But like... Pumpkin Spice is a seasonal artificial flavor that is I think annoying to people because it's made its way into everything from marshmallows to crackers to milk.
I'm German too, while I usually prefer southern german beer with a strong wheat, malt and yeast flavour I also occasionally like to explore other flavours like IPA or more exotic ones from different countries. I mean, drink what you like or don't drink at all (which might be better, health-wise). Gates open, come on in.
I’ve never really considered hops to be an interesting flavor. It’s just… flat and bitter to me.
I truly don’t understand why so many people love IPAs, or try to sneak extreme hoppiness into other beer styles. (An IPA with fruit juice is not a saison! And a 70 IBU “kolsch” is a war crime!)
As a person who prefers the complex, bright and earthy flavors from grains and yeast, getting face-fucked at the end of every sip by a one-note weed pine cone is so disappointing.
Something I should mention: I do like IPAs (not only IPA but they are tasty) and can find all 3 of the style of shirt in this weird AI looking stock image in my closet.
Food has a cultural component tied to its manufacture and identification. And IPAs are food that probably shouldn't exist and which only does as a byproduct of market capitalism. They're the Lacanian 'object a' - an empty, manufactured falseness. We don't desire the thing itself, but the thing whose absence it symbolizes. What you're really consuming when you drink an IPA is its innate mechanical predictability.
(Thanks to the thread last week arguing about pumpkin spice lattes for giving me a new copypasta to use about anything I personally dislike.)
If they weren't so overplayed it wouldn't be so bad, but every microbrew has like 3 IPAs, 2 dry-hopped pilsners, and a seasonal novelty that if you're lucky is something noticably different like a wheat beer or a porter.
IPAs aren't really seasonal? I always associate fall with Marzen style lagers for Oktoberfest, and big winter warmers like barleywine and sweet stouts.
To be honest, as a French from Lille (which means I have access to a whole lot of beers) the very first time I drank an American Pale Ale it tasted like a lighter, more subtle IPA.
If you like IPAs, that's fine. If you're buying someone, like me, a beer at karaoke, trust me when I say that I want the cheap Modelo or Milwaukee's Best on tap. Don't buy me an IPA that costs twice as much, but I won't drink it cause it tastes bad.
Breweries just don't want to invest the time and effort it takes to brew good porters, baltics, stouts and barkeywines anymore. Where are the dubbels and triples and red ales? Scotch ale, ever heard of it? What happened to the variety? Laziness and cost cutting. Nothing but bitter piss as far as the eye can see. I quit drinking over a year ago, but sometimes I think I'd like a beer, till I look at the wall of IPAs that passes for a beer isle. Then the urge is gone.