I figured I would start this thread with a poll since there is an ongoing thread entitled “Palate Reset/De-Evolving Taste” where @DaverCS describes his ‘condition’ of: “I've run into an issue: my palate has evolved to the point where I no longer thoroughly enjoy—or sometimes even like—the beers that first got me into craft brewing. For example, non-barrel-aged stouts just don’t interest me anymore.” I thought it would be interesting to know how many other BAs have suffered this ‘condition’. I have been drinking beer for many decades and for whatever reason I have never experienced anything like a palate shift. While I enjoy drinking BIG beers with bold flavors, I am also a fan of beers of a more subtle nature (e.g., Kolsch, Mild Ales, etc.). I even enjoy drinking AAL beers such as Yuengling Lord Chesterfield, Reading Premium (brewed by Sly Fox),… So, please take the poll and share your thoughts on this vexing topic. Cheers!
I went from finding wild ales undrinkable to enjoying them as one of my top twenty favorite types of beer. This includes finding the stronger types of brett expression that I disliked most of all evolved to being the type I enjoy best.
I feel like we experience palate change constantly. Getting over a cold? Palate change. Sudden heat wave or cold snap in spring or fall? Palate change. Limiting your diet for health? Palate change. Giving up spicy food because you've been getting a lot of heartburn/acid reflux? Palate change.
I remember I brought it up during the last BeerAdvocate Box Todd made but I've seen a distinct shift in my palate where I don't rely enjoy New England / Hazy IPAs anymore. And the issue wasn't that they were low quality as Todd personally made sure they were fresh and from reputable brewers, I just remember having to force myself to finish each and every one of them.
Every person has their own unique palates. When it comes to the Juicy/Hazy IPA style I will enjoy drinking one pint/can of those beers but I have zero desire to drink a second. They lack drinkability for my palate. Cheers!
I'm not sure it's a palate change so much as a preference change in my case. I feel like big stouts and DIPAs taste like they always did, but more and more flooded the market and I kinda got bored with them. Good ones are still good, bad ones are still bad. That's all while I started to like the simple nuance and drinkability of milder beers and other styles I probably didn't give enough of a chance prior. Those are as good/bad as they were before, but I think I just stopped defaulting to the beer equivalent of a car with a loud muffler.
Not necessarily a change, but as with most other things I take an interest in, I’d call it an expansion. Beers I previously might have not appreciated become more enjoyable as I come to better understand them. Beers I used to really like I now absolutely love.
I didn't like sours, then loved sours, avoid them now due to acid reflux, one sip and I say nope. Phenolics? Used to enjoy beers brewed with phenolics yeast, now I don't.
My first experiences with IPAs and sours were negative, but I now very much enjoy both styles. However, I look at this as being a part of the learning curve more than an involuntary palate shift, if I can get away with that logic. I noted no, and I think the reason is that I don't overdo any one style, so that's why I don't end up with withdrawal.
Sours seem to be a recurrent theme here. I loved them for years, now I just can't drink them at all. I am also struggling to finish bigger cans/bottles of DIPAs-I can handle the 12 oz, but that's all and 2 of them in one sitting is impossible. Certain hops give me the same reaction. I used to love Amarillo in my homebrews, now it's unpleasant.
I have definitely had palate shifts over the years. I used to drink a lot more IPA's, but now they probably make up less than 10% of my overall beer consumption. I also enjoy Belgian beers considerably more than I used to.
I had about a 6 month stretch where big stouts didn’t appeal to me and it pissed me off. My dad, in the last few years, has started drinking IPAs where previously he wouldn’t go near one.
I notice that my environment can really affect how things are perceived. A beer will taste completely different from my basement to the backyard. Style wise though......I usually go to IPA's Pales, AAL's and wheat beers...depending on the season. I enjoy stouts in the colder months. I do remember one time when I felt like picking up some DFH 90 Min IPA and it was the fruitiest I ever remembered it being....and it's never tasted the same since. It was like that beer completely opened up and it was fantastic. I still love it but man, that was memorable.
Ever since I quit drinking alcohol, well to clarify HARD liquor, I can't stand booze barrel aged beers. Don't get me wrong, I freaking love bourbon, scotch, tequila/mezcal, gin, etc, but nowadays I really can't stand tasting it in my beer. I just prefer to taste the malt complexities on their own, without that stale boozy overpowering note. It really upsets me when I finally stumble across a Barleywine, just to find it aged in Woodford Reserve barrels or something. Boils my blood. I also really don't care for aggressively hopped beers much anymore. Nowadays I prefer a harmonic balance between the malt & hops. Back in the 90's when Celebration or Old Crustacean were the hoppiest beers around, I loved them. I think the flood of IPAs rid me of that desire. I just got sick of so many beers tasting damn near identical. That's part of the reason I got back into home brewing was the lack of styles available to the general public in my area. If I can't find what I want to drink, I'll just brew it myself.
I prefer BBA stouts and English Barleywines, but needed something to drink in the summer when there are few new stouts/barleywines. I disliked sours and IPAs, but when Drekker started distributing here, I started drinking every beer that came here in their monthly 'drop', usually 5 to 10 new-to-me beers monthly, mostly sours and IPAs. Later I added Brewing Projekt and RAR drops to my monthly buys. Now I love most sours and NEIPAs, and have plenty of new-to-me beers to review year-round.
