IPAs are an acquired taste, but the longer you drink craft beers the more likely you are to acquire it. As your palate becomes more refined, you start to appreciate different hop characteristics. Hop varieties have a wide range of flavors: floral, grassy, piney, citrusy, tropical, skunky, etc. If you’re making a “proper” beer, a nuanced hop schedule is the easiest way to create a complex flavor. IPAs have probably the highest flavor variety of any style, and most of them are pretty good once you can appreciate hops.
Except anything with Simcoe, that stuff tastes like cat piss.
I love me some IPA, right up till you start adding adjectives… Hazy? Juicy? New England? West coast? No. Beer, hops, yum. Get the rest of that nonsense out of here. As a home brewer I refuse to get my Adjective IPA palate.
How do I know if it’s gonna be a hazy new england? If I get a pale west coast it won’t taste the same and I won’t like it.