Your personal beer "progression?"

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Rick500

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Just curious how everyone's tastes in beer have shifted over time.

I didn't drink beer at all until I was 25 or so. Then it went like this:

Stumbled upon J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown. Liked it.

Moved to Killian's.

Then Bass.

Then Guinness.

Then got adventurous and started making it a point to try anything I hadn't before. Currently I think Bell's Two-Hearted Ale is my favorite.

I can't drink Honey Brown or Killian's anymore... Bass occasionally if there's nothing better available. Still like Guinness.
 
Started out drinking MGD. Dabbled very lightly with microbrews in the early to mid-1990's, but still thought MGD was a good brew. Occasionally bought Henry Winehards. Started brewing and decided to try every beer I could get my hands on. Still have many to go. I've tried soured beers and liked them in modest amounts.

Anymore I can't really get into most microbrews that are a widely available style. Definately better than BMC, but if I can brew a good pale ale, I have no desire to try every pale ale ever made.
 
I went to france when I was 16 and tried a bunch of beers and hated them all. I particularly remember hating guinness very very much.

I went to London when I was 21 and had guinness again. I LOVED it. Then I started trying the bitters and everything else they had in the pub. Loved them.

Then I got back and I heard some people raving about this hoegaarden beer. Tried it, and I liked it but I found its taste to be a little too strong for me to drink a few in a row.

Then I went through a phase where I was thirsty to try every new beer I could get my hands on. I particularly loved variety packs since I lived in PA and 6-pack shops are rare. Beer has to be bought by the case, and I didn't really want a case of RIS but I wanted to try one, so I bought any variety case I could find. Saranac was a favorite of mine, and great lakes also. I started pairing with food a lot.

Then I started developing a taste for high gravity stuff, particularly tripel and barleywines.

I still like the strong stuff but I don't feel as compelled to brew it. I enjoy the hobby of brewing every bit as much as I enjoy drinking the beer that I brew, so I figured why not spend less money and make session beers? I still get the same amount of enjoyment from brewing each batch, and mistakes don't seem as expensive. I also have to move often so I prefer beers that don't require too much age. I also now feel that good beer is best on its own and I usually drink what I consider "table beer" with food. Usually sam adams or landshark. Both cheap and pry-off bottles.
 
Started drinking Meister Brau, Mickey's, Steel Reserve and Old E at 13. I remember drinking some Oktoberfest around 14. Since then for the past 16 years I have drunken a lot of different beer. I love all beer and will still pick up a $2 40 of Steel Reserve High Gravity when all I have is $2 in my wallet. I love home brew now and have no problem droppin $600 to build a keezer.
 
Coors....Coors Light....Keystone Light.....LOTS AND LOTS OF KEYSTONE LIGHT!

Back To Coors Yellow Label, Guinness, Home Brew...then onto all the types of pro and micro brew I can try.
 
I have gone through the fairly standard homebrewer's progression:
BMC
Lagers/pilsners (exports)
Blonde and pale ales
English ales, particularly browns, porters, stouts
Hop-head phase
Belgians
BIG Belgians
Sours/farmhouse ales

Fruit beers never made it on my list -- Thanks God! (jk) :D
 
Started out drinking MGD. Dabbled very lightly with microbrews in the early to mid-1990's, but still thought MGD was a good brew. Occasionally bought Henry Winehards. Started brewing and decided to try every beer I could get my hands on. Still have many to go. I've tried soured beers and liked them in modest amounts.

Anymore I can't really get into most microbrews that are a widely available style. Definately better than BMC, but if I can brew a good pale ale, I have no desire to try every pale ale ever made.

MGD was my gateway beer too. Never really cared for beer until I had a cold MGD at a bar with a friend - then I was off to the races. :D
 
Drank Bud in college, wasn't much else available. Didn't drink it much for about 25 years, except of Bass, Guinness and Nukie at RenFaires. Switched to craft beers in the early '90s.
 
Drank swill in college, but Moosehead when I could get it.
Then tried a Saranac Black and Tan, which caused me to then try every single dark beer I could get my hands on.
Red Hook got me into bitters, which are still my favorite style.
Moved to CA and became a hophead.
Started brewing and the hop shortage hit, so I'm rediscovering how much I love English and Scottish beers.
Have always liked Belgians, but can't think of one that I want 5 gallons of.
 
Before I got seriously hooked on beer and then edumacatered to it my guilty pleasure was a case of Chimay Grande Reserve a year. Occasionally, but rarely, I would sip and choke down a budweiser.

So, I dunno if you'd call this a "progression" or a regression but, through my Homebrew endeavors I actually have a higher appreciation for budweiser now than I did before brewing. Whats more, I actually find it more enjoyable than I ever did before.

Today, my favorite packaged brew is Tillburg Dutch Brown after it's been aged for at least 6 months. Fresh, it has a floral note in the front end that just doesn't seem to co-mingle well with the malt, IMO.
 
I drank a lot of PBR when I was underage. I always appreciated good beer and drank a decent amount of imports with my brothers and dad (Heineken, Stella, P. Urquell, Paulaner, etc. the usuals). Then I had a Staghorn Oktoberfest from New Glarus..... it opened my eyes. My roommates and I promptly entered microbrew and premium beer mania. Over the next two years we experienced about 2,500 different beers and entrenched ourselves in the local beer market. I am still continuing my quest but my pace has slowed very considerably because I moved out of the city and have a house to pay for. Also, my wife isn't as into it so it isn't as much fun to spend a night alone sampling beers.
 
I started drinking in college. I mostly drank Bud Light but whenever it was available and I could afford it, I'd drink Red Dog or SNPA or whatever microbrew was available. After college, there was a long stint where I was drinking grey goose martinis but if all I could get was beer, I'd get Coors Light. Then I got into Fat Tire. And then Hoegaarden. Now, I'm all about trying anything new.
 
I wasn't into beer until I went to Amsterdam for spring break at the age of 16 with some friends. There, I discovered Duvel. That was my gateway drug (as opposed to other substances on that trip). Since Duvel, I have tried everything, but I still always come back to the good ol' Belgian ales.
 
13-15 years old: Cider (strongbow) Mostly with meals.
15-17 : Barley wine or lager (Both cheap)
17-19 : Kegged Bitters,(cheap) Guiness, occasional lager
19-51 : Primarily cask IPAs and bitters. Occasional lager
 
Growing up in Texas I started with Old Wilwaukee then moved into Lone Star and Lone Star Light, moved to California and jumped head first into Henry Weinhards, then Sierra Nevada, then Racer 5, but now its all about the Pliny and Blind Pig. I get it fresh on tap a block from my house! Gotta love the River!

Eastside
 
I started out on Molson Canadian, then went through a Canterbury phase, then Sleeman's Honey Brown, then into the microbrews. I've always liked Guiness, but can only now appreciate it for what it is. I find that I concentrate on a particular beer style every summer:

Summer 04 - Sleeman's Honey Brown
Summer 05 - Phillips Phoenix Lager
Summer 06 - Phillips IPA
Summer 07 - Phillips Blue Truck
Summer 08 - Any hefeweizen/wheat beer I can get my hands on
 
Didn't drink any beer until about 25 (Couldn't stand the stuff everyone called beer).
Finally found stouts when I moved to the Boston area. Guinness, Murphy's, micros, it seems every bar or restaurant in the Boston area has Guinness while in Indiana it was an unknown beer.
More recently discovered IPAs, Belgians and then sour beers.

Still can't stand any light lager nor most blond ales. It seems a beer has to be atleast amber before i care for it. However I do like most of the darker beers, including IPAs, porters, stouts, Belgian Dubbles or other dark beers. Even many dark lagers. I have found that even pale sour beers are very good. Most of the good ones I have tried have been very good. The sweetened, fruited "sour" beers like Lindenmann's are horrible.

Craig
 
My progression was almost exactly as the original poster, even down to the Honey Brown and Killians.

The only change is that once my "favorites" hit on Bass and Guinness, it pretty much locked in there. The realm of "what I can drink and enjoy" extended beyond that to the point that I can pretty much enjoy most hoppy beers on the market but my favorite is still a pretty neutral special bitter.

I find it harder to down stuff from the malty side though.
 
Mostly drank liquor in high school, easiest to get a hold of and more cost effective, I suppose. Rarely I could get someone to buy me a 6'er of beer. Since this was few and far between much of my time was spent talking about and thinking of beer, and shortly thereafter Guinness came into the equation. What I read of it and what most people said about it just sounded magical, so that's what I always went for. When I got into college and beer became easier to get, I started expanding a bit, trying other ales like Bass, Boddingtons, Smithwicks, Newcastle, etc. When I turned 21, I just started trying everything (and spening all my money too, lol). Much of my drinking career has been occupied with delicious ales form the British Isles, and they remain my favorite style to drink and brew - any of them! German/Belgian beers are great and I do enjoy them occasionally, but my mainstay beers are anything English in style. Screw all that citrusy/hoppy american crap! :p :D

I guess I never really had a 'BMC phase' and I consider myself lucky! I still get made fun of because I don't like it, but hey, that's college, I suppose.

Happy brewing!
 
I started with Busch. Moved to AZ and had to switch to Bdd and Corona. Tried Guiness and got sicker than a dog. Found Modelo. Went into a Irish bar during St Patty's day - ordered a Bud - almost got thrown out so I tried Guiness again and loved it. After that, I started trying every import beer I could find. Had my first micro (Sam Adams) at Hooters in Tempe, AZ and was hooked!
 
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