As the summer of 2010 morphed into the fall (now quickly becoming winter ... 9F this morning), I have made an effort to take a step back from the IPA side of things, and tried to embrace the darker, more malty, and less citrus-y world of brown ales, Oktoberfest offerings, and winter lagers. I have tried this in the past, usually without success. I tell myself that my beer tastes are too one-dimensional - that I need to branch out from Harpoon IPA, Red Hook Long Hammer, and Stone Ruination. But each time I've tried, I've gone running back "home" to hop-head land, having been let down by the dark and malty crowd.I had reached a point where, if you couldn't taste the hops right up front, I couldn't enjoy the beer.
This time, I really tried to adjust my mindset prior to taking the leap. I've also been reading "The Naked Pint", a very thorough volume on all things beer. The authors do a good job of explaining the differences between different beer styles, and highlighting the best characteristics of each. This adjustment of mindset helped me to know what I was looking for in the world outside of Simcoe and Cascade.
I think this approach has helped, and I am finally developing a taste for malty brews. (There, I know you'll sleep better at night now.) Over the past month or so, I, and my better half, have shifted our beer buying and tasting to brown, malty, sometimes sweet and sticky, brews. I intend to write about at least a few of them in the coming weeks. Suffice it to say, I'm glad I stuck with it.
