What beer got you into this?

[punk_rockin2001]

Was there one beer that sent you off the deep end into this world of craft brews, and home brewing? I know mine was definitely Dogfish Head 90 min. The smooth creamy feel of the beer along with the delicious hops and 9% abv pushed me over the edge. I didn't even like beer before I had that, and it literally changed my life. Now I've spent... too much money and time on beer making and drinking and I doubt I'll ever look back! Did anyone else have one beer that did it for them?

 

[Parker36]

A night at Falling Rock for the world series pushed me into the deep end, although I was already in the pool at that point

 

[SumnerH]

I'd say that Dogfish Head 90 is the beer that convinced me that I don't like hoppy beers per se; while I do like a good Stone Ruination, the 90 was just much worse and less balanced to me compared to the 60 (though the Ruination is a demonstration that you can have balance alongside a lot more IBUs of hops than the DH90 has). Which is clearly 100% opposed from many people's thinking, proving the glory of people having their own tastes (and exhibit A as to while I'll never mock the guy who really likes Bud Light or whatever other beer just doesn't do it for me).

I'd say that it was a combination of a few things:
1. An element of 2 beers (one not so highly regarded) that I want to figure out; it's a "peppery" characteristic of both Weeping Radish Corolla Gold (a Helles lager) and Flying Dog Doggiestyle. They're not very similar beers aside from the pepper bite in the aftertaste, which I quite like and would love to isolate.
2. An interest in learning more about beers; there are a lot that I like, but since getting into brewing I've actually started learning a bit about different kinds of hops and what makes various brews in a similar style taste different from each other.
3. A general interest in DIY foodstuffs; I make cheese, butter, pasta, yogurt, and all kinds of other stuff, so beer from scratch was a natural progression.
4. Anchor Steam, as a concept more than as a beer. The idea that a fairly novel, truly innovative kind of beer could be developed 1500+ years into the history of organized brewing is a really marvelous thing.
5. Belgians in general, and the video of the Allagash coolship in particular. That's just neat.

 

[ottobrew]

Toegs Oatmeal Stout ranks among one of my favorite beers. They stopped making is a few years ago (apparently due to lack of interest, WHAT?!) and I decided that I would pick up where they left off. Haven't made it spot on yet, but close.

 

[dontman]

Definitely. The first homebrew I had. It was in 1986 and it was by far the best beer I had ever had. I had never even heard of that possibility. I was instantly hooked but it took a few years for me to get into brewing myself.

 

[smizak]

As soon as I was 21, and could actually shop for beer, I noticed the import section of the supermarket beer aisle. I randomly grabbed a couple bottles, as I had been drinking mostly Labatt Blue or BMC since I was 18, and was curious. The first one I drank was a Sam Smith Nut Brown Ale.

I was blown away. It was the first time beer actually tasted like something.

Game on after that.

 

[david_42]

Newcastle; a long, long time ago.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

For me it was Great Lakes Brewing Company's Burning River APA. It was my first venture outside of BMC/near BMC quite a few years ago. I remember thinking "I didn't know that beer could actually taste this good".

 

[Coastarine]

Hoegaarden a few years ago.

 

[KerryD]

It really wasn't A beer.

It was the idea that I could achieve in brewing what I could achieve in cooking... a product that blows away anything you buy preprocessed in the grocery store or at 98% of this countries restaurants.

We'll see.

 

[wildwest450]

Sam Adams Boston Lager was the first commercial beer I ever had that I could actually taste hops in. And I live in a place where it's hard to get good beer, I started making it myself.

 

[Homercidal]

I wasn't a huge beer fan back in the day. I'd had some and while it wasn't too bad, I drank it more to drink beer like a grownup, than for the taste. I was very much against drinking too much (and after new years eve this year I am thinking that I ought to remember the good ole days!)

I had an older friend who made wine and once while I mentioned that i didn't like wine much, but I preferred beer, he suggested that I make some like he used to do in college (with another teacher, who was a good friend of my dad's). I had no idea that someone could, so he helped me out and I got a carboy, a big kettle, Charley P's book, and he gave me an old capper. I made a Light American Ale and it was pretty good. Although I know better now.

I've done a few batches in the years since, but recently found this site and rekindled my spirit too much. Now I feel like I have a much greater knowledge of the process. There are so many possibilities!

 

[Guildenstern]

A friend of mine worked for a failed Franchise brewpub named for an australian marsupial back in 99-2000. He was good friends with the Brewer there and was moving from the grill line into being an assistant when the Brewer left after the company started making drowning noises. He outlawed anything but craft beer at his place. I was plenty happy to oblige.

I think the first one he impressed uppon me was either something from the Brewpub (probably their Great White Wheat), or a Lambic. Before that it was mostly Labatts and Fosters for me.

Now 10 years later I decided to start making my own due to increased free time. (ie. Career change)

 

[TommyBoy]

Mine was Dark Sleep Stout from the pages of... (Anyone? Anyone?)

"The Complete Guide To Homebrewing"

A friend had a 5gal keg at a party and I was hooked after one sip.

 

[llazy_llama]

It wasn't really one particular beer for me, but rather a 3 week tour of drunken debauchery in Anchorage Alaska. Every bar there had at least a dozen micros on tap. Hell, even the pizza place turned out to be a brew pub with 15+ of their own brews. I had to wait until I got back to the US though, there weren't any homebrew stores in Okinawa, and I sure as hell wasn't going to trust yeast that spent a month in transit.

 

[BierMuncher]

Spent a couple weeks in Coventry England 20 years ago and instantly fell in love with pub bitters.

Not something you could come back to the states and buy back then, so I decided to brew my own.

 

[ewbish]

Was there one beer that sent you off the deep end into this world of craft brews, and home brewing? I know mine was definitely Dogfish Head 90 min. The smooth creamy feel of the beer along with the delicious hops and 9% abv pushed me over the edge. I didn't even like beer before I had that, and it literally changed my life. Now I've spent... too much money and time on beer making and drinking and I doubt I'll ever look back! Did anyone else have one beer that did it for them?

For me, it was living in Germany for 3 years and getting addicted to good beer, especially Hefeweizen. I had a "beer delivery guy". He left a case of beer on my porch, and took my case of empties away. I got a monthly bill in the mail for this wonderful service. They even mix-n-matched my cases to order. After 3 years of drinking truly good beer, I was at a loss when I returned to the US. I tried drinking American style Hefe..........truly swill. Not fit to gargle with. I would buy German Hefe from the various beverage shops........but due to the shipping time and lack of temp control, it was "old", and did not have the same taste. I brewed when younger, and my family had always brewed.......so I dived into the hobby with the intention of brewing up Hefe as close to the real thing as I could get.

Ahhhhh, the sweet taste of success.

 

[redraider629]

Mine was a double chocalate stout that my father in law brewed, then i had an IPA his neigbor made that same night. From that night on I was hooked. I drank Coors light before that, and my life was changed for the better.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Spent a couple weeks in Coventry England 20 years ago and instantly fell in love with pub bitters.

Not something you could come back to the states and buy back then, so I decided to brew my own.

That's exactly why I started brewing too. It's not that you can't find good beer (at a price) I was just missing the good session bitter that I'd grown up with. That imported stuff in cans and bottles doesn't represent the style well, and even if there were a brewpub local to me it is unlikely that they would have a cask bitter on tap.

Homebrewing has stopped me going nuts fer sure.

 

[android]

yeah, busch light. i got tired as hell of drinking it and decided, "it's time to go back to good beer and i'm going to make it myself."

 

[graphicgeek80]

My brother got me a beers of the world subscription. That changed my life.

I still remember the first Shipyard Porter I had, and going Wow. Until then my go to beer was Michelob's Amberbock.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Flying Dog Rogue Porter my first "different" beer. That's when it switched from getting drunk, to drinking beer for me.

 

[Hops-a-Lot]

I have always (at least as long as I have been drinking beer) wanted to give home brewing a shot. I thought it was something that was out of my reach and best left to the experts. This changed for me when I started drinking the Great Lakes line of beers in Cleveland. I fell in love with the variety of styles and wanted to have my own versions whenever I wanted (who wants to wait for a seasonal?). My favorite is still the Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold. Great hop level and great malt balance with just enough alcohol to get the job done. I have yet to create a clone (mostly because of the whole lagering process limitations and my still basic skillset) but you had better believe it's on my list!

 

[jmiracle]

For me it was actually mead...I loved it, it was hard to come by on a regular basis, I heard you could make it yourself and that sounded good.

I bought NCJoHB and read about mead, decided to do a beer first as a test run to get the process down. I had literally NEVER bought a craft/microbrew at this point and didn't really like beer.

Yeah that was over two years ago and I haven't brewed a mead yet. Started doing beers and just kept doing them. Discovered a lust for craft beers that has not been kind to my wallet.

 

[RLinNH]

Sam Adams Boston Lager

 

[BierMuncher]

...Homebrewing has stopped me going nuts fer sure.

Uh huh...

Just keep telling yourself that....

 

[nvr2low]

It wasn't really one particular beer for me, but rather a 3 week tour of drunken debauchery in Anchorage Alaska. Every bar there had at least a dozen micros on tap. Hell, even the pizza place turned out to be a brew pub with 15+ of their own brews. I had to wait until I got back to the US though, there weren't any homebrew stores in Okinawa, and I sure as hell wasn't going to trust yeast that spent a month in transit.

man i wish i was into beer 2 years ago when i was there, looks like i may need to take a trip back!

not one beer for me, i just got sick of BMC so i was trying different things. a couple co-workers where brewing so i thought what the hell, i can do it to!

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

New Glarus Staghorn Oktoberfestbier 2004. Hook, line, and sinker. Thousands of microbrews later and three years o' brewing and you all get a drunken gnome to deal with.

 

[user 22118]

Long story short, I was enjoying a variety of beer from different people. I had enjoyed beer while travelling and when I went to New Zealand every town had their own beer on tap! It is a *relatively* small country that is very dynamic. When I got back to CA I started hitting up more and more brewpubs and was amazed at the flavor of fresh beer compared to the bottled up stuff at the grocery store.

Then I went to a friends and he poured me a beer out of his tap and I was like "Wow!" and he said, "I made that." I laughed at him and he showed me his setup and gave me a keggle to try it out.

Haven't looked back since and that was only August of last year...I am now at more beer this year than last year! 45 gallons

 

[SkewedBrewing]

In the summer of 2005 I took out a small federal/student loan and left for three months to go through Europe.

The second half of my trip was spent in Germany, Austrian and Amsterdam. It was in Munich/Eching that I found out what good beer really was.

When I got back I was a changed man.

Then, also shortly after I came back, I dated this girl for a while who had a friend who homebrewed, he was a tool but he inspired me to try it. I brewed for the next two years in college, then I took a long break.

And, now, here I am, in Chicago, and I've just cracked open my first homebrew in three years last night.