How have your consumption habits evolved?

Distilled down, my consumption went from normal middle-of-the-road craft beer options (flagship / seasonal ambers, browns, IPAs, saisons, etc.) to big and bold, notably focused on IPAs and stouts, and finally to lowkey flagship options (such as SN Pale Ale and Athletic's Run Wild).

That's not to say I don't enjoy NE IPAs or heavy stouts anymore, in fact, I really enjoy the latter. But I've found the price point doesn't justify the flavor / experienced imparted, and thus I've cut down my consumption of them. Part of that is my increased stinginess, but more so, the continuous list of flavor additions that seem to adorn every stout release these days.

I was getting big into English Milds and lagers right before COVID hit, but these two styles I prefer in a brewery sitting (especially the slow pour lagers), and thus really haven't revisited these styles much in the past year.

 

this sounds like a joke like the seafood diet, i see food i eat it. My consumption habits have evolved into a serious problem. But seriously folks (im here all week)....ive gone full cycle. i started years ago with the Dogfish 60 minute and Dales Pales, moved through all the IPAs and big stouts to the hazy NEIPAs, now im trying to get my ABV down and find i like a few malty beers like brown ales and trying more high end pilsners. cheers

 

I have been enjoying craft beer for 15 years now. While Hazy IPAs and Stouts are still my favorites, I recently have been drawn to cleaner, crisper beers such as Lagers, Pilsners, and Kolsch(es).

 

Still ticking (no pun intended).

My "style quest" has led me to discover worlds of beer that I would never have known otherwise. Being exposed to world-class lambics and gueuze at my first Zwanze Day experience turned out to be a wallet-changing experience. English pale ales and milds, Belgian quads and strong ales, German lagers, all good. That said, I'll always have a weakness for the big stouts and the palate-scorching IPA's that brought me to the dance.

As for light lagers and AAL's, I'd rather drink ice water.

 

So much less, better beers, less beers. When I’m bored I do AALs to maintain my palate. Plus I love wine, gin, whiskey as well.

 

I don't do liquor or wine, so it is beer or nothing. Even then I am apt to just take weeks off at a time from drinking. It just doesn't always appeal to me. I am in the middle of a dry spell right now. I just recovered from COVID-19 and beer is the last thing I want. In a few weeks or so I'll be back drinking again. It always goes in cycles for me.

IPAs were my love at first sip beers and I'm still there. Just can't make myself like sours or things completely different.

 

I'm drinking very local to localish: all the beer in my beer fridge is from VA, or a state adjacent to VA (TN/NC)... except for the Capt Lawrence Double Pull (NY)

It's probably seasonal, but I haven't been grabbing mostly IPAs lately... focusing on stout/porter/tripel/quad/brown/baltic porter. I've tried to lower amount drank daily as well, trying to drink no more than 2 beers a day, 3 tops.

 

Here's the short and sweet of it, with rough time frames...

Pre-BA: Scotch and various spirits, occasional wine

BA years 1-2: high gravity beers (DIPAs, stouts, barleywines, old ales, etc.) and Belgian ales
BA years 2-3: high gravity beers, IPAs, barrel-aged anything - chasing whalez/limited releases
BA years 3-4: IPA/DIPAs, imperial stouts, popular/top beers, special releases

~ BA year 5: ticking styles, states, countries, and beers listed on top 250, beers of fame, etc. - but without traveling or trading; IPA/DIPAs and imperial stouts remained my go-to's

BA years 6-8: ticking basically stopped (though I've still got my eye out for a few I've never found), and NEIPA/DIPA/IPAs became my preferred style; switching off to imperial stouts and special releases for a break; heavy focus on local and fresh beers

Past coupla years (years 9-10+): very diverse - all sorts of beer styles, plus spirits, cocktails, and some wines and alternate beverages (cider, mead, sake); very limited amounts of IPA/DIPA/NEIPAs (except for some faves and seasonal/special releases)

Cheers...

 

There was a time I was into anything BA Stouts,and IPAs, now I’m having a hard time drinking them. Seriously that one Ten Fidy Soy Bomb was awful, I can’t get past it very easily.

Now it Pils, and IPAs.

 

I don't think I have evolved. More like revolve....I kinda go 'round in circles. I don't care about styles much and will try whatever strikes my fancy when I am in a store or brewery. I am not a high volume drinker, so big beers don't scare me none, but I also really enjoy a clean pilsner or a crisp Kolsch style brew. I would prefer to drink one really good beer than plow thru a bunch of mediocrity, but I don't purposely chase highly rated beers. I am more of a brewery loyalist than an aficionado of any particular style.

I guess it is similar to other things I enjoy. My music collection is extremely eclectic - people don't understand why I have like 6000 songs on random versus playing one artist or genre. I enjoy many different cuisines. I'm curious about dang near anything, so I think that carries over to beer just fine.

 

Being only 22... I've seen a lot of change just in my first 2 years in the beer world. Starting out, like many, with IPAs and the highest ABV beers I could find at Total Wine I pretty quickly realized I was into beer beyond its ability to get me drunk. I do still enjoy liquor and a glass of scotch or tequila is always a great way to end a long day but beer is king currently. As of late, barleywines have been my go-to treat which is problematic for me since high-quality barleywine is much less readily available than other styles. With regards to COVID, I've been lucky enough to be employed this whole time and in turn, have had more disposable income to spend on beers that would have otherwise been out of my price range. Now I'm starting to get into trading and expanding my horizons beyond the SoCal scene.

 

I've been drinking craft beer for about 25 years now - since it was called 'microbrew'.
Over time, my tastes have changed somewhat - when I first started, I was sort of rebelling against the usual tastes at my college, where the unofficial beer was Natural Light Ice. So, my thoughts were, if you can see through it, it's not worth drinking. So I was drinking mostly stouts and porters at the time. Early 2000's, I was at a beer fest and tried Stone Ruination on cask - I immediately became a hophead. Later, into |Belgian styles, etc...
The past few years, I've been more into Kolsch, Pilsner and other lighter styles as well as the old favorites.
On top of that, I've gotten into whiskey and gin over the past couple years, on top of vodka and rum from way back. Can't do tequila straight - only in margaritas or long island iced teas.
Then I also appreciate wine, though I don't drink it often. I prefer reds, though I don't have a particular grape I prefer.
Yep, I'm an equal-opportunity drinker.

 

As I have grown older, my beer consumption has diminished, but I like to think my taste is more discerning. I enjoy a couple of good Belgians on any given evening as opposed to an extended drinking session. With that said, I will try anything I find interesting or has been recommended to me.

 

My growth as a beer lover was slow and steady, but had a precipitous end to its evolution. Like most born in the 50's I grew up drinking AAL, favorite Budweiser, but happened to live in NYC for six years in the 70's, during which time I developed a taste for the better German and English fermented offerings that were pretty widely available at a time they weren't so easy to find in other parts of the country. Since the 70's I developed a taste for pretty much every style, and as of two years ago I had tried almost all the styles there are. And loved them all. Then things went pretty much straight downhill (health).

I recommend all parts of this journey to find beer nirvana to everyone. Except this last part, of course.

 

I also was born in the 50s. Started with catamount brewing, then harpoon then started homebrewing and big IPAs and monster stouts were the menu.
But time always goes on and I noticed weight gain and nasty hangover where there was once none. So now pretty much low abv pales and semi stouts, English table beers and on very rare occasion a larger ipa or stout.

 

First beers in college were the Bud lights and stuff of the time. Got more serious into craft beers around 2010 when I joined this site. As time went on to 2014 and later I used to always just seek out as many beers as I possibly could. Any style, did not matter. I reviewed 4 new beers a day. Now lately I have gotten away from that, and I seem to just prefer IPAs all the time, but also get the usual seasonal Christmas or Pumpkin ale. An imperial stout or barleywine every so often. I like the more relaxed approach of drinking lighter and also taking the time to enjoy it. It takes me well over an hour to drink a beer now and I have never felt better about my health. Physically and mentally.

Cheers