My first IPA, a look back....

Hello, my name is Jim and I am a hop head. Here is my tale of how I got hooked on the wonderful flower that does amazing things to beer....

Thing is, I remember the place but I can't for the life of me remember the exact brew (as opposed to the first beer I had in high school, a Bud Ice Light..yum, but I digress that is another story). I had been exposed to big beers for the first time in '04 when the state of GA changed laws to allow high gravity beers to be sold. This exposed me to a few Belgians that where very nice but I still had yet to really expand my range of beers that I would buy. Back then one would find my beer fridge stocked with Miller Lite, Rolling Rock, the occasional Sam Adams or Bass and maybe some other random but nothing crazy. Keep in mind, this being right after the laws changed not many big California beers where to be found in the Peach State. Anyways, I went on buying my usual brews with a big Belgian brew thrown in for adventure. This all changed on fateful night in Columbus, OH.

Fast forward from that legendary night at the Brick store in the summer of '04 (the full telling includes me forcing my friend Jeremy to watch Dr. Strangelove for the first time and a very ill fated purchase of a bottle of Scotch) to the Spring of '06. I was stuck in Columbus, OH for work and myself and a fellow engineer decided to blow off some steam (being stuck in Columbus for 2 extra days because Delta keeps canceling your flight home will do this to you). We walked to a nice little Brewpub place around the corner from the hotel and ordered up a round. I accidentally order an IPA, I believe I was trying to order something close to Bass and figured India Pale Ale/Pale Ale was the same thing. Damn glad I made that mistake. I was floored with the first sip. My taste buds being assaulted on all sides, my brain swimming, overloaded from the input coming from my mouth. The floral note, the extreme bitterness, wow! First reaction after I regained control of my bodily functions was, damn that was bitter but for some reason I really like it! That first sip started me down the path to becoming hooked on the hop. I just can't get enough, maybe that is why you will find me looking at IBUs on beer more than worrying about ABVs. That first sip lead me to buy any beer that had IPA listed on the bottle, opened my eyes to lots of other smaller brewers who really know how to push the limits. That sip lead to my homebrewing, the installation of my kegerator and my writing on this blog.

This all goes to show what might happen if you decide to give different beer types a shoot. The worst that can happen is you won't like it, so you choke it down and order something different. There are hundreds of different takes on about as many different styles of beer. Next time you saddle up to a bar, order something you've never had before. Even better, order something you have never heard of before, who knows where it may lead.

Happy drinking!