IPA that got you over the hump.

Thinking back to the first IPA I really enjoyed, its probably Founders Double Trouble. I never disliked the hoppy beers but was more into porters and stouts.

 

I wouldn't say there was a hump so much as a gradual incline.

At first I just didn't like IPAs. There were a few like Pliny and DFH90 I enjoyed but still felt like a chore to finish. Gradually I kept giving IPAs a chance and more and more fell in the 'Delicious' category.

 

SN Celebration. Bought it thinking it would be a Christmas beer. Best gift I ever got!

 

Halfway through my first Two Hearted, when i stopped just drinking and smelled a beer for the first time. Game over. Haven't looked back.

 

Like the name implies, I used to hate bitter hoppy beers. I think it was something along the lines of Ranger that really turned me OFF of IPA's many years ago. There are still several IPA's that I don't like.

That being said, Lagunitas Lil Sumpin really pushed me into the hop arena as well as SN Celebration last fall.. Stone Enjoy By cemented my love for hops.

I do find it weird that I severely dislike Stone's IPA and Levitation Ale... but that Enjoy By was outstanding!!

 

Can't remember one beer that was the real start, but Goose Island had a special release IIPA probably close to 10 years ago that sticks out in memory as being close to my perfect balance of malt & hop and the first (I)IPA that stood out... resembled 2010 Hopslam, which tasted like Ruby Red grapefruit. Since then I've gone about as hoppy as it gets (Furious/Ruination/Palate Wrecker/Devil Dancer) and enjoyed it. I will say, though, that some hops are just not my thing - O'So's Lupulin Maximus (which has a hope cone in every bottle) is not for me..

 

Oscar Blues G'night and Druid City Lamplighter IPA

 

Fast forward this thread three years. How many newish BAs will answer "Rebel IPA"? Jim Koch knows what he's doing...

 

So I never liked IPA's and would regularly run my mouth about them being an overrated style and the bane of craft beer. So a fellow BA surprised me with a 4x of heady and 2x flower power after moving out to NY. Heady converted me. I finally was able to taste all these subtle flavors that I heard people throwing around descriptions of. I haven't looked back.

 

Two Hearted, then Odell IPA.

 

Before I got into craft, I remember trying a SA Noble Pils and almost spit it out, I thought it tasted like pine sap. Needless to say I buy it on the regular now when I want an easy drinking balanced brew. To answer the question, I believe it was Sierra Nevada's Anniversary Ale maybe 2010-ish? That really made me appreciate the wonders of the hop. I bought the shit out of that and didn't even realize it was a one-time thing.

 

Henry Weinhard's Woodland Pass IPA first got me interested in IPAs bizarrely enough, then Half Acre Space got me "over the hump", not so bizarrely

 

Stone Cali-Belgique. Had Stone IPA previously, didn't like it. Bought the C-B because it was cheap and I wanted to like Stone beer for their cool bottles/labels. Drank it straight from the bottle (so classy ) and hated the first half. Once I was down to 1/4 of the bottle left something clicked, and I liked the bitter drying feeling in my mouth. After the bomber was gone I didn't want to drink anything else because I didn't want to get rid of the hop taste.

 

God bless Sierra Nevada. SNPA and Torpedo were gateway drugs

 

Both Jai Alai and Hopsecutioner a few years ago while still living in college and living with a few friends in an apartment. Got a sixer of one of those pretty much weekly on my trip to Publix. The days of experiencing the IPA phenomenon like newborns... man those were good times.

 

There was never a period where I didn't like IPAs, but in my early beer drinking days before I really knew anything about beer I had a bias against them simply because of the name, so I avoided them. Looking back on it, the first IPA I ever had was Sierra Nevada Celebration. Enjoyed IPAs ever since

 

New Belgium Ranger. I just keep drinking them since they were in the Folly packs and I finally started to really enjoy the style after awhile.

 

definitely Liberty Ale and Grant's

 

sucks... from there, it was a quick decent into hoppy hell

 

Alesmith IPA.