What turned you on to the good stuff?

[tspilker]

I always thought domestics were disgusting.

Black Butte Porter is when I saw the light.

 

[jacketsfans]

Couldn't tell you the exact "taste train," but I can tell you SA Boston Lager really opened my eyes to the fact that American Beer didn't have to suck. Jim Koch is the man.

 

[Budzu]

What turned me onto good/better/best beer... I lived in Brno, Czech Republic for almost 8 months, and then a couple more 2 month visits. The average beer over there was just delicious. The one beer in my life I remember most was an 8 oz. can of Budvar that I picked up from some little bus station. The weather was as usual disgusting , the streets were smeared with dirty slushy mess and it was cold. My girlfriend and I stood there on the sidewalk waiting for a bus and shared that little can of Budvar. I remember everything about that moment, and as ugly as the day was, every sip of that amazing nectar made the world just seem beautiful All my senses came together and those moments were crystallized.

I was fortunate enough to study classical guitar in Prague with Stepan Rak, and once while visiting his home in a small village outside Prague he brought out a pitcher of some great lager that he was incredibly happy about.. evidently a friend of his had brewed it in that very village. It was a wonderful beer, I think it was a Marzen but then I didn't know the style back then. I was more than a bit concerned to drink it and play my guitar for him Otherwise I would've enjoyed it much more.

Eventually I felt very sad that I would not be drinking beer like this upon returning home. I decided then that I would start learning to homebrew. That was about 6 years ago. I love beer more every day now. Even living here in Tennessee

Cheers to good beer and good memories!

 

[KatoBaggins]

For me it was working for a liquor store in my early twenties. I got to try all kinds of beer that I had never heard of. Later I would lean toward Canadian and German lagers with the occasional Bass Ale, Guiness Draft, or a Black and Tan thrown in.

The beer that started my road down homebrew lane was Pete's Wicked Ale. I thought the price was outrageous at the time, but I really liked it. I started looking for a cheaper way to drink great beer and found Williams brewing online back in 1993. Their beer Lt. Ale kit with equipment was my first ever online purchase. Then I moved to Oregon and found a boat-load of really good micro brews. It's taken me a long time to go through all of them , but now I'm back brewing my own.

 

[blakey971]

When I was about 18, the family was out hitting the slopes in Big Sky, MT.

After touring the brewery my parents bought a sixer of Moose Drool.
I forced the first 2 down, but after the next 4, I was hooked.