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Comment by agentwiggles | Hacker News Reader

Obviously this is wildly anecdotal and a laughably tiny sample size, but I have found myself moving back towards a few favorite cheap beers over the last few years. I just got kinda sick of heavy stouts and hop-bomb IPAs, and have found myself enjoying cheap watery pilsners more. I drink a lot of PBR completely unironically, and my favorite local "craft" beer is "Hilltop Lager" - which is sold in red and white tall cans clearly designed to ape the PBR look and feel a little bit.

I don't know that this is a counterpoint to TFA really, but I wonder if some degree of folks just getting sick of the craft beer craze could be a confounding factor.

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I’ve always like PBR & MGD (when I’m feeling more premium) and really dislike IPAs. It’s really nice to see local small brewers finally making their way into pilsners and lagers. I’ve had some really good ones that remind me of the Leinenkugel’s of yesteryear.

In the Phoenix area Huss and The Shop are knocking it out of the park with their lagers. Spotted Cow is still the best; even though it’s an ale, it drinks like a lager.

Love me some Church Music.

> I wonder if some degree of folks just getting sick of the craft beer craze could be a confounding factor.

Yup. I'm a (former) home brewer. I have quite a few friends who are current or former home brewers, too. We're all basically done with the craft beer trends at this point, preferring classic styles that are in the <= 5% ABV range.

I like the taste of IPAs but can't stand the hangovers if i have more than one

If you grind your teeth/clench your jaw during sleep, consider trying a bite guard.

No more headaches for me.

(I got one when I had a couple nasty headaches during a period I didn't drink for a few months. I knew from my dentist I ground my teeth but that was what pushed me over the edge.)

It's popular for some reason for IPAs to have high alcohol (like 7% or higher), but there's been a recent trend in IPAs (and other styles) for "session" beers that have more normal ~5% levels. I know it's just a few percent, but I find two or three pints of a lower alcohol beer leave me feeling much better than the higher ones.

This is where I'm at. Pale Ales or Session IPA's both have lower calorie and lower ABV. Toppling Goliath's Psuedo Sue is fantastic. It's not cheap though.

The higher abv is because it allows the beer to obtain more hop flavor (not just bitterness) along with malt flavor. A classic American session IPA[1] will always (of course with few exceptions) be more bitter than a standard IPA and a double will be less bitter than a standard. However as you go up in abv you are able to get a lot more hop flavor in to bitterness. Only so much hop oil can isomerize without enough abv backbone.

[1] not hazys, bruts, east coast, cold or and other sub style. Just talking classic American IPA as made popular in the early 2000'

I'm in the same boat.

I got older so hangovers hurt more but there is definitely an over saturation of beers, brands, and bottles. I'm still loyal to some semi-premium brands when I can find them - but so many smaller breweries put out millions of different brands/flavors/types and I can't be bothered to make space in my brain to remember them (and I'm not interested in Untappd or similar to remind me of how bad my drinking habit is).

Similar place. I find over time I find I appreciate the lighter euro-lagers or pilsners most, and periodically some belgian non-trappist ales and german beers. Ales are heavier so I don't usually go for them, and "craft" beers generally disappointing.

Have shifted more to wine, but owing to being conscious of my health, I buy infrequently.

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