Which Beer Took Your "BMC Virginity"

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alcibiades

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Like all addicts remember their first time, is it possible that we all remember the first non-BMC, eye-opening, beer we drank? What is yours?

I definitely remember Harpoon IPA as my v-card snatcher, so to speak
 
Magic Hat #9. My palate changed quite a bit since tasting that "game changing" beer, I can barely stand the stuff now.
 
Samuel Smith Oatmeal stout for me.

and Bell's Two Hearted Ale was the first IPA I fell in love with.
 
Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout.

Bought a big bottle of this for $5 at some hippy music festival back in college. There was no going back after that.
 
Rogue Dead Guy Ale, I saw it at a local specialty shop while I was in college and figured "it's called dead guy, that's got to be a good beer!" It was...
 
I can't remember specifically but it was either one of these four:

1) Sierra Nevada PA
2) Warsteiner
3) Newcastle
4) Delirium Tremens

I should also note that I wasn't a big fan of BMC type beers, ever. I didn't really start drinking beer until I was drinking mainly the four beers I listed when I turned 21.
 
Wow, going back a ways.. I'm not positive, but if I had to guess, it would probably be Guinness. That was around '82 - maybe freshman year of high school. :eek:
Not much in the way of "craft beers" back then. A few other names that come to mind from the early days of exploration are Hacker-Pschorr, Beamish, Chimay, and Dinkel Acker.
 
I had a sip of Red Stripe when I was younger than 10, does that count?

Guinness and Sam Adams Boston Lager started getting me into good beer. I was like, WOW! Flavor! Doesn't taste like urine!

I was drinking Bell's Expedition Stout and a variety of Stone when I was 20 :eek: (Oh NOES! Underage!)

Edit: Haha.
 
I'm old like you. I'd have to say Sierra Nevada Pale or maybe one the early Catamounts back in VT.

Edit, this was meant to follow ChrisS68 but I was cockblocked by ODaniel. Not intentionally or literally of course.
 
I think it was late 80's. I had something called "Rattlesnake Beer". From my lookup online the bottle of Pappy Kershenstine's Rattlesnake Beer looks familiar, but I'm not sure if that's it, can't find any brew dates on it.
 
The three that helped pull me out of that rut were Innis and Gunn, Fullers London Pride, and Picaroons Winter Warmer.

The Innis and Gunn was the first one though I believe. Amazing
 
Turning 21 took my card once I was 21 I was able to go out and try all the beers I wanted. I dont know what my first beer was that changed me. I never really liked the BMC stuff just drank it to get drunk, and it was all that you could find at parties. I did try New Castle, Honey Brown Ale, and some heffs before i was 21 and those were the first beers I actually liked. I do have to give Stone credit though for throwing me deep into the Beer world.
 
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, it was on special at a corner shop where my girlfriend lived about 5 years ago. I remember how odd it tasted but I kept going back for more. Still one of my favourites.
 
Avery's The Reverend. I had already moved off of BMC to Newcastle as my go to beer, but was still buying Bud Light at bars and thinking nothing of it. Then my buddy comes along with a bottle of The Rev and I couldn't believe what beer could be. Started trying all different types after that and became a complete addict for quality beer.
 
The three that helped pull me out of that rut were Innis and Gunn, Fullers London Pride, and Picaroons Winter Warmer.

The Innis and Gunn was the first one though I believe. Amazing

Yeah, I'd forgotten that Innis and Gunn was a game-changer for me, too. I had my first London Pride after I started homebrewing. I'm still a little stunned about that one. These and Marston's Pedigree, which I tried quite recently, humbled me about what I can do at home.
 
the first non-BMC, eye-opening, beer we drank?

Way back in 1986 or so we had a beer co-op in our dorm. We'd buy whatever swill was cheap and use that to play quarters. Genesee Cream Ale, Red White and Blue, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Matt's and Kappy's were all favorites. Budweiser was the expensive beer for special occasions only.

One day someone came in with a case of odd looking beer. "What is it?" we asked. "Some beer they're selling real cheap at Kappy's. It's some new beer they're trying to get in the market or something." It was Sam Adams. We all tried it and agreed we didn't like it much, but if it was cheap we were all for it.

Well, it didn't stay cheap, and we quickly abandoned it. After college my tastes slowly changed. I went from Bud to Molson to Heineken and Amstel Light.

When I moved to San Diego, Karl Strauss was the popular hangout after work. It got so popular we christened it "Building K," and industry spies were known to go there to listen in on what we were doing. I started with their light stuff and worked my way slowly into IPA's and ambers.

When I met my (future) wife in 1995, she was a student in Portland. I went up there to see her several times and we went to Full Sail, McMenamins and the Lucky Lab. That's where I really started discovering beer.

Back in San Diego the local brewing scene was exploding, with Port/Lost Abbey, Alesmith, Ballast Point and Stone starting and/or expanding. It was all very incestual - Port Brewing took over Stone's building when they moved out, then Lost Abbey was created and used the same space. You'd see Mike the brewer working at Boulevard one weekend and the next weekend he'd be at Lost Abbey.

That's the time I really started learning about beer, talking to people about styles and listening to brewers critique the beers I was making.

So I guess for me there was no one "aha!" moment, just a long progression of changing times and changing tastes for me.
 
I had a few Newcastles and Guinesses here and there in High School. It was Harpoon IPA that really opened my eyes though.
 
Nice Summer Blonde @ a Micro_Brew Pub in Del Mar, Ca...... She was the first but not the last that day............
 
I had drank some SA and Shipyard Pumpkinhead in the past but I first gained a distinct appreciation for craft styles while drinking Sam Adams after the tour at the Boston brewery.
 
Mine was definitely Bell's Two Hearted IPA. After drinking a 6 pack of it in college it was all over and i could only drink craft beers.

Chromados
 
One of the first for me was delerium nocturnum. I found a place locally that will let you buy by the bottle, so I bought a few and tried them. I didn't really have the palate for it and went back to my usual crappy beers in college. I started drinking fat tire and that officially started my ascent into delicious beers.
 
The first beeer that broke me out of the Bud Light/MGD/whatever I can get a crapload of cheap highschool phase was Pyramid Hefeweizen. This punk chic showed up at a party with a case of it, we hooked up and I drank nothing but hefes for a while. Mac n' Jacks African Amber was the beer that got me started down the road of trying everything else. A local Microbrewery's seasonal DIPA, Silver City Whoop Pass, was what made me realize I was a hophead.
 
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