First beer where you recognized what hops taste like

This. I thought it tasted like and Xmas tree. And I liked it. It was my gateway hoppy beer. After that, I tried some DFH beers and the rest is history.

 

founders reds rye...i remember it like it was yesterday. grapefruit goodness that i still love.

 

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, June 2005

 

Samuel Adams Boston Lager, shortly followed by Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, were the beers to break me into a love for hops, especially SNPA, where my first reaction was "Holy crap! It tastes like grapefruit!"

I still have difficulty differentiating between hop varieties through taste alone, (aside from noble/pilsner hops) but I've been able to deduce that some of my favorite IPAs tend to use Centennial, Citra, and Simcoe.

 

SN Celebration Ale

 

Grew up with SN Pale Ale, but didn't know that they were hops...

 

Ballantine IPA in 1973. Was our "house beer" for our summer beach house in Lavallette, NJ while in college.

 

Way back in the day, it was Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale that gave way to FFF's Alpha King. I now grow hops in my back yard - no turning back since then.

 

Alpha King

 

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Anchor Liberty Ale, Lagunitas IPA. In this order!

 

Boston Lager

 

Boulevard Pale Ale most likely.

 

Ballantine XXX Ale, circa mid-1960s



(despite some folks claim that it tasted of "pine needles"....).

 

The hop that gave us Centennial and Chinook! I wonder how those people would react to those hops.

 

SNPA. I still really enjoy it, but over time and many more hoppy beers, it doesn't have the bite it used to for me.

 

Hop Devil.

 

Same here.

 

SN Torpedo. I didn't "get" IPAs, etc. until I had this. Then it all made sense.

 

SNPA - somewhere around 1988

 

I was always a dark beer fan.....I loved big malt. Then on a trip to Vermont a mix pack of Long Trail got me to the Ale and Ipa. Opened my eyes.