I love beer, I hate IPA !!!

[gobriango]

Am I the only person on Earth who loves beer but hates IPA's ???

I feel like everyone of them all tast the same.

So who else out there loves beer but never drinks IPA's ????

[argibson]

Not me, hate beer, love IPA

[Carl Hungus]

Why do you hate them and what have you tried?

[Betarad]

Hate is such a strong word.

I find a good IPA more refreshing after a ride than say an ale or porter. I've only tasted a few, usually of the double or triple hopped variety, that I dislike.

[leeboh]

Try an English version/ producer, much more balanced.

[ndinh]

My dad, father-in-law, many female friends and many of the old school gents I've met love beer but can't stand the bitterness of IPA's but then their gold standard of beer is Bud or Corona. Not to say that, that's your thing but try different IPA's and maybe you'll find one you find tasty.

[Carl Hungus]

I find a good IPA more refreshing after a ride than say an ale or porter.

IPAs are ales. India Pale ALE.

"Ale" is not a style. Beers generally fall into two categories...Ales (bottom fermenting) and Lagers (Top fermenting).

[SteveF]

I love coffee but hate espresso. I like IPA's but don't care for stouts or porters. Everyone has different taste and that's okay! Drink the beer you like, like the beer you drink.

[Slow Danger]

There seems to be a general wisdom that IPAs take time to get accustomed to. I hated them at first, but now love them and find them to be more complex in flavor than many other styles of beer. If you can figure out the beer's IBU, you tend to be safer somewhere in the 60's until the palate adapts. But that's generally speaking, of course.

[jtmartino]

There are 3 basic types of IPAs. English IPAs, American IPAs and Imperial IPAs, which are like American IPAs on steroids.

English IPAs are the most mild, usually showcasing a caramel or toasted malt presence that supports the hop profile. Earthy, floral or grassy hops are usually used, and the bitterness is kept in check by the malt. IBUs of 40-60.

American IPAs usually are far less malty than their English counterparts, and the hops used are much more pungent. Citrus and pine are the backbone flavors of American IPAs, and these are likely the beers that the OP doesn't really like. They are often very bitter, with a sharp flavor and strong aromatic quality. IBUs of 40-70.

Imperial IPAs are basically stronger/bigger versions of American IPAs, often bridging the gap into overhopped barleywines. Much higher gravity from a bigger malt backbone (yielding higher ABV) and tons of hops, both bittering and aroma. IBUs of 60-120.

To the OP, I recommend checking out a few different Pale Ales first. Many Pales, like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, are like IPAs themselves. I first had to drink a few different Pales to figure out the characteristics of hops before I grew to appreciate bigger IPAs. Luckily, a lot of brewers have shied away from kick-you-in-the-face bitterness so you'll see a lot more balance in new IPAs these days.

[Slow Danger]

Jtmartino brings up a good point about "gateway" pales. I think it might be interesting to get a list of what people think are very approachable IPA/IPAesque beers. Of the readily available sort on the West Coast, I think Mirror Pond from Deschutes is a pale that resembles the characteristics of an IPA. For an actual IPA, I think Lagunitas IPA is fairly approachable.

[kapusta]

Am I the only person on Earth who loves beer but hates IPA's ???

I feel like everyone of them all tast the same.

So who else out there loves beer but never drinks IPA's ????

I don't like many, but I do like a few. A few taste really good and refreshing, but more often they taste like spoiled beer or pine tar to me. I don't think it is so much an issue of IBU's for me, more a matter of what KIND of hoppiness it is. For example, I have never liked Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. But I do like some IPA's that are actually more bitter, such as their Torpedo (don't love it, but like it OK, which is pretty good for an IPA)

Like another poster suggested, finding some pale ales that you like can be a good intro to the bitterness, and helped me identify what types of hoppiness I liked, and which I don't. I think the beer that really tuned me on to the fact that the hoppiness can be good was Widmer Brothers Drifter Pale Ale. I also like one of their IPA's. I LOVE Flying Dog Raging ***** Belgian IPA.

On the other hand, I have not liked many of the standard recs for IPA. The problem with a lot of IPA recommendations for me is that they come from people who generally like IPAs.

[gobriango]

By no stretch am I a beer snob and I certainly dont know much of the verbage that goes along with talking about different beers. But as someone who enjoys trying many different types of beer, I just dont get why so many 'real' beer drinkers flock to the IPA's. They are way too bitter for me and have too much of a "leaves and sticks in a glass" type of taste.
When I started to pay attention to the different beers I was tasting, I realized it was always the lagers that I liked. So now I pretty much drink lagers for months at a time and then mix it up here and there with dark ales, wheat beer, Guiness, and specialty holiday brews.

I would guess(off the top of my head) my favorite beers in order would kinda look like this :
Sam Adams Octoberfest
Sam Adams Alpine Spring
Sam Adams
Hoegaarden
Leffe Blonde
Guiness (real hit or miss... I may drink it for 2 months and then not for a year)
Stouts
Porters

[jtmartino]

When I started to pay attention to the different beers I was tasting, I realized it was always the lagers that I liked.

Good for you, it's awesome to know what you like and to be willing to try new stuff out. To me, Germans do the lagers the best. Weihenstephaner Original is a killer Helles Lager (lighter in flavor). The same brewery makes ridiculously good wheat beers too.

If you like Leffe, try Allagash Blonde or Orval. Both excellent.

No need to jump on the hoppy beer train if you prefer other stuff - there's way too many other great beers out there!

[Slow Danger]

I think an important point is being made here--and on other "IPAs aren't for me" threads: not everybody shares the same palate. Recently, an interesting thread was started describing kind of a general progession of taste/sampling of styles of beers that many drinkers progress through. Many drinkers will start with one stlye of beer, and then gradually progress through other styles. Not everyone follows the same preference line, but the point was that a person's beer tastes change over the course of time. Not everybody's of course. So it's ok not to like IPAs. There's nothing wrong with you for not liking them. And there is nothing wrong with people who do like them.

[kjlued]

You don't know how many people I have met that says they hate IPA's and then I introduce them to one they like.

I used to not care for them, and now they are often a preferred choice for me.
The hoppier they are, the happier I am.

Several good IPA's out there though that have no where near the hoppiness as the others.

[KevinGT]

Am I the only person on Earth who loves beer but hates IPA's ???

I feel like everyone of them all tast the same.

So who else out there loves beer but never drinks IPA's ????

I'm with you! I can't stand the taste of IPAs. I don't like hoppy beers at all and I think some people drink them just because they think they are ordering something upscale.

I'm becoming a huge fan of Belgian Abby style ales (I think that's what they are called). They are malty and delicious!

Leffe Blonde is my all time favorite. I love Blue Moon and tried a Shocktop recently that was superb.

[gobriango]

I'm with you! I can't stand the taste of IPAs. I don't like hoppy beers at all and I think some people drink them just because they think they are ordering something upscale.

I'm becoming a huge fan of Belgian Abby style ales (I think that's what they are called). They are malty and delicious!

Leffe Blonde is my all time favorite. I love Blue Moon and tried a Shocktop recently that was superb.

I just had Leffe Blonde with Belgium waffles for dinner .... AWESOME !!!!


I only drink Leffe about 4-5 times a year but when I do I love it !!!

[libretto]

you should try stone arrogant bastard its not a IPA but definitely has some really good hops in it. It was the beer that got me off the fence from hating IPA's to starting to like them

[gobriango]

You don't know how many people I have met that says they hate IPA's and then I introduce them to one they like.

I used to not care for them, and now they are often a preferred choice for me.
The hoppier they are, the happier I am.

Several good IPA's out there though that have no where near the hoppiness as the others.

Im sure there are a few I would like for the simple fact that there are some I think are outright nasty and some I think are OK but not to my liking. I have a had maybe 2-3 occasions where whatever I was having, was OK by me and I kept drinking. The worst IPA I can remember having was Sweetwater Brewing Company, out of Atlanta. Everyone around here loves it, go figure.

[hitechredneck]

My biggest issue with IPA's other then some just taste awful is that they give me heartburn bad. So "learning" to love them is like learning to love a food that makes you sick every time you try it. So they are pretty much off my radar of things I like. That said I have always been a stout and porter kind of guy pretty much anything very dark. Unless its mexican logger if you know the stuff you know how tasty it is in the summer.

[kjlued]

Im sure there are a few I would like for the simple fact that there are some I think are outright nasty and some I think are OK but not to my liking. I have a had maybe 2-3 occasions where whatever I was having, was OK by me and I kept drinking. The worst IPA I can remember having was Sweetwater Brewing Company, out of Atlanta. Everyone around here loves it, go figure.

Tastes do seem to change and/or alternate for people.

For instance, I used to love Belgiums but now I really just don't care for them and have not for several years. I still go back and try them occasionally but still can do without them.

I tend now to either go for stouts or IPA's. I also like a lot of Scotch Ales.

Sweetwater is ok, but not what I consider good.

[Zsimmons]

IPA's = the best

[bipolarbear]

Why does this subject keep coming up? Some people like IPAs, some don't. You don't have to like every kind of beer, even if it's one of the more popular styles. I used to not like IPAs (long time ago), but now I love them. There's so many great styles of IPAs out there to try and compare. I also like a nice mild pale ale. Thing is, I work in a brewery, and if we don't have an IPA on tap, I get to hear about it every five minutes. In fact, we have to keep about three on tap at a time to keep up, so somebody must like them.

Maybe I should start a thread about how I'm not a fan of wheat beers, or saisons.

PS Why do people call belgian beers "Belgiums"? It's not a word people.

[eff]

IPA's = the best

Love them too. 2X 3X, Hop it up!