To hop or not to hop?

I can't believe I'm going to admit this publicly, but... I am not a huge fan of hoppy beers. Yeah, I said it. If you haven't yet closed the browser in disgust that I still dare to call myself a craft beer fan in the Pacific Northwest, give me a chance to explain:

Ok, I don't hate hoppy beers. They're just not my favourite. I find that in the really hoppy ones, like northwest IPAs, the hop overwhelms all other flavours in the beer. Give me a meaty winter ale, a strong bock, a super malty brown ale...I like a darker beer, with lots of malt and subtle, complex flavours. Many IPAs and their aggressive hops are just too much for my gentle tongue.

That being said, if you offered me an nice, cold pint of hop-tastic IPA, I wouldn't turn it down. And I'd still choose it over a mass-produced beer anytime.

So now that my confession is out of the way, here's the point of the post: the Granville Island Imperial IPA (seasonal). As a hop-skeptic, I'm clearly not qualified to assess the merits of one IPA against another. But luckily, my live-in beer drinking buddy is. P loves IPAs, and anything else with a tongue-punching hop. Here's his first impression of the GIB Imperial IPA:

P: "It's lighter than I thought it would be. Definitely high alcohol. Nice fruity after-taste for sure. Not as hoppy as other Imperial IPAs I've had. I'd probably buy it again, it's nice."

Me (suspicious): "Smells pretty hoppy. (sip) Yeah, that's hoppy."

And there you have it. Hey, nobody here ever claimed to be an expert.