What's your most memorable beer experience?

Traveling to Tokyo in 2012 to check out their craft beer scene. Had such an amazing time. Planning to go back again soon to check out more breweries and craft beer bars.

 

If the service at Rogue SF is "Portlandy" then I'm having second thoughts on visiting Portland.

 

I remember heading out fro lunch and we stopped for a beer first. I said I didn't like beer, tasted bland. Person I was with laughed and we stopped for a Ruination. Oh delight! I have never looked back.

 

Drinking beer like water in boiling hot Prague.

Beer on summer holidays - nothing tastes better than a cold beer after a hike in hot weather. Heineken, Kronenbourg, Pelforth - it doesn't matter what it is.

Travelling around England for a holiday and grabbing as much cask ale as possible. Some bad, for sure, but some wonderful and the whole experience generally fantastic.

 

My greatest beer experience was the beer tasting at my wedding reception. We did an Ommegang tasting. It was a huge hit, I exposed so many people to craft beer, and people still talk about it to this day... and it was a year ago.

 

The first time I walked into Perennial they had BA Abraxas on tap.... yeah that was a good day.

 

When I finally sat down with fellow beer lovers I met while standing in line at this year's Younger event/release in OC. Not so much the beer, but I never waited 6+ hours for beer before. I met cool people and that's what I'll remember most.

 

Most memorable beer experience, hmm... I think mine would have to be the day I enjoyed some remarkable beers, had a few laughs and a delicious meal with Fantôme's Danny Prignon. I can't say enough good things about the guy and his beer speaks for itself.

 

Zwanze day bottle share this year was fantastic. Probably the best memory that I have. That or when Taxman shared his King Henry with me, equally amazing day.

 

When I tried Sam Adams Triple. Bock and I couldn't do more than three gulps. My first drain pour.

 

I planned a trip to Belgium (to see one of my favorite bands) before I knew anything about craft beer. While I was researching other things to do while there, I stumbled across an article about Westvleteren and decided to go visit (ended up bringing 2 cases of Westy 12 back home). While we were there, the guy who drove me to Westvleteren (Kurt from belgiuminabox.com) stoped by Cantillon on our way to Westvleteren. Keep in mind I didn't know anything about craft beer at the time, let alone sours. I had no idea what Cantillon was. I got to meet Jean van Roy while I was there and drank some Fou Foune in the little drinking area they have there (I was there in November). I ended up buying 6 bottles of Fou Foune (that was the limit) and brought them back home.

 

Sitting at the shore of the lake I spent my summers growing up on, I watched the sun set over the frozen waters. In perfect solitude I enjoyed a fresh Sierra Nevada Bigfoot in the freezing cold to close out 2005. Something just clicked that night and my idea of what beer really is has never been the same.

 

Attending a beer tasting hosted by none other than Michael Jackson years ago at the first Flying Saucer in FTW Tx.
Very memorable night to say the least
Last weekend at the barrel aged Voodoo release, bottle share was AMAZING and the people were even better.

 

Spending a Sunday night on a barstool at Mekong, ordering a sour and chatting with the next guy over and Qui the bartender when An comes from nowhere and starts pouring a Rochefort 10 and a Westy 12 for comparison. Was drinking several brews for a few hours alongside the fiance (then gf), only got charged for about half of what we actually ordered. Totally earned the Best Beer Bar in the US from what I can tell.

 

Keeping watch over the house in the dark around 1 A.M. enjoying Schells Stag Barleywine when power went out due to severe ice storms in April of this year. You can really focus on what's in front of you when the other senses are diminished.

 

Should that be most "Most memorable exbeerience"?

I remember my first Aventinus quite fondly. I also remember slowly sipping on a BBQ on a cold winter's night and loving the living hell out of it.

 

Mine would have to be the bottle share before Upland re-released Gilgamesh and Blackberry/Raspberry lambic. I had only recently gotten into craft beer and everyone there was more than happy to share what they had with me. The most memorable beers i had that day were Bell's black note, Mother of all storms, World Wide Stout, and the final one was ABRAXUS! Still to this day I've never had another sip of that beer and it has put all the other chile/mole beers I've had to shame.

 

Many of the best and most memorable experiences I had while travelling involved taking a leap of faith and wandering in somewhere in search of beer and/or food. Good on you for taking such an adventurous trip. Makes me wish I had done more hitchhiking in my Eastern European travels. I'll go back though and find my own beer/stew hole in the wall to rest up in.

 

Sitting on the 8th floor balcony of my friend's mom's beach front condo in Palm Beach on a beautiful spring afternoon drinking Fantome (BBB Dark White, Circus & dEte) and shucking clams while pelicans cruised by at eye level. Pure bliss.

 

One of my first introductions to the community that is craft beer was at my first BA festival at the Cyclorama around 2003. Among the highlights:

- Speaking with Garrett Oliver at length about food & beer pairings while he was pouring for the occasional visitor to the Brooklyn booth
- Sitting with a relatively small group and asking questions to a rather animated (and possibly slightly intoxicated) Jim Koch singing the praises of the craft beer movement
- Getting advice on the most interesting beers to sample at the fest from a fellow BA who showed me his 3-ring binder stuffed with notes on all the beers he had ever tried

I'll probably never experience any of this at a beer fest today. Garrett and Jim would be too mobbed to talk at length. And the guy with the 3-ring binder probably now has his notes all on an iPhone.