Evolving as a Beer Drinker
Article • 571 Words • Beer, 2026 • 05/25/2026
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My changing relationship with the kind of beers that I like over time.
There are 575 words in this article, and it will probably take you less than 3 minutes to read it.
This article was published 2026-05-25 00:00:00 -0400, which makes this post and me old when I published it.
I was big into beer for novelty, but eventually you start to know what you like and don’t like and what to expect from certain breweries and styles. Flavor fatigue is a real thing, and over time you just get used to certain flavors and don’t get as much enjoyment from them as you used to. This is especially the case because I was trying at least a beer a day for years upon end (not drinking the whole beer, but still).
I had a very narrow view of the kind of beer that I wanted to try, but having mostly exhausted that small subspace, I had to go beyond what I was comfortable in and try new ways of consuming beer. For instance, I never used to drink the same beer twice or drink macrobrews. Now I am much less snobby and have learned to appreciate something like a Michelob Ultra Cactus Lime Lager or an NA Mango Cart. Part of it is that I have begun to appreciate beer as a drink of ocassions. If you are at a party maybe the move isn’t an 8% DIPA, but something light like a lager that’s easy to nurse and drink multiple of.
When I first started out as a beer drinker, I was mostly into sours and lightly dipped my toes into IPAs.
With IPAs, I slowly found my way into NEIPAs/Hazys which have since stayed consistent in my beer diet. I like their low bitterness and the hop notes that are common to the style, as opposed to American/West Coast IPAs which are usually far more bitter and have more piney resinous notes. Nowadays I don’t avoid them nearly as much as a I used, and even crave a nice bitter, piney beer every so often, but it is still not what I reach for most days. The biggest change though was that I used to not really like DIPAs and especially not TIPAs, but I would say most of what I drink now are DIPAs (although not really by choice, that’s just what a lot of breweries sell), and I do love to indulge in a good TIPA. TIPAs are just tough because they get to be really sweet and can be quite boozy, so it’s a bit of a toss up of whether or not its delicious or borderline undrinkable for me.
As for sours, I have a sort of love-hate relationship with them because I think some of them have a weird lactic taste from the lactobacillus (I haven’t read about this so I could be completely making this flavor up), but I also think some of the most interesting flavors in beer are in sours. Where else are you gonna find a drink that “emulates Chips, Spicy Mango Salsa, and Margaritas”? I also love a good smoothie sour, not one where it has fruity flavors so they call it a smoothie sour, but one that is really thick and has some real fruit in it, like the Mega Fruit - GS Guava Strawberry from Juicy Brewing or Smuzi: Oops All the (Other) Berries by Sapwood Cellars.
My first love was and always will be IPAs and it will always be a style that I reach for, but I do find myself settling down with a lager every so often as well. And I think that’s totally okay, and will absolutely change over time as well.