What was your gateway craft beer?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by not2quick, Jul 25, 2016.

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  1. nc41

    nc41 Initiate (0) Sep 25, 2008 North Carolina
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    Those prices bring a tear to my eye.
     
    #261 nc41, Sep 26, 2018
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  2. Wasatch

    Wasatch Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,062) Jun 8, 2005 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Probably Anchor Steam or something from Sierra Nevada.

    Cheers!
     
    #262 Wasatch, Sep 26, 2018
  3. billydrinksbeer

    billydrinksbeer Initiate (0) Sep 15, 2017 Colorado

    I discovered craft beer while working at a nice pizza and beer restaurant in WV, I got $2 pints after my shifts, and remember the first craft beers I enjoyed being the Big Timber IPA and Porter and some beers from Country Boy brewing
     
    #263 billydrinksbeer, Sep 26, 2018
  4. beersgud

    beersgud Zealot (669) Jan 31, 2014 Kansas
    Trader

    Probably fat tire and boulevard wheat. I’ve always preferred “craft” beer, but couldn’t always afford it 10-12 years ago.
     
    #264 beersgud, Sep 26, 2018
  5. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Really?

    I know your comment was meant to be humorous, but let me ask you this.

    If you could buy 6 packs of bud, miller and coors today for $2 a pop, would you discontinue drinking $7 or $8 (or more) 6 packs of craft beer instead? Here's the reason I ask.

    In the early 90's I lived in Sacramento and was really starting to get into craft beer in a big way. The big boys were doing their best to crush the microbrew scene, once it became apparent that ignoring it and then ridiculing it wasn't going to succeed. Locally, AB threatened to withhold product from those distributors that continued to carry craft products, but that proved unsuccessful as well (though it did harm certain small breweries in the area rather badly). And so they (and Miller Coors) tried another tactic.

    Probably around 92 or 93 (though I could be off a few years), the big boys dramatically dropped the price on their flagship products. Miller and Coors were at the forefront of this new strategy, and I remember at one point you could buy 12 packs of Miller Genuine Draft for 97 cents (with a manufacturers coupon). AB finally went along with the strategy as well, though I always got the impression they did so very reluctantly. At the 6 pack level, I want to say a drop of roughly a dollar or two off the normal retail price was fairly typical. I'm assuming the thinking was that by dropping the price so low, consumers simply wouldn't be able to resist the amount of savings they would recoup by discontinuing the purchase of craft beer.

    The strategy completely backfired. Dropping the price so low meant that bud, miller and coors were as cheap (or cheaper) then pretty much any "generic" brand on the shelf/rack. Unfortunately for them, the reduced pricing had the effect of debasing their brands, and so rather than spurring increased sales, craft beer drinkers became even more convinced that they were drinking a vastly superior product (AB seemed to figure this out much more quickly than Coors and Miller, and it wasn't long at all before they went back to "normal" retail prices). After a few months, Miller and Coors went back to "normal" pricing as well.

    Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that historical tidbit out in response to JK's post. I like low prices as much as the next consumer, but the truth is that BMC could give their beer away for free and I still wouldn't drink it. Cheers! :sunglasses:
     
    #265 John_M, Sep 26, 2018
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  6. Squire

    Squire Grand Pooh-Bah (4,385) Jul 16, 2015 Mississippi
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    My neighbor believes beer is free in Heaven and God drinks Bud.
     
    #266 Squire, Sep 26, 2018
  7. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I have a much greater respect for God than your neighbor, and I've always heard that there is no beer in heaven (which is why we need to drink it here).

    In heaven there is no beer.
    That's why we drink it here (Right Here!)
    and when we're gone from here,
    our friends will be drinking all the beer!

    Im Himmel gibt’s kein Bier,
    Drum trinken wir es hier.
    Denn sind wir nicht mehr hier,
    Dann trinken die andern unser Bier.
     
    #267 John_M, Sep 26, 2018
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  8. Squire

    Squire Grand Pooh-Bah (4,385) Jul 16, 2015 Mississippi
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    In the absence of eyewitness reports to the contrary I'll continue to believe that there is.
     
    #268 Squire, Sep 26, 2018
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  9. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,145) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Well, you can could always wipe them away using a 1977 paycheck stub :grin: (Can't remember what I was making then but it was way above minimum, which was around $2.30/hr - I bet, after taxes, I might have brought home nearly a hundred bucks!).

    Or, seen another way --- based on the BLS's Inflation Calculator, that 1979 $7.59 case of Tuborg Gold would cost $28 in today's dollars.
     
    #269 jesskidden, Sep 26, 2018
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  10. nc41

    nc41 Initiate (0) Sep 25, 2008 North Carolina
    Trader

    Lol , there is that. My first car payment was $64 a month for a Toyota.
     
    #270 nc41, Sep 26, 2018
  11. Glider

    Glider Savant (1,182) Nov 15, 2004 Massachusetts
    Trader

    For me, it probably started with stouts. Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout was one of the first that I really liked. It got me away from drinking Magic Hat #9 and cider.

    For pilsners, I took a trip to Prague, and the Pilsner Urquell on tap there was amazing. When I came back, I was telling everyone to drink it, but it just wasn't the same here.

    From there, Harpoon IPA got me into IPAs.
     
    #271 Glider, Sep 26, 2018
  12. Weinerdog43

    Weinerdog43 Initiate (0) Sep 3, 2018 Wisconsin

    I discovered Pete's Wicked Ales in the early 1990s. After Beck's and Heineken, there was not a lot of options for many years. It was brown! There were other colors to beer than pale yellow? Who knew. I still look back at trying all of the varieties and smile. (Well, not the strawberry.)
     
    #272 Weinerdog43, Sep 26, 2018
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  13. mikeg67

    mikeg67 Pooh-Bah (2,120) Nov 12, 2010 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Sam Adams Boston Lager in 1997 for me. Tried it on tap in Boston for he first time and loved it.
     
    #273 mikeg67, Sep 26, 2018
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  14. Donovanj

    Donovanj Devotee (371) Mar 21, 2018 Georgia

    Your neighbor is an idiot!
     
    #274 Donovanj, Sep 26, 2018
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  15. MoreBeer4me

    MoreBeer4me Initiate (0) Aug 25, 2014 New Jersey

    Many years back when Sam Adams was a small private shop I had their lager and was impressed. And there ya go.
     
    #275 MoreBeer4me, Sep 27, 2018
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  16. VoodooBear

    VoodooBear Maven (1,362) Aug 25, 2012 Puerto Rico
    Trader

    Believe it or not... Sam Adams Alpine Spring... Good times, good times.
     
    #276 VoodooBear, Sep 27, 2018
  17. robobor

    robobor Initiate (0) Nov 9, 2009 Illinois

    Goose Island Summertime Ale circa 2006.

    Honorable mention to Guinness and Newcastle Brown which really opened my eyes as an underage Bud Light enthusiast.
     
    #277 robobor, Sep 27, 2018
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  18. jzeilinger

    jzeilinger Grand High Pooh-Bah (8,847) Dec 4, 2004 Pennsylvania
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Does a German beer qualify as "craft"? :sunglasses: Schneiderweisse was my gateway and then had the opportunity to visit their brewpub in Munich on a business trip. Many years later I'm still totally hooked on this beer, ... just totally solid on all levels!

    [​IMG]
     
    #278 jzeilinger, Sep 27, 2018
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  19. JackRWatkins

    JackRWatkins Maven (1,472) Nov 3, 2014 Georgia
    Trader

    Honestly, probably Gulden Draak.
     
    #279 JackRWatkins, Sep 27, 2018
  20. Btls64

    Btls64 Initiate (155) Mar 11, 2015 Pennsylvania

    #280 Btls64, Sep 27, 2018
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