of things.
 
Used to live in the Northwest, there where some local Pale Ales I liked, but nothing IPA. I'm trying to find a clone recipe for Gilgamesh's HopScotch as at the time it was my favorite tap beer, only avail at 1 local bar. Unfortunately I don't remember the exact profile.
 
Hey, not everybody here is into hop monsters. Me included- I lean toward Belgian styles and sours, but will do pales and ambers with lower bitterness levels. Keep looking around and you will see lots of threads and recipes that cater to those who aren't into IPAs.
 
I'm in the same boat as you. That being said, homebrewing has made me even more intrigued about the "hop craze" than before, and I'm looking forward to learning to both appreciate and eventually brew hoppier beers, even if I never really get into drinking them myself.
 
I agree don't worry about what other people like or brew, if you don't like hop bombs don't brew one. I love my hoppy beers, but I also love my English styles as well..especially now in the colder weather
 
Nope you are not the only one. Give me a good Amber Ale with Noble hops any day:tank:
 
I LOVE a hop monster. Like SN Hoptimum but I also like a smash or a 3% French saison. I can't taste most of my favorite DIPA's after about 3 because my pallet is blown. The awesome thing about brewing your own is you can brew an experiment and go buy what you like. Once you have brewed a few that you like you can keep them in the pipe line. I keep a Hop bomber for me and something lighter like a Berliner Weisse or saison for something different. I'll brew a brown in sept to have through thanksgiving.

I think the hops revolution is because it's fun to brew and try different schedules and see how it turns out. And to still make is drinkable. I like at 75% of the ones I try.
 
There is a hop craze afoot, and that's fine. Take a pinch between the cheek and gum if you like. I think we see a lot of talk about IPAs and DIPAs because it's currently trending. But I know, I know, some of you liked hops before they were cool :p

I wonder what will be next, and how can we influence it?
 
I don't know but I'm still trying to find my one beer that tastes so good it makes your taste buds sizzle.

What is smash...
 
I think people have been drinking plain old beer for so long that when they taste how awesome the hops make the beer taste they get hooked. I know I did when I started discovering all the new types of beers and hop flavours. I met the owner of a local brewery and took a tour, chatted for quite some time and this perked my interest and started me on my hop craze after tasting all those amazing beers. I now grow them and love them. In time you will come over to the hop side ;) it's a matter of time hehe
 
My personal tastes are Ambers, Browns, Porters, beers that tend to have an IBU of 30 or less.
You're speakin my language - those are my preferred styles. That said, I really enjoy a well-made IPA or DIPA as well. I love and respect hops as much as I do malts and yeast.

Tons of discussion all over these boards that have nothing to do with hop bombs. As someone else said, check the "Recipes" link along the top of the page (not the same as the Recipes/Ingredients section of the Forums):
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f82/
:mug:
 
Ok, so yes I have only been brewing my own for about 6 months. That being said while I can drink IPA's they aren't exactly my favorite. I have been looking through this site and I keep seeing many many comments about IPA's and not a whole lot else other than seasonals.

My personal tastes are Ambers, Browns, Porters, beers that tend to have an IBU of 30 or less.

Am I alone in this? I don't understand where the hops hype comes from as anything higher than 60 is so bitter I can't hardly stand it.

I'm not a hop head either. I brew mainly stouts, wheats, and dark lagers in the 20 - 50 IBU range. I occasionally venture into IIPAs and Barleywines. The more I got into this hobby, though, I discovered it's not the high IBUs that I don't like.

What I don't like are particular varieties of American hops. Simcoe is top of that list. I could be perfectly happy never drinking another simcoe beer. As a slight accent flavor, I can tollerate it, maybe even enjoy it. But if it dominates, to me it smells and tastes like pine flavored cat piss.

Figuring out the styles you like is easy. The next step is figuring out what ingredient combinations you like. Then make a recipe for a style you aren't a big fan of using some of the ingredient combinations you like.
 
Beer is good.....

Hoppy, malty, balanced.... all good.

I've trended toward hop forward beer for awhile, then brewed toward the balanced side of things for a good bit. I tasted a few beers brewed by a fellow home brewer several months ago that were all malt forward. They blew me away, so I'm leaning toward more malt forward beers right now.

I'm sure I'll drink another beer at some point that will make me want to brew beers like it... but that's the great thing about being a home brewer. You get to brew beers that suit your taste.

To the OP... if you post about the balanced beer you're brewing, I'll certainly read your posts. Just like I read the insane hop crazy posts that are on here.
 
Personal taste really is why I started brewing, and I love hops! But I do not care for Belgians with the fruity/bubblegum flavors or sours. Many people go crazy for Belgians and farmhouse ales. It's ok to just like what you like, and not follow a craze.
 
Yooper I actually have a couple of your recipes I am planning on trying, my limitation in the recipes section is being restricted to extract for the time being, need to buy me a bigger bag and hope I can do 2.5g biab batches in a 4g pot
 
my first ipa (actually considered a pale i think) was anchor Liberty, and i could barely drink it. that was long ago in '95 or so...
now DIPA is my favorite style. but i also love stouts/porters and a good amber. i dont always drink stuff like palate wrecker or double jack, but do enjoy them when i can.
sours are my next hurdle. just cant stand 'em. it's all personal taste.
 
I originally could not stand IPAs. Now I brew hugely hoppy beers to compliment my small Belgian beers. I am also moving into sours more too.

Please pardon my brevity, this was sent from my mobile device.
 
There will always be hopheads, but I think the pendulum of fashion will swing away from very strong citrus out of balance pales.

Even now I see up and coming breweries focusing on Belgian and English styles. They hope they can guess the next trend and be ahead of it.
 
Skitter - your experience here has been different than mine. Not that either is bad or good, right or wrong - we just look through different eyes and follow different links. First and foremost I see brewing education here. Next I see possibilities and those possibilities include recipes I will try - hopefully soon. But I see as many browns and ambers and pales as I do ultra hoppy IPAs or super tutti frutti raspberry lemon vanilla chocolate banana porters at 1085. Post up the stuff you like - I'm sure others of us might want to also try them. Brew on Bro....
 
I don't think anyone likes every style of beer equally. It took probably 2 or 3 years after I started getting into craft beer before I could tolerate anything moderately bitter, and another year or so before I actually started craving hoppy beers.

Maybe they'll grow on you, and maybe they won't. Either way, there's nothing wrong with that.
 
I don't think anyone likes every style of beer equally. It took probably 2 or 3 years after I started getting into craft beer before I could tolerate anything moderately bitter, and another year or so before I actually started craving hoppy beers.

Maybe they'll grow on you, and maybe they won't. Either way, there's nothing wrong with that.

My Mr Beer kit came with a beer kit called Diablo IPA, I knew I didn't like IPA's, but I modified it and it wasn't too bad. Instead of the 2g of wort it ended up with me making it 2.5 and adding another pound of Amber DME. End result didn't taste overpoweringly hoppy. Shiner Wild Hare isn't too bad either but it's also hoppy and it's only a pale ale.

Seems I'm going to be Cream Ales, Browns, Porters, and Ambers. I'm ok with that, just trying to find recipe's to use in the recipe's section when your restricted to extracts/steeping is a pain
 
The beauty of our hobby is you get brew what your palate prefers. :rockin:

I started off brewing malty beers then as I progressed I found I really loved hoppy anything.............after a few years of brewing nothing but big hoppy beers I now tend to lean more toward balanced brews with the occasional hop bomb thrown in the mix.
 
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