Style focus: diverse or narrow?

I've drank many different beer styles, but I could live a very happy life on a desert isle with just my IPAs and Stouts. No offense to the other styles.

 

My "cellar" which is the floor is 96% BBA Imperial Stouts and 4% BBA Barleywines
Ill drink an IPA is there isn't a Non BA Imperial Stout or Strong Ale available and the occasional Saison when i get a sip of the wifes drink

I am a simple man

 

Everything is relative to your environment. In Hawaii we're used to low 80s so when it gets into the 60s that is cold for us. In Alaska my friend considers 60's as hot summer weather. If you come here in the winter it is easy to tell who the tourists are by what they wear. Factor in the heavy winter rains and that is when a BBA stout is more appealing.

 

Do you remember Young's (London) Oatmeal Stout? It was one of my favorite beers of all time!

 

I don’t think I’ve ever had it, or even seen it in the stores around here. At least, I never reviewed it. I’ve had Samuel Smith’s, though. Similar?

My usual is St-Ambroise which my daughter smuggles over the border for me when she comes to visit. Otherwise, Bissell Brothers brews Umbra and Counterweight brews Void, two ‘robust’ versions of the style each at something north of 7%. A case of each will do me for the year.

 

I drink most everything. According to my own personal records there are 24 styles that I've had over 100 unique beers. If we go to 50+ unique beers, then there are 64 styles that meet that criteria.

However, my top 3 styles are American IPA (984 unique), APA (477 unique) and American Imperial IPA (472). The 4th most consumed style is Saison at 335 unique beers. I think a lot of that has to do with what beers are available. Nearly every brewpub I've ever visited has an IPA or APA as a flagship.

So I try everything, but I drink a lot of IPAs because that's what's out there.

 

Young's Oatmeal Stout was available back in the late 80s into the late 90s. I'm not exactly certain what occurred, but Young's was sold and the beers were trimmed way back in its offerings. You may see a chocolate stout here and there, but the old London Special Ale, Ramrod Ale, and Dirty Dick Ale (higher alcohol) were all statement beers and I miss them.
The oatmeal stout was soft, full, very dark and was a very drinkable dark beer, maybe the best I ever had. It was delicious.. I sold the draft into a few places and people still mention it to me.

 

I love style variety and appreciate and enjoy well crafted beers from most any style that is out there. I personally think the pastry stout, fruited kettle sours and NEIPAs narrowing by craft beer consumption these days is 50% herd mentality and 50% these are sweeter beers that attract to historically non craft beer drinkers who would either opt for a different alcoholic beverage or perhaps an AAL at best.

 

I have my genetic predispositions, and those entail my never being able to appreciate an IPA of any stripe. So far, in decades of craft beer drinking, I have been able to finish (not enjoy, merely finish) without drain pouring precisely one, and the other folks who had it in the last Extreme Beer Box mostly seemed to not appreciate it. That same issue sadly extends to pale ales, by and large, with a handful of exceptions that are adjuncted to the beyond.

That said, if it isn't "pale", I likely enjoy it. Bocks of all stripes, gueuzes, stouts, porters, sahtis, gruits, faros, hefeweizens, witbiers, bieres de garde/mars, goses, Berliners, pilsners, zwickels, kellers, rauchbiers, saisons (that aren't surprise sour IPAs), quads, tripels, dubbels, patersbiers, marzens, festbiers, kolsches, Viennas, schwarzbiers, dunkels, brew them all and bring them on. I'd be hard pressed to actually call out even a favorite style.

And yes, I do enjoy the current pastry stout and slushy sour trends. More beer I can drink? By all means.

 

As of right now I have a metric shit ton of barrel aged stouts and barleywines, but I also have some dubbels, quads, saisons, duvel and some knock offs, helles, bocks, weizenbocks, doppelbocks, pale ales, ipas, Porters, dunkels, and some left over marzens and festbiers in my fridge. Right now. Probably a kolsch and witbier floating around in that mess too. My BA beers show me as a heavy ipa drinker, and I was for a while, however around the time I stopped chasing whales, reviewing and rating, I also made it a point to branch out and try some styles I had not had before. As a result I realize that I enjoy most every beer, even a coors original has its place in my belly. If I hadn't branched out I never would have fallen in love with Duvel, or had a trist with a certain smokey helles. There's too much great to outstanding beer on my shelves to just be so myopic and stick with even 3 or 4 styles.

 

I drink a diverse set of styles but I do tend to drink ipas more than any other style.

 

I like and drink all styles, but, I don't really like Sours, despite having more than a few.
I definitely appreciate diversity in beer and most of the beer I drink is served from a tap, often I ask the servers what is their favorite at the time and I'll have that, which is typically an IPA. LOL!
I really like German Styles and English styles and get those when I can.
Cheers!

 

Username checks out

 

My two favorite styles of beer are (preferably West Coast) IPA and (usually German, although increasingly loving Czech) pilsners, but anyone that knows me knows that my taste in beer is incredible diverse. I'll drink anything from Miller High Life to Arrogant Bastard to a 450 North smoothie to a Belgian tripel. I just love beer, man...and my life motto is "variety is the spice of life". Sure, there are a few general styles of beer I'm not too fond of, and there definitely individual beers I dislike. But my taste in beer is incredibly diverse.

 

Thanks to MN Ale for posting. I'm a simple man living in lager land. The German and Vienna styles are readily available . The craft breweries brew great lagers. I've had and ticked many styles over the years. I take my hat off to the BA's who can experience the multi flavors in IPA's, Stout s, Imperials , etc.

 

My focus was so diverse that when I got into whisk[e]y, I all but stopped drinking beer.

 

I'm a malt head personally which almost feels like blasphemy these days, so I don't drink all that many IPAs there are a few that I really enjoy but a lot are just bitter pine, or citruis grapefruit with absolutely no focus on the actual presence of malt. I tend to go for beers more golden all the way to black. Of course I'll try anything I haven't before but my taste just goes darker and maltier and all the pastry stouts just aren't my thing.

One of my favorite beers I've just bought since I was interested has been Skull Splitter a deliciously strong wee heavy. A beautiful malt showcase.