IPA advice

It's an acquired taste, it'll come. If I were you, I'd grab some Sucks and some DirtWolf, and see where it takes ya....

 

Relax. Ipa is one of the styles that really takes time. Bitterness is a strange sensation to love, not many people like it right out of the gate. Just keep chugging along with the styles you do like and every now and then have an ipa, it grows on you. Bitter beers are no better or worse than any others, but once you're open to bitter, you're open to pretty much open to everything.

 

You might prefer a more balanced IPA, try Bells Two Hearted. But then again, IPA's might not be your glass of beer, don't worry about it, there are plenty of other styles.

 

Yeah, man, these other Advocates are right. I've been drinking craft beer for a few years, and I was never into IPAs, except for a select few. I loved stouts and porters, then I went Belgian, then German. Then I had a Society and Solitude #5...and it all clicked. I can't get enough IPAs now.

 

This is so true. It takes a while before you can really detect the difference in IPAs. I used to think "wow...let's add a bunch of hops and call it an India Pale Ale". And as my tastes matured I could taste little subtleties in each. In fact, tonight I'm doing a DIPA throwdown, and it's amazing the differences I can taste now that I would not have noticed before.

 

Try American Pale Ales; many of them are "IPA-lite" in regard to bitterness. Many of them are also delicious!

 

Here's a good three step process: start with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, then go to Dales Pale Ale, then step it up to the hoppier IPAs. You'll be hooked!

 

What this guy says

 

Bells Two Hearted, Founders Centennial, Racer 5 are all fairly tame IPA's that are very good, more orange citrus than bitter grapefruit. Bells is very easy to find fresh too. Going back to SNPA is far from a bad idea, it's cost efficient too.

 

Yes, IPAs can be a "shock to the system" in regards to the palate of someone relatively new to craft beer.
While IPAs have big bitterness and big hop flavor and aromas, its the level of bitterness that makes beer...beer.
You can go about it two ways:

• The explore other styles and every now and then have an IPA. This method is easier to know what you like and what you do not, and more enjoyable.
• Jump in with both feet and decide you are going to like this style and drink a few DIPA( double ipas) and beat your taste buds into submission. This method is more mind over matter .

Personally i started on the first path but i was impatient and jumped into the second path, now i've adopted the "fear no beer" motto.

 

What a lot of people are saying I think is your best bet if you want to like IPA's. APA's and maltier IPA's like Dogfish Head 60 minute or Bell's Two Hearted are great ways to go. Personally though I say don't force it. Find a style you really like and explore it thoroughly even if its not a style you see posted all over these forums. There are some excellent wheats and lagers out there, and by the time you had enough different beers you might find IPA's much more palatable.

 

I think there's a point in every beer lover's life when IPAs just "click" for them. I am just entering that phase myself, after well over a decade of being into craft. Wait, drink what interests you.

 

Don't know about the Tallgrass which I'm not familiar with, but the other ones you've tried are "west coast" style IPAs which tend to have a lot of piney bitterness. You might try some English style IPAs which are milder or "east coast" styles which are generally more citrus/floral.

 

I can honestly say that since joining BA in '08, my attitude towards IPA has come full circle. I'd been drinking close to 20yrs before BA, many different styles, many different phases but IPAs "weren't" for me, nonsense. It is completely about palate development, at least for me, and not wanting to give up on a whole style based on one or two. I took the time to sample via singles & trying different drafts & really delving into which hops & combinations of hops produced flavors I liked more than others. Hang in there & never give up on a style, there's so much out there someone is bound to brew something that will cause you to stop & look again...or drink again.

 

drink what you like but never stop exploring!!

 

All of the cool kids like IPAs. So, I guess you're supposed to force yourself to drink it until you like it.

 

That was one of the best parts for me and since my palate has adjusted, I can now take on anything and it doesn't phase me a bit. Also, non-IPA beers that were once too hoppy for me are nothing now and quite enjoyable.

OP, the good thing about the IPA style is that there is so much variety and each beer can be completely different from the next. There is some great advice in this thread and I would also suggest that as you are trying different IPAs, do some research along side of the taste testing and try to find out what hops and malts are used in each beer, this will help you to narrow down what you do and don't like (or maybe it will end up being what you like and like more).

 

Try some dry-hopped beers.

 

To be honest, how many of us liked the first sip of beer. I know I didn't. Those sips of beer from my dad's beer when I was probably 10 were disgusting. I have no idea how I graduated to now loving beer. Think about how many of our foods and drinks actually sound or taste disgusting........sharp cheese, whiskey, hot sauce, and the king scrapple. All of these are acquired tastes. I do know that acquired tastes become your strongest wants. So enjoy what you want slowly stretching those bitter taste buds. Pretty soon you will be asking what is the bitterest beer out there.