How has your palate changed?

Absolutely!! The biggest things for us, early on, were confidently identifying things like esters, phenols, and acetaldehydes, After that it was how to use language to describe them further.

 

The change in my palate over time has been the appreciation of many many styles. Many of which I thought I did not like. A lot of that has come from festivals. tastings, and especially my brew club meetings. At these I will try styles I thought I did not like. It was always amazing to come across a sample that I really enjoyed. I still will drink mostly IPA's and Stouts but now enjoy many styles at different times.

 

As a craft drinker since I can remember,.. I'm having a harder time understanding sours and beer geek stouts. The former can be done well however I find most of them to be way too acidic to have more then a few sips. Many of these stouts are tasting like syrup/sugar bombs to me even the highly sought after brands.

 

My palate has remained about the same since the start of the craft era. Basic Lagers, Pale Ales, IPA's and Stouts/Porters are what i drink 85/90 % of the time. I will and have tried anything but so far only Imperial Stouts are the only other style I go back to.

 

Obviously I made "the great leap" from yellow, fizzy, flavorless stuff to craft. However, it sounds like you're talking about palate change within the craft options. In my roughly 8 years of being really into craft my preferences have change greatly.

My fridge eight years ago vs. My fridge today
Bomber of BCBS has been replaced by a couple of bottles of Aecht Shlenkerla varieties
6 pack of Long Trail Double Bag has been replaced by a 6 pack of Victory Helles
6 pack of Ithaca Flower Power has been replaced by a 6 pack of 21st Amendment Bitter American
4 pack of Chimay Blue has been replaced by a 4 back of Celebrator Doppelbock
750ml of Saison Dupont has been replaced by a bunch of Bitburger tallboys
A six pack of Victory Golden Monkey has been replaced by a 6 pack of Mayflower Porter

First, I'm obsessed with lagers. Something about the cleanliness of the yeast, I can't get enough of them. I go to mostly to German/Czech Pils and Helles, but I can't say no to a Doppelbock either. That wasn't the case in the early days when I was into "big" ales, with higher ABV's, almost exclusively. On the issue of ABV's, I am much more into sessionable stuff in general now. Beers over 7% give me pause these days, while years ago, I was drinking so many 10%+ beers that 7% beers would have been just a "regular" beer to me. Porters, pale ales and pilsners that hover around 5% are the types of beers that I love. Also, I can't stand Belgians now. I used to be obsessed with them, especially saisons and especially saison dupont. In September 2012 I completely lost my taste for Belgians. The yeast is part of it, but it's also, i think the sweetness of many of them. In general, as I get older, I find I am losing my interest in all things sweet (beverages and food). The ideal desert for me is a piece of salty cheese and some espresso with sambuca.

 

Yes it has and continues to. Growing up in a small town in PA there was Yuengling Lager, Yuengling Black and Tan, and Yuengling Porter. All great and all that existed. At least in my mind. I ventured out at some point in college and started occasionally drinking Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and really liked it. But in my mid 20's I was single and went out a lot mostly for dinner and beers but on Monday nights it was football, beer, and wings and a slow start to the Tuesday workday so I continued drinking Yeungling Lager exclusively based mostly on habit and price. Then I made my first batch of homebrew and my palate has never been the same since and I mean that literally. I'm still finding categories I like and have others that I like less. I've got a wee heavy hanging out in secondary. I've tried scotch ales but not enough to know if I really like them yet. I'm still a neophyte in the craft beer world (haven't even had a DIPA yet) and can't wait to see which beer takes my palate in a new direction next.

 

Sulfur?

 

I used to only be able to stand slightly bitter IPAs but in the past 2 years I've developed a love for the biggest bitter bomb you can throw at me. Also, I just to love a good dubel or trippel but now I can't stand dubel's and only want a trippel maybe once or twice a year. I guess in general my love of belgian beers has decreased significantly.

 

I've gone back and forth with my changing taste buds. I never liked hopps all that much, but when i finallly had a GOOD beer that did hopps correctly it changed my palate forever. Psuedo Sue, Sip of Sunshine, Abner from HF, Sosus, Twisted Galaxy are a few examples of beers that changed my palate. I always liked Stouts but once I had Darkness from Surly I was ruined for life and cannot drink light stouts like Porters or Browns anymore. I still try to drink them when available and mostly with a meal. I find that a well made beer no matter what will always taste fine even if its not in a category you like. You just have to put it in to perspective. Or judge Apples to Apples. I'm trying to open back up to long lost beer styles as well as new ones like Sours and fruit/ vegetable beers. Seems I get stuck on IPA's, DIIPAS, and BA Stouts to much.

 

I think for the most part, everyone's palate evolves over time. But I would point out that if your first experience with a style you haven't tried before didn't go well, it may just be a less than stellar example of the style. Or even the sub--style itself. For example; I remember trying Guinness Extra for the first time 25+years ago...and I hated it! So I steered clear of stouts. Then about 15yrs ago, a local microbrewery started making an oatmeal stout. I tried it on a dare and expected the worst. But this one I fell in love with. The key difference being a dry Irish style stout vs. an oatmeal. My first experience with a pale ale was Boulevard pale ale. It was just a terrible, bitter mess. So I avoided any beer with the name pale in it. Years later, I picked up a bottle of Odell IPA on a whim. That beer changed me forever. Now I'm a certified hop head as well as a stout lover. But I still don't like Guinness Extra, and Blvd pale ale is still a bitter mess. So there you go.

 

I used to hate IPAs. Oscar Blues G'knight transitioned me to start liking them. Can't get enough of them now.

 

My attitude towards malty brews has changed in sort of contradictory ways. On the one hand, I've come to really love malt forward styles like Browns and Marzens - especially with food. On the other hand, IPAs are still my favorite single style and I seem to keep drifting towards those with less and less maltiness (and living in New England these days makes this an easy to slope to slip down).

 

My palate has changed a lot, but it took many years to do so. I used to only drink stouts, ambers, or brown ales. I really love good IPAs now, pale ales, and Belgians recently. My palate is still aimed toward maltier beers and probably always will be. The ESB is the style I wish would become trendy, because that's almost the perfect style for me.

 

Hey, that's actually good to know. Funk = good ... I mean, "Uptown Funk" is the most popular song in the world right now.

From now on "skunky" will be my go-to word for that unappealing AAL aroma until a better word comes along.

 

I don't know if it's a palate change, but I appreciate lower ABV stouts and porters much more than I used to. Sometimes I find drinking at 10% RIS a challenge...even if it's a great brew.

Maybe it's the booziness that starts to turn me off after I'm about 2/3 the way through a high ABV stout.

 

Mine has certainly changed recently... Since I start drinking "craft" five years ago or so, I was never a big fan of IPA's... I would have one once and a while and appreciated the style for what it was, but I more-so avoided buying any of them in preference to wheat beers, stouts, lagers, etc...

Today, I am an equal-opportunity buyer/drinker of most all the styles. I actually crave IPA's and buy and drink them often. I still however am huge on the stouts/porters/hefe's/etc... So my stash is really diverse with almost every style.

If anything, today I am not a fan of anything barrel aged... Again, I can drink them and appreciate them, but I would take most other styles over them. I like Rum/Whiskey in their normal form, but not a huge fan of the flavor in the beer.

 

I used to be into hoppy beer but now I prefer balance.
I used to like Belgian beer but now it bores me.

 

I had an arrogant bastard for the first time in over 3 years the other night... Tasted way different than i remember. Not in a bad way, but i guess aggressive beers don't have the same impact as they once did

 

I never much cared for Tripels, but lately I have found myself craving them. Perhaps my mental memory adjusted itself to accept and even desire them over time.

 

I used to hate stouts and most IPA's now I love them.