To be honest, as a French from Lille (which means I have access to a whole lot of beers) the very first time I drank an American Pale Ale it tasted like a lighter, more subtle IPA.
if it isnt brewed in a monestary in belgium whats even the point #notlikeotherguys
But Abbey beers are the shit though.
I’ve never really considered hops to be an interesting flavor. It’s just… flat and bitter to me.
I truly don’t understand why so many people love IPAs, or try to sneak extreme hoppiness into other beer styles. (An IPA with fruit juice is not a saison! And a 70 IBU “kolsch” is a war crime!)
As a person who prefers the complex, bright and earthy flavors from grains and yeast, getting face-fucked at the end of every sip by a one-note weed pine cone is so disappointing.
I am not an IPA fan for the same reasons. The problem are the Brewers thinking they can just add any old hop into the mix and expect it to taste good. Then you have the consumers freaking out over a 120 IBU DIPA even though, on average, the human pallet is unable to taste anything beyond 70 IBU with an average threshold of a out 4 IBU.
Don’t get me wrong, I have had some great IPAs, but the places I’ve enjoyed them were places that knew what they were doing. Barely any bitterness and all the hop flavor and aromas.
I used to work as a brewer where the owner wouldn’t let us make any recipes of our own. All the recipes that he made us use, regardless of the style of beer, had an unforgivable amount of hops to it. The stout? 80 IBU. Fuck you, Dave.
I’m not a big beer drinker, but there are few things as disappointing as finding a bar that serves stout on tap, then discovering it’s been all hopped up.
Jesus.
If you see Dave around, tell him I think his management style is as unpalatable as his beer.
one-note weed pine cone
Single greatest description of the taste of IPA I’ve ever read.
I’m the opposite. I prefer a pale ale over an IPA, but recently I found hoppy larger and it is great. I find straight larger so tasteless most of the time.
Though if I am only drinking 1 or 2 beers for the night then I would choose a dark beer.
I don’t have a refined palette, and I like fairly hoppy beers. It has to have a good flavor to it though. If it’s made hoppy for the sake of IBUs, then it’s probably bad. Like joke hot sauces are disgusting, but there are some that are delicious but really painful for me to eat, even one bite.
Older IPA hops like cascade are great but only slightly hop heavy with their classic hop flavors. The hops used more recently (I think citra and mosaic?) have great flavors when pushed to high IBUs.
Hops have amazing range. Fuggles smell like dirt. Lemondrop has a strong citrus smell.
About half of beer variety is from hops. Unless your talking about Belgians. Then it’s all yeast.
While making my earlier comment, I actually looked it up to see if maybe there was something unusual about my perception of hops, but didn’t want to overload folks with info. It seems that some people are more sensitive to bitter tastes, such as those in hops, and some folks can’t taste them at all. It’s like if the whole cilantro/soap thing were less a dichotomy, and more of a spectrum. (And I’m one of the people to whom cilantro tastes like soap.)
That’s not to say I don’t recognize or value the contribution of hops to beer, but hops aren’t the primary driver of most beers flavor profile, nor should they be. In most beer styles, the bitterness of the hops are used to balance the sweetness of the malt so the beer doesn’t taste like syrup. This allows other flavors in the malt to come out, or flavors from the yeast to say hi.
For me it’s a very fine line. I think I’m more sensitive than the average person.
If the bitterness does more than balance, then it dominates all other flavors, including any flavors within the hops themselves. It’s just bitter, flat, and tastes like how bad weed smells.
I don’t believe it’s a matter of unrefined taste. I can talk to you all day about floral notes of lightly roasted grains, the heavier flavors of darker roasted malts, or what kind of funk a yeasty beer has.
But hops. Too much, and it’s just one flavor for me. I think the only time I’ve been able to enjoy a hop’s flavor was when I ate a fresh one on a brewery tour.I really enjoy mosaic hops; the best IPA I’ve ever had used them. There’s maaaaany awful IPAs, but when done well I think they’re delicious.
I truly don’t understand why so many people love IPAs
Flavor nuance. I don’t like hopsy beer myself, but there’s a LOT of different profiles out there. I’ve even found a few IPAs I liked.
As a person who prefers the complex, bright and earthy flavors from grains and yeast, getting face-fucked at the end of every sip by a one-note weed pine cone is so disappointing.
That I’ll agree with. Not a lot of drinkers respect the mashbill anymore.
I like IPAs and I’m secure enough to not be bothered by the mockery my basic brothers and I face online.
This thing got really popular for some reason. It must be awful!
My perspective is that the “basic” people can’t wait to bring up how much they despise IPAs and without a single exception the reason is always “they’re just SO hoppy!!!”
I heard a real-world explanation about why IPAs are the most common and commonly-sought craft beer. Half the reasons are unflattering, but a few are valid.
- They’re harder to fuck up because the Hops covers every damn thing and is so forgiving. Ever heard a cooking show talk about how hard a perfect Filet Mignon is because you can’t hide behind anything and everyone knows what it should taste like? Ditto with a good red ale or even pilsner.
- Similarly, nobody is known for their signature Filet Mignon because (within reason) a filet is a filet. Ditto with most types of beers. IPAs give opportunity for a lot more variety. Which is why you have more breweries making them, and then more people consuming them. I go out of my way to find non-MGP whiskey because MGP whiskies all taste the damn same to me, and I usually find a couple unique bottles every year. I can respect someone who wants to try a totally new beer every week and just fall back on a few faves.
- Related again to #2. Beyond being “SO hoppy”, IPAs have more unique flavor profiles than all other beers combined. Different hops can net you notes of orange, lemon, grapefruit, or notes of the pith of one of those, or notes of the rind of one of those. Different amounts or processing of hops can give you different intensities of those. That’s a lot of flavor profiles from sweet to sour to bitter, all in the same category.
So I’m “basic” nowadays re: beer, and I despise IPAs because I literally cannot stand the bitter&pithy ones (esp Grapefruit Pith), and there’s no easy way to know what an IPA will taste like till you’ve paid for it and cracked it open. I also get reflux and nothing blows that shit out of the water like an IPA. There’s a hops shop down the street from me, but if I’m going to brew a beer (super rare, I usually make whiskey or mead) it’s gonna be something will a chill flavor profile.
there’s no way to know what an IPA will taste like before you crack it open
That’s why I like brewers that publish their hops. I’m the opposite of you, I live for the citrusy, fruity type of hops and despise the more traditional floral/piney strains. If I see simcoe on the bill I’ll go to bed sober, but if you’ve got Willamette or Cascade I’ll make tea from them.
Meanwhile I don’t even have an idea what the hell am IPA is. Is it like a kind of beer?
Stands for India Pale Ale. i was originally told they used to brew stronger beer to make it last the long trip to India before refrigeration was a thing.
So it tends to be higher ABV and more bitter or hoppy to go with the higher alcohol content.
The hop part is a bit more interesting. The strong beers of the time weren’t enough to keep the beer from getting infected. However, hops are a natural preservative. The oils have antibiotic properties. They were initially used as a preservative for weak British ales and the taste was a side effect but not necessarily the desired effect. When they had trouble shipping their beers across the world, they would pack the beer full of hops so it would make the trip. Eventually, Brits in India developed a taste for the bitter beer that was shipped to them and a beer style was born.
Thanks, I knew I was missing something. It’s been probably 10 years since I did a brewery tour that actually taught anything.
Well given that they’re the most hoppy of the common types of beer, that reason for not liking them is hardly surprising or in any way illegitimate 🤷
Which is exactly why I think it’s an unnecessary and boring thing to talk about. If someone asks them, they should just say no I don’t like it. Instead they volunteer the information and emphatically state the reason as though it’s a surprise or unique in some way
They’re probably just trying to be helpful, you know… You sound very aggravated about them simply stating a preference and the reason for said preference.
If someone were for example to offer you an overly sweet type of confection or cake, wouldn’t you similarly answer “no thanks, too sweet for my taste?”
No one is offering them an IPA or asking their opinion. You seem like maybe you’re one of these people? Since you’re ignoring what I wrote. They volunteer the information and then harp on it. I have heard this since I started drinking IPAs in like 2012. Ok we get it, you all hate my beer. I’m not talking shit about their awful sour beers or whatever, I keep it to myself unless asked.
Nope, I’m not “one of those”. While I too don’t like beers to be too hoppy, it’s not something I go out of my way to tell people like some crazed stereotypical vegan 🤷
I can see how that would get annoying in the long run though and I’m 💯 with you on sour beers lol. Second worst beer I ever tasted was a gose and the worst wasn’t an IPA either lol
But of the near-infinite number of things a person dislikes, they only meme about a couple. The Internet loves an easy target…
of the near-infinite number of things a person dislikes, they only meme about a couple
only meme about a couple
a couple
Are you NEW? 🤦
Nope, just bored to death by the seagulls constantly squawking “THING BAD! THING BAD!”
Not liking them, and not liking other people liking them are very different things.
Such is true.
What if my enjoyement is making fun of basic white dudes drinking IPA’s?
Something I should mention: I do like IPAs (not only IPA but they are tasty) and can find all 3 of the style of shirt in this weird AI looking stock image in my closet.
Soooooo…
Yeah, but I don’t drink 16 pumpkin spice lattes in one sitting.
You ok, friend?
No, but ask me again after 16 Ninkasi Prismatics and the answer might change.
I have no idea what any of those words mean
Yes OP you are very unique and smart.
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Good beer is good beer.
genuinely cannot stand IPAs
A new craft brewery opens, the beer list is 3 IPAs, a double hopped IPA, a triple, and a bowl of hops spritzed with bitrex.
IPAs aren’t really seasonal? I always associate fall with Marzen style lagers for Oktoberfest, and big winter warmers like barleywine and sweet stouts.
synthesis: pumpkin ale
Death to America
I have good news comrade
Oh, is that what they are? I thought they were just bottled cat piss…
