What was your first craft beer?

First besides Sam Adams or Seirra Nevada, would be Founders Dirty bastard.

 

Depends on your definition of "craft" beer I guess. This site defines it (http://www.craftbeer.com/the-beverage/what-is-craft-beer), but brewers vary quite a bit in size, so how do I know which ones are under the "six million barrels" annually and which ones are over?

 

Pretty easy, really.

Here's a list of the US brewing companies with annual barrelages over 6 million:

1. Anheuser-Busch
2. MillerCoors

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That linked site is run by The Brewers Association, and that is their official "craft brewer" definition.

There are more US brewers that are considered "non-craft" by the B.A. because of the other two criteria:

"Independent" -breweries owned or partially owned by the above two, or, in some but not all cases, by foreign companies, and

"Traditional" - even though corn and rice have been used as adjuncts in the US for over a century and half - much longer than current craft gimmicks like "pumpkin pie spice-flavored beer" and "(wine/spirit) barrel-aging".​

 

what's interesting is that I had just seen it at my local bottle shop and decided to try it. I'm sitting there with a nice glass of it with it; new to me; and I see your post and just had to comment haha

Cheers, it's a great beer!

 

If you like that, try their Organic Chocolate Stout. Won't be disappointed.

 

Thanks for the recommendation, i'll see if I can snag on my next haul!

 

Two Hearted and I hated it....I've come a long way

 

Anchor Steam

 

Capital Amber back in the 90s

 

Delirium Tremens By Brouwerij Huyghe
Been hooked on Belgians ever since, beer that is.

 

For MANY years I drank only German, and UK beer. I traveled to Europe often in those days and I was an American Euro Snob when it came to beer. (Yeah, I know. Idiot.)

: )

The American craft scene was unrefined and completely unworthy in my opinion...and I'd never even tried one. How could any crass American beer equal or top the refined ales made in the old country?! Then one magical day a dangerous succubus from a dark evil forest demanded that I buy and take home and slowly drink a Southern Tier Choklat (among others). That evening I began this neverending ale adventure...

 

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. And I still keep something from Sierra Nevada in the fridge almost all the time.

 

Aventinus.. i was 19.. my mind was blown.

 

Chimay red & blue 25+ years ago along with a steady diet of Stoudts offerings.

 

What better "first post" for this site forum than a thread about my first craft beer.

The first for me was Abita Brewing Co.'s- Abita Amber Ale. I think it's a first from many of us down here in the boot. I'm very happy to see many more local breweries taking off as well in the area. Looking forward to enjoying this forum further.

 

I got into Sam Adams Boston Lager a few years before I even knew what craft beer was. Once I started to expand my options, SN Celebration was the first craft beer to stick out to me.

 

I'd probably guess a Sam Adams Boston Lager, and I HATED it! I bought it in the bottle and several years later at a place called Hubbs' Pub, I gave it a "second chance" on tap. LOVED IT, as I still do today. Thanks to Hubbs' (which had an UNHEARD of at the time) 30+ taps, I sampled MANY craft beers which led me into the world of homebrewing.

 

I was apparently served a tiny glass of Bud during a brewery tour as a toddler, but my first sip of beer I remember was a Guinness draft can. My "first beer" was a SNPA, and after nursing it for hours, eventually finished, and the next two went down much easier . I had a friend in 9th grade with a similar story (in that he liked SNPA too), and he was the first guy I "went in on beer" with, and it was none other than the Sierra Nevada "Bigfoot" that caught our eye- it was a hot, boozy mess to me, but the deep delicious flavors beneath kept me sipping.
We knock back a few Bigfeet pretty much every year, 7 out of the last 8, to be exact

 

They also sold beers in "schooners". Never new that derivation. Just big ol' glasses full of beer and Lowebrau!