To IPA or not to IPA?

I am blessed to have a wife who is supportive of my beer endeavors. She enjoys beer, but does not have the sense of risk taking that I have when it comes to making a selection. If the beer is not Bud Light or Abita Strawberry, she won't drink it. I mention this to contrast how I go about choosing what I drink and a recent dilemma I had.

Today my wife and I went to brunch and as usual, to quote my Scottish friend Keith, "I fancied a beer." The waitress, acknowledging her defeat at my question of what beers do you have, lead in the direction of the bar to the beer cooler to pick one out. Much to my disappointment, the only beer in the cooler that I had not tried was an IPA, specifically Long Hammer IPA from the Red Hook brewery in Seattle.

As a general rule, IPAs (India Pale Ales), are far down my list of favorite types of beers. This fact makes me feel somewhat like a poser as a beer connoisseur. Most of the people I know whose beer opinions I respect, usually have IPAs as their favorite kind of beer. The hoppiness of these kinds of beers leave too much of a lingering taste for my liking. I have a difficult time drinking more than one of these in one sitting.

Therein lies my dilemma, do I take a chance with a type of beer I typically don't like just to satisfy my curiosity for something new or settle for something old that I am not excited about? The fact that this is a dilemma for me is probably a sad indictment of me. There are people out there with real dilemmas, things that are really important questions. However, this is how my mind works.

So after what felt like much debate, it was probably just a matter of seconds, I decide on taking a chance on the Long Hammer. Much to my surprise, it did not have the over powering hops flavor that I associate with IPAs. The only IPA that I currently have in the fridge is an Abita Jockamo IPA, which has an extremely hoppy taste to me. The Long Hammer was much smoother with less of a lingering after taste. This is an IPA that I enjoyed drinking and could have more than one.

As happens more times than not, my risk was rewarded. If only my wife would give other beers a chance, she could find her next go to favorite beer. As she has told me on several occasions, why do that when they still make Bud Light?

Cheers!