I was hooked when I had an Hoegaarden Grand Cru at 't Brugs Beertje in Brugges, Belgium. I loved the beer (and the others I had) so much, I nearly canceled all my travel plans to live and work in a local hostel and work my way through the beer menu there. I liked beer before that, don't get me wrong - but I never realized what beer could be until Belgium. Funny, I generally shy away from Belgian beers these days. Sigh.
Used to grab the occasional Killian's Irish Red or Yuengling Lager out of my Dad's fridge way back when. Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout and Victory Hop Devil truly changed the game for me. Funny thing is, more than 15 years later and pops is still happily enjoying those Yuenglings.
Sam Adams got me going. A business trip to Belgium ruined me. Now a larger portion of my paycheck than I care to admit goes to Beer. Cheers.
I always liked beer - in college we thought Sam Adams and its variants was the good stuff. What really opened my eyes was my first Chimay (red) at a bar in Vegas. I started exploring from there and the rest is history.
I really took a liking to Molson Golden @ a tender age............ and still drink it every now and then........
Senior year of high school I took a school trip to Germany, prior to which I was a strictly BMC/Guinness drinker. I don't remember everything I had over there but various hefeweizens, dunkels and others made me realize how good beer could actually be. Then from there it was mostly mixing in Sam Adams seasonals (Summer/Oktoberfest mainly) and Germans with BMC for awhile. Early college years saw the introduction of some stuff like Hoegaarden, Magic Hat #9, Sierra Nevada, and the standard Brooklyn Brewery beers. Then last fall I had my first Breakfast Stout and a whole bunch of Goose Islands while in Chicago. Since then I've been hooked trying anything and everything, probably sampled like 75ish beers since I started really getting into it last October or so. Not a bad pace for someone with a limited wallet.
that stuff, along with laker honey, were staples before I really started getting into beer - even now if I'm looking for cheap beer for a party (go figure, a college student going to parties) laker honey is usually my go-to. It's not great, but it's not as bad as laker.
I'll second that for Sammy Smith's Oatmeal. Never knew beer could taste like that. Shortly after that had La Fin du Monde, and mind blown a second time. The rest is history, although I'm still getting my mind blown every once in a while
Not a big fan anymore, but Boulevard Wheat. During college I thought beer (BMC products) was the most disgusting thing ever, then I tried BW.
my craft beer experience was a gradual process. all i knew was that I hated the BMC piss and I was always interested what else was in the store fridge. my first craft beers were SN pale ale, Guiness, Longboard lager, Dos XX, Lagunitas ipa, #9,blue moon, Sam Adams, but the one that converted me to a more observant craft beer drinker was DFH 90. since then I was on the search for the tastier brews. cheers!
Yep, thought I hated beer too until someone gave me Magic Hat Heart of Darkness Stout. In about 3 weeks I've had about 20 different Stouts now.
It was newcastle, then downtown brown. Then Stone Old Guardian Kung Fu'd my palate and changed me forever.
I was at Octoberfest in Munich about 7 years ago and basically just ordered the beer because it was the thing to do. Up to that point, Guinness and Harp were the only 2 beers I 'd drink (and not very often). Having freshly brewed beer was just a revolation. It had taste and texture and aroma! It took me a few more years to really start to get into craft, but that beer opened my mind to the possibility that beer could actually be a drink just as complex and as tasty as wine.
Newcastle for me! I don't buy it at the store anymore, but I do still drink it when I'm at the local bar shooting pool
It wasn't really a single variety of beer, per say, but a style and it came in unexpected fashion. The late 1990's took me to Portland Oregon. The whole time there I visited as many microbreweries as I could and I always got the beer flights. I was able to reasonably drink all of the beers in the flight, except for the IPAs. These I left until last and threw them down like bad whisky. After I left Portland, a few months had passes and guess which of those beers that I ended up craving? You guessed it- the IPAs! With very few of those options available to me back then, I picked up homebrewing to satisfy my taste for IPA and the rest is history. But the short answer to the OP's question is Bert Grant's Perfect Porter, but that story isn't all that interesting.
I assumed you would have said something like Oude Geuze Je Sesequa Don Pajquasimilat Mon A Fimil De Queesh Quash, but Porter is good.
I loved beer even when I was drinking BMC, but my earliest craft experiences included... New Amsterdam Ale Pete's Wicked Ale Anchor Steam Beer John Courage Theakstons Old Peculier SNPA I drank loads of Hofbrau before those.
I too hated beer but that dislike was attributed to BMC selections. I was in Vienna Austria for work and a co-worker encouraged me to get a lager that was on draft.....at first I resisted stating "I don't like beer". He convinced me to give it a try and I was hooked. I don't remember what it was called but that got me started on the road to seeking out imports. That eventually led to craft which is where I'm at today. Just this last weekend, my father in law was over visiting and he's a big BMC drinker....doesn't care about flavor since his goal is quantity....not quality. I'm not home and he goes to grab a Pliny and my son stops him which of course irritates my FIL. He tells my son "fine, but I don't want any of that Budweiser bullS&%t". My son laughs because I have never had that or any BMC beer at my house. I now have to take steps to "hide" beers I don't want people just grabbing out of the fridge.
Believe it or not, Busch beer. It was my primary beer. I enjoyed drinking it. I didn't hate BMC. I thought that was what beer was supposed to taste like until I had some real beer. Guinness, Newcastle, SA BL, and SN PA turned me on to better things. My palate has changed and whenever I have some cheap swill I can't believe I drank that stuff on a regular basis.
Chimay Blue. I used to drink beer for the sake of drinking it, but it was Chimay that began the obsession.
I am in the same boat. I hated beer as a result of the Bud Light's and Molson Ice's I was constantly offered at parties. A beer that I now have no interest in changed all of that. Magic Hat #9
