Beer Excitement

I don't know. I think it depends on the person and how much you drink. I've gone from newcastle to bba imp stouts in the last couple years and lighter styles don't excite me any more. So I could see getting bored with even the gnarliest brews. Try taking a little time off of beer, give bourbon or gin a whirl. (Or god forbid go clean for a month, lol) Maybe when you go back, your palate will be renewed and you'll find that child like joy when you crack a new beer you havent had... or maybe get into home brewing and learn a new aspect of the craft if you don't already... Cheers and best wishes.

 

Change is good. Sometimes one gets bogged down w too much of the same style. Mix up some stouts, porters, etc. w the everyday ales most folks drink. A barleywine wouldn't hurt either. Hope you find something that excites you.

 

Do what I did and move away. I would love nothing more than to go back and enjoy all the events and releases I once took for granted. Some great stuff is coming out and I'm stuck here. Just get some nice trade buddies before you go.

 

Nearly jumped with excitement when I saw that Yo-Ho brewing is in FLA now. Had their Sorry Umami IPA. It's an IPA brewed with Bonita flakes. So fucking good!

But it could be that you may have gone style drunk and need something new.

 

There are 104 styles and there are countless new beer joys to experience in the golden age of beer, America 2017. It could be you have gone through them all, and all their variants, and are really just bored of the whole thing. Which happens with any hobby.

I suggest a new push to investigate styles you may never have tried, styles you haven't tried for a while, styles you thought you would never like. I suggest getting out into your area and hitting any local breweries you may have overlooked, or going back to ones you wrote off years back and may now have greatly improved. Look for a new tasting group. Hit new events you haven't attended. Stretch your comfort zone.

If none of this re-floats your boat, well, ain't the end of the world.

 

Yes, this. I had been into craft about 16 months and was starting to get in a rut - buying almost entirely stouts, mostly barrel aged. I got looking at the other styles and realized that even though I had mostly been drinking stouts, I still had managed to have tried over 50 of 104 styles. So this past January I set out to try all 104, and now I'm stuck at 99. I have some new favorite styles. I knocking off the remaining styles as I encounter them.

OP - you may also consider hitting all the breweries you can, and trying all of their beers. You may be jaded or just in a rut - where you seek exceptional beers, having experienced a lot of them already. Be sure to keep reviewing beers as a record for your own reference. Go back once in a while and review what you liked and disliked.

 

It's you(and me). There are still lots of excitable newbs finding this hobby.

 

I recommend one week of Miller Lite and one week of Bud Light only. That ought to ale what cures you. If it doesn't take, repeat.

 

And somehow New England IPAs still aren't one of them.

 

Just go and sip a few Zima and you will realize just how good beer is again. Seriously though I just think you need to take a short break, maybe lay off certain beers for awhile and then come back to them and you will remember how awesome they were. I get this way at times then I take a small break and boom back into it again. Its like anything really, just need some down time.
Cheers.

 

I remember when I Just got into and figured a 99 degree day in August was a great time to discover imperial stouts LOL. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy my first stout nearly as much right then till a few months later and a few degrees less.

 

I think we definitely passed the 'high tide' of craft beer about 1-2 years ago, these days it's rare for me to get excited about a new APA or IPA because a lot of it is more of the same.

We might see another wave of new and exciting beer styles in the future, however I believe craft beer has had its golden days already... I'm just glad I was there to enjoy it.

That said I still love drinking beer weekly... almost daily (liver needs a rest sometimes - damn liver).

 

I've managed to tick off 101 styles, still chasing those elusive 3: Faro, Wheatwine and Lambic (Unblended)... though I don't feel that I'm missing anything amazing there.

At this stage I'm feeling similar to OP and wish more (easily obtainable) craft brewers would experiment in new crazy styles... I'm especially excited by the ancient ales coming out - I think there's a great deal we can still learn from that time - though none of those beers seem to ever get over to Australia

 

I don't think jaded is the right word. I'd prefer experienced. After the initial excitement that people experience, they start to realize the following:

1) Beer can only get so good, but I know what good beer is
2) Beer is fun and I don't have to obsess about it
3) There are WAY too many beers out there to drink them all
4) I know enough to order good beer when I'm out and that's enough for me

Personally, I'm excited to drink new beers, but drinking every single one of them that I can get my hand on isn't a major motivation for me. Hell, it's not even a minor motivation. I just want to relax and have a good time. Beer is simply my vehicle for that, but I'd rather it be good beer than just OK beer or otherwise, because it adds to the good time that I'm having.

 

All of that is spot on, and I'd add my favorite activity:

Experiment with drinking different styles in a single session (and even more fun -- finding the best orders *and* the worst ... ever try drinking a rauchbier *after* a sour? wild stuff ).

That's been among my favorite things about all of our beer options nowadays, that I never have to drink the same beer or even same style of beer back-to-back if I don't want to. I generally only drink 3-5 beers per session, but I usually drink 3-5 different beers per session, and that habit is definitely a way to break up the monotony. Drinking a pint of English pale ale, followed by a German pilsner, followed by a hoppy American IPA followed by a Flanders red ... hard for me to see that getting old. At least for me.

One other thing, and if I missed somebody else posting this stuff, my apologies:

Taste tests.

You need at least two willing participants to do "blind" tests, but even "sighted" side-by-side tests alone at home can be a blast. Suddenly two so-so American pale ales, when tasted side-by-side, can become a bit more fun.

And if none of that works, screw beer. Drink whiskey.

 

I go back on beers I've not had in a while.

 

You're jaded. Beer is better than it ever has been, and keeps getting better. Now drink a saison or a sour. That'll knock you back into loving beer!

 

It used to be a couple like Sierra Nevada and Ballast Point, but these days we get most of the big craft brewers - more from the West Coast though (I used to work in a bottle shop and a lot of the East Coast craft beers were 3 months old before they even hit our shores - not good for hop fade!).

Still really missing out on several awesome brewers though... never had Trillium for example... I guess I'll have to visit the states sometime