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hexXedBrewing

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My step-dad has always been a light beer drinker. Keystone light and the like. He'd have a Guinness or something "stouty" once in a blue moon, but nothing out of the ordinary.

A year ago, he and my mom brewed some beer together (mr beer), and he never really cared for the beers they'd make, but my mom did. She even has a beer club at work where they all bring a couple bottles in at work (lucky right? my work would never allow that) and take drinking notes.

Well last Christmas my step-dad finally tried a Stone beer that I brought home for my brothers (age 28 and 23). He would ask for a small amount while we were all eating at the table. And then he'd ask for a little more. (it was Stone's SSR). Once he was done with that, I asked him if wanted more, he said no, but I poured him what was left of the 750ml.

I didn't think anything of it at the time.

I finally visited them again last weekend, and I brought a ton of different beers for my youngest brothers birthday. While we were eating he'd want to try everything we were having, and then he said, "Man that one Stone beer we had for Christmas... the thick and strong one... that was really good."

I immediately remembered something Greg Koch said, "I believe in good taste and I believe in a consumer’s ability to appreciate good taste."

I laughed to myself and poured him another beer. "Man that beer must really be good if my step-dad genuinely likes it," I thought to myself.

Long story short... I didn't think he was ever a craft brew type. The big commercial guys must have scared him away from craft brews. I thought wrong.

Do you guys have any stories where your favorite craft brew turned someone around?

:mug:
 
I remember the first time my BIL tried Stone Ruination. I bought a few different styles to share at a holiday gathering. You should have seen his face and neck get all scrunched up!

He said it's not bad, but takes some getting used to. He didn't want to see like a whimp I guess.

Last weekend went down and shared some Hopslam and he liked it. He'd still drink whatever was cheap or whatever someone shares for free, as most of his friends are young and low on disposable income. But he tries the craft stuff and can appreciate it.

Most of my friends don't appreciate craft beer if they drink beer at all.
 
I think it was my Sunset Gold APA that finally turned our 2nd oldest son around to craft beers. The 1st time I brewd it,I used US Perle & Czech Saaz hops. Nice smooth spiciness to it. I told him it was an American pal ale. He then starts coming back with magic Hat,Great Lakes,& some others. He now even likes stouts,porters,browns,etc.
He turned me on to Left Hand Brewing's milk stout. He also liked the Harpoon winter warmer,good stuff. Not sure what I've created here. He now loves my Whiskely ale as well,also being a fan of Jim Beam.
Be careful what you wish for...you might get it. In spades!:mug:
 
My late wife did not like beer... or, at least, that is what she told me when we met. OF course, the height of her beer awareness was Heineken... I poured a black ale I had made (porter? dry stout with hop flavor? whatever...) She raised an eyebrow and thought I had lost my mind... I convinced her to try it by telling her that a portion of the grains had been roasted like coffee beans (she was a coffee nut)... she tasted it and a light went off. She eventually branched into other beers, English pale ales, browns, etc nothing hop heavy, but porters and stouts always remained her thing
 
wailingguitar said:
My late wife did not like beer... or, at least, that is what she told me when we met. OF course, the height of her beer awareness was Heineken... I poured a black ale I had made (porter? dry stout with hop flavor? whatever...) She raised an eyebrow and thought I had lost my mind... I convinced her to try it by telling her that a portion of the grains had been roasted like coffee beans (she was a coffee nut)... she tasted it and a light went off. She eventually branched into other beers, English pale ales, browns, etc nothing hop heavy, but porters and stouts always remained her thing

=) that's awesome. it's like feeling when u share a little known album with someone and they start to really enjoy it.

my condolences for ur late wife.
 
Yep. I got one who lives in Ann Arbor who likes pretty much just IPAs.

Another former Band Director now lives near Battle Creek loves Oberon and Best Brown and is willing to try different things.

The new Band Director, though, brews his own with his girlfriend. After the busy season we'll get together and brew something and hang out. He can teach me about music theory and I can teach about AG brewing techniques.

Maybe not having a drinking buddy around all the time is actually good for me...
 
I got a friend back home in Delaware who is coming down to meet my fiancee, hand out with us, see Louisville, etc.

He dabbles in a fair deal of craft stuff. Obviously being in Delaware, he's checked out a good deal of DFH stuff, but it seems like he drinks a lot of stuff like Grolsch and Guinness and what not. When he comes to visit, I plan on coming at him full force with craft stuff (both stuff that I've made as well as some the craft beer bars around town) and hopefully we can consistently drink some better stuff. Heh.
 
Ive converted a few with my beers. Firstly my wife. When I first met her she rarely drank beer. Then as I brewed a few she would taste the wort and then the finished product. She originally liked Pale Ales, but now loves darker beers like stouts and Porters and has one with me most nights.

I also started taking some of my beers into work for the guys to try. Most of them are megaswill drinkers and at first didn't like my brews. But as my own brews became better so did their taste for them to the point that now often they text me on the weekend to ask about a beer they might be looking at in the bottlo, asking what its like, instead of just buying a carton of VB.
 
My wife used to say she hated beer. Turns out she hates BMC and overly hopped beers, but loves wheats and stouts. I just bottled a Wit and a Coffee Stout for her so she can have some good beers after our son is born.
 
My mother-in-law ONLY orders Stella Artois if she has to have a beer. It's that or nothing, and I realized she does it because she equates it with something classier than BMC. She's actually kind of a wine connoisseur with a taste for slightly sour wines, so I gave her a Rodenbach Grand Cru and it was great to see her face light up. I also got her ex-husband hooked with a Pretty Things Jack d'Or and a Gavroche. Slowly turning that entire family...
 
My boss (who's also a friend) is a Wyoming redneck who usually likes nothing better than lots of cheap beer. Then i got him drinking some Deschutes Black Butte Porter, and a few weeks ago he shows up at my house with three different bombers from Heretic to share. He mostly bought them for the funny names (Evil Twin, anyone?) but he actually likes craft brews now. Success!
 
Fizzycist said:
My boss (who's also a friend) is a Wyoming redneck who usually likes nothing better than lots of cheap beer. Then i got him drinking some Deschutes Black Butte Porter, and a few weeks ago he shows up at my house with three different bombers from Heretic to share. He mostly bought them for the funny names (Evil Twin, anyone?) but he actually likes craft brews now. Success!

Great success! That's a good brewing to convert to haha.
 
Ghostly said:
My mother-in-law ONLY orders Stella Artois if she has to have a beer. It's that or nothing, and I realized she does it because she equates it with something classier than BMC. She's actually kind of a wine connoisseur with a taste for slightly sour wines, so I gave her a Rodenbach Grand Cru and it was great to see her face light up. I also got her ex-husband hooked with a Pretty Things Jack d'Or and a Gavroche. Slowly turning that entire family...

Wow a Grand Cru is what she had a taste for.. lol. It's almost weird what you find people start to like. I guess I project my own tastes on others too much.
 
My good friend is a huge american macro lager line of guy and I've been dampling him on different craft beers over the years in search of one he like. After sampling on all kinds of amazing IPAs, stouts, porter, and a lot of the other rreally popular styles he ended up falling in love with belgian tripel. Corsendonk blonde and cambridge tripel threat being some oc his favorites.

My mom loves imperial stouts, especial the Brooklyn black chocolate.
 
BigBeer4All said:
My good friend is a huge american macro lager line of guy and I've been dampling him on different craft beers over the years in search of one he like. After sampling on all kinds of amazing IPAs, stouts, porter, and a lot of the other rreally popular styles he ended up falling in love with belgian tripel. Corsendonk blonde and cambridge tripel threat being some oc his favorites.

My mom loves imperial stouts, especial the Brooklyn black chocolate.

my wife really likes the belgian trippels too. she actually sneezes if there's a moderate amounts of hops, like people do with mints.
 
Get her a bottle of Chimay. She should love that kind of quality. Or if you're ever in Akron Ohio,go to thirsty dog brewery for there Cerberus,it's a trippel.
 
unionrdr said:
Get her a bottle of Chimay. She should love that kind of quality. Or if you're ever in Akron Ohio,go to thirsty dog brewery for there Cerberus,it's a trippel.

haha chimay might be a little much for her she likes the green flash trippel
 
I live in a country where craft beer and homebrewers are not very popular, people don´t even have the smallest clue about beer... anything that differs from macro lagers its unknown. I have turn dozens of friends into craft beer and homebrewed beers. The person that amaze me the most was my wife´s grandmother, I gave her my DIPA and just the look on her face while she was trying it was priceless, I never tougth that she liked that, now I got to send her a few bottles time to time, she still haves macro lagers, but if there is something different she will put the macro lager aside and have a real beer... that old lady makes me happy...
 
This is a great thread. My wife will now try anything that I give her. And she really likes wits, hefes, & pale ales. And I make a honey blonde that she loves.
 
Four years ago, new neighbors moved in behind us and in gesture of being neighborly I offered him some Summit Pale Ale and some homebrew my brother had made as we sat around my backyard campfire. He was impressed by how great the beer was compared to his offering of Michelob Golden Light. About month later he bought his first Homebrew kit and together we made his first brew. 2 weeks later I dug out my old homebrew equipment, bought some new stuff and brewed up my first batch. The homebrew bug that bit my neighbor had reinfected me. About 1 year later, a new neighbor moved in across the street from me. This new neighbor came over as I was out in the garage brewing a batch if Pale Ale. After a few homebrews he told me he was a homebrewer back before his two kids came into the picture and was fascinated by my brewing process. About 3 weeks later, I glance up from my lawn mowing in the front yard and see this new neighbor brewing in his garage. The homebrew bug strikes again, reinfecting my new neighbor.
Another year passes and a new neighbor moves into the neighborhood. He comes over as my 2 homebrewing neighbors and I were sitting out in my garage drinking each other's homebrew and giving feedback. We pour him a glass of pale ale and IPA and he enjoys both beers and our company and homebrewing conversations. About a month later, the homebrew bug infects this new neighbor. There are now four of us in the neighborhood that actively homebrew. Two of us have moved to All-Grain brewing and 3 of us are now kegging. The four of us homebrewers have converted quite a few of our other neighbors into moving away from BMC type beers and into the craft beer world. Although they have yet to be bitten by the homebrewing bug they have made the switch to craft beer. Little steps...
 
Obliviousbrew said:
I live in a country where craft beer and homebrewers are not very popular, people don´t even have the smallest clue about beer... anything that differs from macro lagers its unknown. I have turn dozens of friends into craft beer and homebrewed beers. The person that amaze me the most was my wife´s grandmother, I gave her my DIPA and just the look on her face while she was trying it was priceless, I never tougth that she liked that, now I got to send her a few bottles time to time, she still haves macro lagers, but if there is something different she will put the macro lager aside and have a real beer... that old lady makes me happy...

hahaha that's awesome about your grandmother-in-law
 
Redbeard5289 said:
Four years ago, new neighbors moved in behind us and in gesture of being neighborly I offered him some Summit Pale Ale and some homebrew my brother had made as we sat around my backyard campfire. He was impressed by how great the beer was compared to his offering of Michelob Golden Light. About month later he bought his first Homebrew kit and together we made his first brew. 2 weeks later I dug out my old homebrew equipment, bought some new stuff and brewed up my first batch. The homebrew bug that bit my neighbor had reinfected me. About 1 year later, a new neighbor moved in across the street from me. This new neighbor came over as I was out in the garage brewing a batch if Pale Ale. After a few homebrews he told me he was a homebrewer back before his two kids came into the picture and was fascinated by my brewing process. About 3 weeks later, I glance up from my lawn mowing in the front yard and see this new neighbor brewing in his garage. The homebrew bug strikes again, reinfecting my new neighbor.
Another year passes and a new neighbor moves into the neighborhood. He comes over as my 2 homebrewing neighbors and I were sitting out in my garage drinking each other's homebrew and giving feedback. We pour him a glass of pale ale and IPA and he enjoys both beers and our company and homebrewing conversations. About a month later, the homebrew bug infects this new neighbor. There are now four of us in the neighborhood that actively homebrew. Two of us have moved to All-Grain brewing and 3 of us are now kegging. The four of us homebrewers have converted quite a few of our other neighbors into moving away from BMC type beers and into the craft beer world. Although they have yet to be bitten by the homebrewing bug they have made the switch to craft beer. Little steps...

seriously whereabouts do you live? that's awesome.
 
2 of my neighbors tried to convince me I should sell my beer to them or brew them some, but won't do it themselves.
Another brewed a few times and has his stuff at someone else's house.
And the last 2 somewhat seemed to enjoy it, but are just BMC drinkers as everyone else seems to be.
I've certainly hoped for a few neighbors like that. Maybe I'll just have to look into the possibility of a local brew club.
 
Thanks guys, I pretty happy about the neighbors I got and the neighborhood my family and I live in. Its quite nice to have fellow homebrewers just a stones throw away that can lend a hand, borrow equipment from and offer valuable feedback. I think it definately helped with all of our brewing prowess.
 
There was talk of starting a neighborhood brew club but that has been put on the back burner til a later date due to one of us getting new hours/promotion at their job, another is doing a IT overhaul at his job and I am currently going back to school for my teaching degree.
And as our wives have pointed out its not like we need another reason to get together :)
 
I was a budlight only kinda guy forever. Couldn't even drink an amberbock!
My buddy decided to give me a beerducation.

He started me with Sam Adams noble pils. I drank it and said it was ok, I would force it down if someone gave it to me, but wouldn't buy it for myself.
He then gave me a smithwicks so I could taste malt. I drank maybe 3/4 before I couldn't drink anymore.
He then gave me a chimay I believe for a more balanced beer(I can't remember honestly) and I drank less than half.
He then gave me a stone ruination or IPA so I could taste hops. Needless to say I drank a few sips!
Then he immediately gave me another noble pils, and after all those hops, the noble pils tasted so smooth! I drank those the rest of the night.
The next day I tried a BL and it just tasted like water, I was ruined!!
I then drank a ton of harp and Boston lager as my go to beers while experimenting with all other kinds.
A few years later I am turning into a hop head and trying just about any craft beer I can get a hold of. Almost never drinking a macro beer now.

All the while turning my brother in law and other friends into craft/homebrew lovers too.
 
I did about the same thing with my son. Sam adams,some of my Cooper's OS lager-based ales. Then some other pale ales. Then I sprung my IPA on him. He now is a craft beer freak.
 
moscoeb said:
I was a budlight only kinda guy forever. Couldn't even drink an amberbock!
My buddy decided to give me a beerducation.

He started me with Sam Adams noble pils. I drank it and said it was ok, I would force it down if someone gave it to me, but wouldn't buy it for myself.
He then gave me a smithwicks so I could taste malt. I drank maybe 3/4 before I couldn't drink anymore.
He then gave me a chimay I believe for a more balanced beer(I can't remember honestly) and I drank less than half.
He then gave me a stone ruination or IPA so I could taste hops. Needless to say I drank a few sips!
Then he immediately gave me another noble pils, and after all those hops, the noble pils tasted so smooth! I drank those the rest of the night.
The next day I tried a BL and it just tasted like water, I was ruined!!
I then drank a ton of harp and Boston lager as my go to beers while experimenting with all other kinds.
A few years later I am turning into a hop head and trying just about any craft beer I can get a hold of. Almost never drinking a macro beer now.

All the while turning my brother in law and other friends into craft/homebrew lovers too.

this is what beer is all about! what a good friend you have.
 
My old man's go-to beer was by and large MGD (also the first beer I drank, incidentally ;) ). He may have had an amber or a sam adams, the occasional hefe (usually Blue Moon) and more or less didn't drink a wide variety of beer and stuck to cocktails, white russians to my recollection. My brother started into the homebrew before any of us and slowly but surely got the old man to come around. Now he is a complete hop and IPA FREAK and has abetter setup than either of us, never touching an MGD to my knowledge to this day unless it's really hot out and we're stranded in the desert (Lake Powell anyone?) but even then the three of us manage to bring a good amount of our personal brews to enjoy as well.

My eureka moment was when I was served one of my brothers Russian Imperials that was on draught and somewhere in the neighborhood of 14% in a nice brandy snifter. I had a head full of some other stuff (potent in the microgram range, *nudge nudge wink wink*) and the flavor absolutely penetrated my entire being as I savored every fantastic drop. GO figure.
 
hexXedBrewing said:
this is what beer is all about! what a good friend you have.

Ya but I do curse him now and then, I can no longer get the cheap stuff or cheap pitchers! Haha! Oh well, guess it just means I have to brew more to offset the cost!
 
moscoeb said:
Ya but I do curse him now and then, I can no longer get the cheap stuff or cheap pitchers! Haha! Oh well, guess it just means I have to brew more to offset the cost!

yup I'm all grain brewing now and it's much more cost effective now. although I do seem to happy hour a lot since there are too many good breweries to go to in San Diego.
 
hexXedBrewing said:
yup I'm all grain brewing now and it's much more cost effective now. although I do seem to happy hour a lot since there are too many good breweries to go to in San Diego.

I'm hoping to get into BIAB in a few years to bring my cost down a little more. Gonna have to wait till kids get a little older and I have more free time.
 
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