Question: Can Your Taste Buds Change Over Time?

YES! First there are batch differences, it may not be the exact same Celebration as last year. Regardless, I loved it last year and am loving it this year. But, of course our tastes change. As you try more beers and develop your palate what you loved before may become less appealing. I grew up before craft beer exploded so I grew up on Budweiser and Miller Light... loved that stuff back in the day, now not so much. I had a Budweiser this summer and while it wasn't bad, it washed down the raw clams efficiently, it wasn't Celebration!

 

In my opinion, your taste preferences do change over time. For me, the biggest influence on that is how many styles and also how many interpretations of styles you've tried and continue to try over time. By exploring, you learn what you like and also more broadly what to expect when you buy your next IPA or stout. Some of the beers I strongly disliked only a year or two ago I now really enjoy and I credit that fully to the variety of beers I continue to seek out and drink.

Another possibility, although I can't speak on SN's Celebration, is recipe changes from year to year. This I find much more common in seasonals.

Hope that helps.
Cheers!

 

Definitely. I used to be very sensitive to hop bitterness, now in most non-IPAs I barely notice it.

 

I used to only eat chicken nuggets...

 

Yep, I'd reckon that Celebration doesn't change all that much from year to year. It's the hoppy brews in between the Celebration releases that one has that can skew your palate and make it not as desirable as was before. Me? I don't fall into that pitfall. I like it every year.

 

Funny, I just started a thread like this, but with the reverse situation.

 

Drinking even one or two malt-forward brews seems to "reset" my taste buds a bit and let hops shine. I nursed a scotch ale (Dirty Bastard) before my first Celebration this year, and Wow! No doubt it was the best and most flavorful Celebration of the year to me.

 

The taste buds themselves can change and are constantly being replaced. About 7 years from now you'll have a completely different set than you do now.

This can cause some changes in sensitivity to various flavors over time.

In addition what you've had to eat or drink earlier in the day can have an effect on what you drink in the evening.

Finally if you've spent a lot of time drinking heavily hopped beers lately you've numbed and beat your taste buds back to the point they just aren't able to function fully.

 

I actually felt a bit the same way about Celebration this year, but I attribute it to having it right after Jai Alai

 

Yes, of course the can. I used to hate IPA's or anything with a hint of bitterness. I still gravitate towards smoother/sweeter beers but I have come to really enjoy hops in the last year or two. It's kind of like hating onions when you were a kid and then slowly realizing they are awesome as an adult.

 

Absolutely! When I was younger, I abhorred asparagus, but now I love it! In terms of beer, I've gradually warmed to stouts over the last year or so despite previously not being able to stand them. Tastes definitely change with time.

 

Hell yes! Your taste buds are going to change much over your beer journey. That's why I think it's good not to get stuck in the Imperial rut that tends to come with wanting bigger flavor. Regularly visiting the more tame styles along with the bolder styles keeps your palate aware of what to expect when drinking each beer style, so you don't get caught by surprise.

 

Chew a Miraculin (miracle berry) and drink some IBUs. Taste buds will shift and you will be very surprised!!!

 

Yes.

Next!

 

Agree totally..I'm to the point, I have a Hard time getting something like a Budweiser down anymore though. So I don't even bother. Its gonna be when someone "offers" it to me, a polite No thank you is my reply. Went to a golf outing recently..All Miller Lite. Good thing I thght of that, brought myself a few Lake Eerie Monsters instead

 

Couldn't agree more that taste buds change with time never liked hop forward beers until I drank them consistently, now I am a double IPA head who loves hops, not sure why but it works. I have a theory that either Theodore you get the more refined your taste buds become or the older you get the less effectively your taste buds work.

 

The big question is how do you know what something tasted like a year ago? I make notes and all that jazz. Still do I remember a old beer, nope. You can only compare in the moment IMHO. human memory sux. I do know if I liked the beer or not, about it tbh. Now can you learn to like things you hated yes you can. Taste is very complex subject and its totally been discussed before so i will stop now.

 

Absolutely. Remember when you didn't like broccoli or this or that other food? The palate can be educated and the taste for certain bad things reversed and replaced with a taste for what is better and better for you. =)

That goes for beer too and for sensationalism in beer. (that means tons of hops in every darn beer until everything tastes like an IPA.)