The beer that got you into beer

In South Dakota at some little diner I had a Moose Drool and an elk cheesesteak. My appreciation for many beers has grown since but that was the first beer I ever truly enjoyed.

The first beer I really liked was Duke Ale, which came in little 7 oz bottles, if I remember correctly. Sadly, it is no longer made.

I grew up in Germany, thinking like so many that we have the best beer. Then I spent some time in California and wherever I went, I asked for what's local and on tap or what had the best name ("Arrogant Bastard? Awesome name, I'll have that!"). Turns out that IPA is an acquired taste, but now that I got into it, most German beers taste pretty boring to me. Thank you, Stone, 21st Amendment, Sierra Nevada and Rogue for ruining my life!

It was a slow process. Initially (like most of us) I got started on beer like what we called the Yeti (Milwaukee's Best Ice) and Rolling Rock. We all thought Killians was dark beer. For a period of time I quit drinking altogether because I was trying to turn my life around (I have a VERY storied past with beer being the tamest of stories). Once I knew I could handle beer again I started drinking things like Bass, Heineken, Boddingtons's, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, etc. This was around 2004-2007.

Shortly after that I started going to specialty bottle shops and tried a few different beers with no real rhyme or reason. Sometimes it was because the label stood out or the beer sounded interesting. I specifically remember Chicken Killer Barley Wine, Holy Grail Ale and Dogfish Head Black & Blue. After about a year of purchasing this much more expensive beer I decided to start brewing in order to save money and like most of you, the rest is history.

BTW, I haven't kept track, but I highly doubt I've saved much money. A good 1/4 of my 2 car garage has been taken over by brewing equipment...

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Pyramid Hefe. We used to get them in High School as opposed to drinking Milwaukee's Beast at parties.

can't say it was any one beer; it was this article (that I still have) from the April '93 issue of Details magazine

after I got out of the Navy, late '93, I brewed 6 or 7 batches, mostly extract with steeping, but I did one 15-gallon partial-mash before I moved to a smaller place and had to leave my equipment at my dad's.

for 18 years. Just brewed my first batch, again extract with steeping, but this Saturday will be my first all-grain.

dang, this is an awesome hobby.

and by "hobby" I mean "obsession"

Where is the rest of the article? I read it and got cut off...

Miller High Life, as a kid I worked on a Tobacco farm which is hot crappy work, the farmer would bring out ice cold Miller High Life and give to the older guys. Eventually I was offered one, that ice cold Miller tasted like nectar from the Gods to me. To this day I still have a soft spot and will occassionally buy a six pack of MHL, put it in a cooler, get it ice cold and open a bottle. My comfort beer I guess.

Belgians...

I forced myself to try almost every Belgian Trappist, Belgian Ale, and Belgian-inspired ale out there. From Duvel to Westvleteren 8 and 12, to Fantome Saison, Brother Thelonius, Achel Blonde, Chimay, Orval, Southampton Saison, Cantillon, Westmalle, etc. etc.

Funny thing is I never really buy Belgian beers anymore. I prefer American Stouts, IPAs, Browns, and Sours by far at the present time.

dfc said:

Where is the rest of the article? I read it and got cut off...

Click to expand...

mea culpa

here is the entire article

Living in Vermont, with (I am told) the most microbreweries per capita, the switch came slowly but firmly.

Labatts was my choice for most of my life after going to college near the Canadian border and experiencing Canadian lagers (BRADOR).

Then along came Otter Creek and Magic Hat and I began to realize that beer had so much more to offer than commercially produced swills that were homogenized for the masses.

The true thing that altered my path was just a couple of years ago when I met a friend that brewed his own stuff, and we drank some of the most deliciously hoppy, sweetly malty stuff that I have ever tasted.

Now I am addicted and prefer to only drink homebrewed stuff. The occasional sixer of craft brew when supplies get low, but alas, the addiction makes me upgrade and brew more often so that the supply does not get low.

I tried a lot of different craft beers, but the one that has always stuck out as special in my mind is Flying Dog's In Heat Wheat Hefeweizen.

I remember getting their variety pack when I was in college, and when Flying Dog was still available in Iowa :/ The Wheat was my initial favorite that I repurachased. They also had their Barley wine in the variety pack, which is actually pretty cool looking back on it. At the time I thought it was awful, but I think Barley Wines should be in a few variety packs today.

I think I got started with Point Pale Ale and Sprecher Amber (regional Wisconsin beers) but Bell's Oberon and Third Coast Beer really turned me into a beer guy.

Well Rainier beer started me down the beer road.
Probably early on I started to like killian's red, St. Pauli, and heineken beer were shortly after that.
Then I got my first taste of dark beers in my early 20's and started to explore all of those that I could.

Remember, in a small town in the early 80's there was no such thing as micro brews and the big boys of craft beer hadn't been heard of yet, at least where I was.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I still love the stuff now.

Rick

Julius Echter Hefe-Weissbier. My cousin's husband poured me one when I was 19...and two years later I would be sworn off the BMC forever.

I was mostly a beer drinker in college, but I wouldn't say I was 'into' beer until high gravity beers were allowed in Alabama. On a whim I grabbed a sixer of Great Divide Titan for a lake trip. At first I wasn't sure about the bitterness of the beer, but by the end of the first bottle I was loving it. I've been hooked on good beer ever since. I can't go into a good craft beer store without buying beer that I don't need considering the homebrew and craft brews I already have at home.

Edit: I don't actually have homebrew at home. Being in Alabama, I just like to think about having homebrew at home. Maybe in 2013...

Guinness.

I grew up in South Africa, a very beer-drinking culture. Didn't like beer for the longest time and drank spirits mostly (jack, dark rum etc) Then I discovered Guinness and now I hardly ever drink spirits. It opened my eyes so much that I started liking almost all beer. Definitely an acquired taste in my mind, but Guinness opened the door

The first craft beers we dabbled with in high school were probably the Magic Hat, Long Trail and Otter Creek beers. Otter Creek's Stovepipe porter sticks out in my mind as one of my favorites from that time.

Getting into brewing for me was a lack of beer.

When I was in iraq I would sit in my bunk and daydream about fingering something to drink just because I couldn't. We did get the occasional case of o'douls but wouldn't cut it.

Me and another guy attempted to ferment some grape juice with wild yeasts. Didn't work. We then tried freezing the alcohol off the o'douls. Took way more than we had. So I made a vow to start homebrewing when I got home. so I did

Stoudt's Double IPA. A pretty big shock to the taste buds at 10% ABV after having had only BMC and the such beforehand.

Pretty sure it was Blanche de Bruxelles. I would always drink different beers but I think that beer was so different than anything I had had before that it got me really thinking about what I was drinking.

Deschutes Black Butte Porter

Joker said:

Deschutes Black Butte Porter

Click to expand...

Mmm.... still one of my favorites.

I had always been a big wheat beer drinker... as is typical of most women, with my mainstay being Blue Moon. But the beer that sent me in a glorious upward spiral was Karmeliet Tripel. Ever since then, I've been hooked on beer.
Granted, looking back it's funny that I loved wheat beers. Now, I cannot stand most wheat beers as they have some sort of metallic twang that I can't stand. I also can't drink very many trappist ales anymore....too sweet.

Now I'm hooked on lambics, farmhouse/saisons, big robust and complex imperial stouts, and a really good refreshing pale ale.

Thank you, Karmeliet Tripel.

I'm German/Irish from Wisconsin. First beer I had I remembered the name was Blatz in 32 gallon barrel. Course, LaCrosse was a Heileman town. It was Blatz, Old Style or Special X whenever the family got together, and it would STILL be that way if the current beers of that name were still brewed with their original recipes.

They say beer is an acquired taste. If so, I'd "acquired" it before I was even born.

Lots of imported beers in the late '70s expanded my palette, and Anchor Steam and Sam Adams Boston Lager were the first American beers that showed me how well it could be done. Today I'm totally in love the the craft beer explosion and all the options we never had when our group of 12-year-olds was surreptitiously guzzling cups of Blatz at a relative's wedding.

GrogNerd said:

mea culpa

here is the entire article

Click to expand...

Awesome. Thanks!

Magic Hat #9 for me. Had it at a bar in Cleveland while on vacation and never looked back.

Saranac Raspberry Wheat. I don't even think they brew it anymore.

NervousDad said:

Meister Brau, $11 for a 30 pack, as a teenager it was a no brainer

Click to expand...

+1.. Schmidts,was a close second.

The free one I got from a friend. Bass ale

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine, on tap at a brewpub that some college friends brought me to

Sam Adams BL when I was still a Teen

My first beer was mass produced in N.Y. My dad was a Rheingold drinker. It was "the beer that made New York famous" or so they said.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheingold_Beer

But I have to admit it was New Castle Brown that got me to stop drinking BMC. An English friend brought a 6 pack to an after hike party and I was hooked on ALEs.

I always had a taste for something a step up from the BMC, although if i'm lookin to party and drink a 30 in a day it's still the fall back for various reasons, I had always thought Sam was the "good stuff." I don't remember what specific beer it was, probably along the lines of a DFH or Stone as I drank a ton of that when I found it, but I do remember that my eyes were opened to a whole new world of beer. For a long while I only drank brands I had never heard of in the quest to find more, even greater things.

for me it was sam adams octoberfest on draft.
I wanted bud light and was somehow convinced to try the octoberfest.
I instantly fell in love. I remember thinking I didnt know beer could taste this good.

Sprecher Black Bavarian. I had no idea beer was anything other than disgusting fizzy yellow stuff at the time.

Sammy Adams Octoberfest & Killians Red were my two favs on draft. At a younger age all I knew was Bud or Budlight.........My how times have changed.

Long time go, it was Arrogant bastard/Dead guy/SN pale ale, then local microbrews/or could have been microbrews first ,had a gap of not really drinking much and watching weight/session drink light beers ocassionally only as a get drunk delivery device. Started learning about fermentation, was always learning about health,made kefir/kombucha/sauercrout. Then discovered live beer(unpasturized) seeked some out. Had a SN Hefeweizen-was inspired by its taste and then it was on to more unpasterized beers then on to discovering that I could make fermented beer myself. Turns out now though hefeweizens are pretty low now on my likability scale.

I can still remember it like it was yesterday, I was a bright eyed Busch light drinking youth, you were a hazy boulevard wheat. We met at a local old Chicago, a mutual friend introduced us. You changed my life, I lost contact with those friends but I will never forget you.