I've been thru this cycle several times now....
Started back in my teens to college years: Friends would grab cases of Busch "Latte" as it was bang for the buck. If you like Light American Lager it's OK, but as that was the ONLY style I'd ever had in a beer my whole life up to that point, I was never enthused.
Ironically it kept me from being a binge drinker in those days cuz I didn't know there was beer out there I liked ALOT better.
Fast-Forward a few years and I got served a Newcastle Brown on draught. First time in my life I wanted a second round, and started my journey exploring all the other styles.
Guinness, Beamish, Taddy Porter, Fullers, Boddingtons, even Bass ale burst the English doors open to me.
Then I started taking a hard look at "green bottle" import lagers. Find them on draught and they are pretty good... then I discovered the original Pilsner Urquell and true German Pilsners. Man, what a change from Light American Lager!
Craft beer was ramping up with a good mix of the "brown" styles, as well as proper West Coast IPAs. I was in the zone for several years where there were MANY browns, stouts, porters alongside these new-fangled IPAs.
I liked the piney, resinous, grapefruit characters. It was such a departure. Being a cannabis enthusiast as well, good hops smell like good "other green stuff" and that suited me just fine!
Then it was almost like creative fatigue set in. Brewers asking: What can you throw into a beer now these days? Milk stouts were good, but past that the pastry versions are a bit much for my palate.
Same goes for the "orange juice that has gone off". Hazy IPAs are just fine if you are looking for that off-OJ flavor, but it's never been my game and I don't know honestly why people gravitate towards it at all.
The resurgence of CRISP LAGERS in the craft scene has been great from my POV. Even a well made cream ale is just lovely.
I now go out of my way to find English Milds, Browns, porters, and good Czech pilsners when I seek out local craft brews. Thankfully Des Moines and Cedar Rapids have a few good offerings of these styles, and I buy a bunch when I have the ability.
The only IPA to me is a "classic" WC style, like Pliney and Stone. Summit and Boulevard in my neck of the woods do a good job with a westy as well.
That being said, when we talk about my OWN brews... the hop loads (especially dry hopping) for some of these recipes makes them a "special time" batch for me ($$$$).
English styles and continental lagers are much easier on the wallet hop-wise, and are MUCH harder to find in the wild with any frequency.
I brew them almost exclusively, and brew a WC IPA every 8th or 9th batch. Or just pick up a sixer of a good WC IPA when the urge hits me.
cue Huey Lewis and the News: "I know what I like"
Started back in my teens to college years: Friends would grab cases of Busch "Latte" as it was bang for the buck. If you like Light American Lager it's OK, but as that was the ONLY style I'd ever had in a beer my whole life up to that point, I was never enthused.
Ironically it kept me from being a binge drinker in those days cuz I didn't know there was beer out there I liked ALOT better.
Fast-Forward a few years and I got served a Newcastle Brown on draught. First time in my life I wanted a second round, and started my journey exploring all the other styles.
Guinness, Beamish, Taddy Porter, Fullers, Boddingtons, even Bass ale burst the English doors open to me.
Then I started taking a hard look at "green bottle" import lagers. Find them on draught and they are pretty good... then I discovered the original Pilsner Urquell and true German Pilsners. Man, what a change from Light American Lager!
Craft beer was ramping up with a good mix of the "brown" styles, as well as proper West Coast IPAs. I was in the zone for several years where there were MANY browns, stouts, porters alongside these new-fangled IPAs.
I liked the piney, resinous, grapefruit characters. It was such a departure. Being a cannabis enthusiast as well, good hops smell like good "other green stuff" and that suited me just fine!
Then it was almost like creative fatigue set in. Brewers asking: What can you throw into a beer now these days? Milk stouts were good, but past that the pastry versions are a bit much for my palate.
Same goes for the "orange juice that has gone off". Hazy IPAs are just fine if you are looking for that off-OJ flavor, but it's never been my game and I don't know honestly why people gravitate towards it at all.
The resurgence of CRISP LAGERS in the craft scene has been great from my POV. Even a well made cream ale is just lovely.
I now go out of my way to find English Milds, Browns, porters, and good Czech pilsners when I seek out local craft brews. Thankfully Des Moines and Cedar Rapids have a few good offerings of these styles, and I buy a bunch when I have the ability.
The only IPA to me is a "classic" WC style, like Pliney and Stone. Summit and Boulevard in my neck of the woods do a good job with a westy as well.
That being said, when we talk about my OWN brews... the hop loads (especially dry hopping) for some of these recipes makes them a "special time" batch for me ($$$$).
English styles and continental lagers are much easier on the wallet hop-wise, and are MUCH harder to find in the wild with any frequency.
I brew them almost exclusively, and brew a WC IPA every 8th or 9th batch. Or just pick up a sixer of a good WC IPA when the urge hits me.
cue Huey Lewis and the News: "I know what I like"
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
