How your craft beer experience has changed: Year 1, 5, 10, 15...now?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by AlcahueteJ, Dec 5, 2013.

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  1. pixieskid

    pixieskid Initiate (0) Jun 4, 2009 Germany

    We've got the same timeline more or less, but for me year 4 was "I work in a beer store, sooner or later I get to try everything anyway, why worry about it/I pay cost for beer, so it's tough to justify beers that cost more than 10 bucks."

    Honestly, at a certain point, you'll probably decide for yourself that "yeah, trading is fun and the rare stuff makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside knowing I have it. BUT, actualy this XXX BA Whatever isn't much better than XXX available locally/year long and only costs a fraction of the price. Maybe I should rethink my spending". Or maybe you won't and you will go broke...up to you.

    Year 5: moved to Germany, beer is cheap as fuck but limited in variety (although this is changing), time to get into hombrewing.
     
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  2. 77black_ships

    77black_ships Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2012 Belgium

    Prior: I was under the impression like most people here that beer was limited to pale lager or Duvel plus some soda pop style beers like Lindemans Kriek and the occasional trappist. Didn’t care for pale lager or Duvel very much. Liked Lindemans Kriek but didn’t think that it was beer, 0 interest in beer since I first tried at 14 to 22 or so.

    Year 1: Trying a new common but solid beer every week, stuff like Rochefort & Westmalle. While getting explanation from geeks, slowly starting to find out what I like. Not really into beer since people drink beer at bars, I figure drinking new beers is more fun & drinking Rochefort is more fun than drinking Pale Lagers.

    Year 2: Trying 3 new, common beer every week. Seeing what I like etc. Started going to Kulminator in Antwerp and picking random stuff from the list with a group and trying it. Starting keeping a list in excel.

    Year 3: Discover foreign craft beer & lambic, immediately blown away by both. In the meantime trying more regularly common beers, start ticking stuff on a beer site. Start seeking out classics like Saison Dupont, De Dolle beers, discover Struise.

    Year 4: Ticking everything in sight esp. foreign beers. Trying as many lambic’s as possible. Still doing that, around 220 right now according to my list. Started going back to favourites. Drank about min. 1 litre of lambic per week, usually Cantillon.

    Year 5: Drink a small handful of beers which I love, everything is just for ticking and for fun. 3000 tick’s right now.
     
  3. pixieskid

    pixieskid Initiate (0) Jun 4, 2009 Germany

    To the OP, as many have said, great post. I've been on here long enough to appreciate something different to read/write about on BA, if I didn't have so many chores to do today, I would probably read through the entire thread as it unfolds:

    Year 1 : Wow this is amazing, I must try all of it. Weekly trips to the beer store, grab a mix 6 and a handful of bombers. If I hadn't had it, I tried it. Cataloged everything in a spreadsheet (Preference to Hops, the more the better. DIPA or gtfo)

    Year 2 : Same deal, but made friends with the dude at the beer store; super discount, which spoiled me from paying much for my beer. Homebrewing a bit with my buddy, dreaming of working in a brewery. Started volunteering at a local one. Still doing the spreadsheet. (Liked it all, starting to dig Imperial Stouts. This was the same year that Stone's Sublimely came out and was that the perfect beer for me. Half DIPA, Half Impy Stout)

    Year 3 : Spent half my time in the states, half in Europe. Traveling and drinking what was local (my wife and I fell in love with Cantillon at the brewery, the rest is history) continued volunteering at breweries when stateside as well as trading a lot. (BA Imperial Stouts, Barleywines,ya know, the rare shit) Still doing the spreadsheet when I could, surpassed 2000 beers.

    Year 4 : Same deal, US and Europe but mostly France. Really got into sours and saisons and was able to overcome my hop addiction. Well at least working my way down from DIPA to IPA as a preference. (Although, these days, the IPA abv average is closer to 7% which is just a hair away from DIPA.) Started working at a bottle shop in France, learning a lot about what I like and what I don't. At this point I finally slowed down the "try everything mentality". Fuck the spreadsheet, I don't have time for it and I'm trying way too many samples to catalog them.

    Year 5 : Finally have my work visa, spent an entire year in Europe. Beer festivals, traveling more, working at the bottle shop and a beer bar in Paris. I still love all these heavy beers, but man, I just don't want to drink them. Where's a nice Pils, Pale, Wheat, Bitter that I can actually just drink and enjoy it without thinking about it too much. Started my own "brand" collaboratively brewing in France with friends that have breweries. Then my wife and I moved to Germany so it's a good thing I'm still not on the BA RIS/Barleywine. Granted, I've got to do some hunting around to find the good stuff here as dist. is limited. But, just in case I do want a nice fresh IPA or tart little saison, let's hope the homebrew covers that.

    Where do I see it in the next five years : I have no idea, but I just hope that I am still able to work in the industry and hopefully brewing commercially. Aside from that, I'll be curious to see what beers I am enjoying. Maybe it will come full circle and I will end up appreciating the styles that I STILL don't really care for. (Browns, Scotch ales, classical Belgians like blondes, dubbels, trippels, and quads.) Granted, one of my favorite things to do is drink locally when I travel as it makes for memorable memories, so when in Belgium those styles are a bit more appealing.
     
    #23 pixieskid, Dec 5, 2013
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2013
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  4. utopiajane

    utopiajane Initiate (0) Jun 11, 2013 New York

    Year One - started around thanksgiving of last year. Got so excited about beer that I decided to try every single one. I have been on a year long festival of all things beer. I have made a few decisions. I do not want to be a ticker. I think that I am now ready to enjoy good beer and not have to buy a different one every time I go to the store. After all a quest isn't about how many but how well or something like that right? I will still sample new beers just at a much slower pace. Also I have decided to pair beer with food and to learn how to do that well is worthwhile. I've decided to support my locals when ever possible because of the excitement I have found in beer. If those fellows have half the enthusiasm that I do, and I know they do, then trying their beer and supporting their efforts and the local economy is a very good thing. I've decided to read more on the subject of beer in general.

    Where do I see myself in 5 years- I hope that in five years I will be right where I am now. On a journey of discovery, learning and friendship with all the people I have met through my love for beer that will last my entire life.
     
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  5. rozzom

    rozzom Pooh-Bah (2,534) Jan 22, 2011 New York
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Nice.

    Year 1 - moved from Scotland to Newcastle (England) for university. Continued bad habit of drink-mixing, cheap vodka pre-gaming and generally overdoing it, but in the process came across cask beer (which was less common in Scotland at the time, at least the part I'm from), and found I preferred it to anything else.

    Year 5 - was living in London. Still drinking a lot of cask and loving it. Had also developed a taste for some German/Belgian beers, and had visited both countries. But at this point was still under the common misconception that US = Bud.

    Year 7 (bear with me - this is relevant) - following a work trip to the States, had started a long-distance relationship with an American (now wife). On one trip to see her, tried this beer at a bar (PDT of all places NYC'ers - when it was cool of course). It was called Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. First lightbulb moment pertaining to US beer.

    Year 10 - living in NYC at this point. A couple of years earlier, Arrogant Bastard (second lightbulb) from my local bodega, and then an apartment with close proximity to the Blind Tiger, led me to Beer Advocate and full beer geek status. Year 10 was the year I discovered Hill Farmstead. Third and final 200W lightbulb moment.

    Year 12 (present day) - missing UK cask beer. Loving the US scene (I think I've always had a decent balance between enjoying local and seeking out the harder to find stuff). 4th trip to VT and 3rd trip to NoCal both happening in the next 6 months. Trying (unsuccessfully) to persuade my wife we should move to either state. Wishing brewers would add some more low-ABV options into the mix.

    OP - let's all hear your story.
     
    #25 rozzom, Dec 5, 2013
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2013
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  6. AlcahueteJ

    AlcahueteJ Grand Pooh-Bah (3,088) Dec 4, 2004 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I'm glad everyone is enjoying this! I realized the other day there's so many new members, and older ones as well, it'd be nice to hear everyone's story. Especially considering how rapidly the beer landscape is changing in the US today.

    I will tell my own story later on today, I didn't have time last night, or at the moment. And in addition to that, I look forward to picking through this thread, looks great so far!
     
  7. AlcahueteJ

    AlcahueteJ Grand Pooh-Bah (3,088) Dec 4, 2004 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Ok, here goes...

    Year 1: A year out of college, I had money to blow. I could finally afford more than Keystone! Started googling "best beers" and eventually saw the "Top 100" on Beeradvocate. I had never heard of any of these beers. I want to say Stone Russian Imperial Stout and Westvleteren 12 were the top beers. I started seeking out as many top beers as I could get, but this was 2004 and the beer landscape was rapidly changing....

    Year 5: 2009. I was fully immersed in everything craft and Beeradvocate. I had attended multiple beer fests, had thousands of beers across multiple styles and loved all of it. Especially IPAs.

    Year 10: Starting my tenth year drinking craft beer this month. And the biggest change occurred the last five years. I traveled, started homebrewing, and started to learn more about beer than I ever had before. Munich made me fall in love with Helles, and soon after any "authentic" pilsner I could get my hands on in the US. NERAX made me adore English cask ale. Slowly but surely I began appreciating subtler, lower abv styles. Even the higher abv styles were those that were extremely complex (quads, doppelbocks....etc.), rather than hoppy, "intense", and/or barrel-aged.

    Also, I got older. The idea of true "sessions" became more appealing to me. When I started I was 22. I'd buy a six pack of Storm King Imperial Stout, and another six pack of Bigfoot Barleywine and think nothing of it. Now? I almost exclusively drink beers under 6%, and oftentimes 5% or under. Not only has this helped me appreciate more delicate flavors in beers, but I'm not hungover anymore! This happened out of necessity, but I don't regret this path at all.

    My piece of advice to anyone who is new to the beer scene? Never stop learning, it's a life long hobby that goes beyond ticking and trying as many beers are you can in the top 250. That list is going to constantly change. Learn as much as you can about brewing, history, and other countries' beers. It's worth it.
     
  8. mmmbirra

    mmmbirra Initiate (0) Apr 19, 2009 Italy

    Pre 2004 or 2005 Lots and lots of Budweiser(american) Bud light MGD High Life Olympia(for a period) and other sub-par beer.
    2005? - 2008 Drank lots of Sierra Nevada pale ale, Anniversary ale, celebration, and dogfish head 60 minute IPA. Still pounding lots of swill back where I grew up during the summer months.
    2008 - 2010 Started working at a massive beer, wine, and liquor store where I became the 'beer guy.' Really into Belgian beer, big bitter IPAs, and American Pilsners during the summer. Stone IPA, Ruination, Smuttynose Finest Kind, Three Philosophers, Old Horizontal, Sly Fox Pikeland Pils, Prima Pils.
    2010 - present Moved to Italy and dabbled in the Italian craft scene which does have some gems, but its high price and my low income had me turning more and more to German and Czech beer which while still much more expensive than north of the Alps is cheap compared to good Italian beers. Lots of Schlenkerla, Augustiner, Shneider, Budweiser Budvar, Pilsner Urquell, Paulaner Hefe, and so on. Still enjoy many of the European lagers I have access to, recently a bar has had Uerige Alt on tap, but get a hankering for a good American IPA from time to time. Luckily these days there are good Italian ones on tap at quite a few local pubs.

    Ahh yes and I got into homebrewing after moving to Italy, with varying levels of success. When they're good they're really good, but I've had quite a few duds as well.
     
  9. azorie

    azorie Pooh-Bah (2,409) Mar 18, 2006 Florida
    Pooh-Bah

    There was not a craft beer in 1964....so I had no idea about beer it was just beer. I discovered ales in the UK in 1971 and then Belgium beer, then German beer. I drank imports mainly if I drank beer for years. Then BBC (SAM Adams lager) hit. then the stock ale I was hooked. (1986 or so) I cannot remember it all that clearly TBH. never had a Ballantine though I had seen it advertised. Seen a whole lot of ocean in the navy 1970 to 1992. drank allot of beer.:grinning:

    after that I started buying a MJ book here and there. just another boring story if you ask me.:rolling_eyes::grinning:

    so , my American craft story started in 1986-1987. i wrote down in a few memo pads things about beer over the years, nothing anyone but me cared about. things changed here big time in the 2000, more beer.
     
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  10. GG_ALLINS_GHOST

    GG_ALLINS_GHOST Initiate (0) Nov 27, 2013 Colorado

    Year 1: Tried the offerings from Sweetwater Brewery and fell in love

    Year 5: Got to college and had little money, craft beer was a luxury, I usually drank Budweiser:slight_frown: However, living in Fort Collins we did get kegs from New Belgium and Odell's sometimes, that was always a treat. Also when new Belgium had free tastings I would go drink small amounts of craft beer for free.

    Year 10: Have a job and money, start trying craft beers again.

    Year 11: Obsessed with trying every craft beer I can get my hands on!
     
  11. YogiBeer

    YogiBeer Initiate (0) May 10, 2012 Illinois

    About 5 years in, I don't really buy bombers at all anymore... unless it's something I absolutely want.
     
  12. dbol

    dbol Initiate (0) Aug 19, 2007 California

    When I started nearly 10 years ago I wanted to try everything, a few years in I worked out what I liked and began being seduced by 'rarer' beers. Now I'm less interested in going out of my way or standing in line to get highly prized stuff and tend to look for overlooked gems on the shelf and whatever is coming out fresh. This is a lot easier on the wallet, too.
     
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  13. Celtics76

    Celtics76 Pooh-Bah (1,769) Sep 5, 2011 Rhode Island
    Pooh-Bah Society

    It's been a slow climb..

    Year One (1998) - Miller Light, Coors Light, Bud Light
    Year Two (1999) - Same but added Sam Adams Boston Lager
    Year Five (2003) - Mainly Sam Adams Boston Lager and all the SA Seasonals.
    Year Ten (2008) - Finally gave up the macros (for the most part) - started the "hop phase" - discovered IPAs like HopDevil, 60 Minute; DIPAs like 90 Minute and Ruination. Supplemented with SA seasonal mix packs, Guinness. Also started doing mix-a-sixes to try as many beers as possible.
    Year Thirteen (2011) - Started tracking beers here on BA and later, Untappd. Started to delve into foreign stuff - Belgians, Trappist Ales, German (mainly Weihenstaphaner), English (Samuel Smith), while still entrenched in the "hop phase".
    Year Fifteen (2013) - Hop phase ended, though I still love IPAs, just not as often. A more balanced lineup. Really starting to like stouts of all kinds - Irish (Murphy's), Chocolate (Samuel Smith), Imperials (Founders) etc. Also brewed my first 2 homebrew batches (both Irish stouts)
    Year Sixteen and Beyond (2014+) - I'm pretty much into everything at this point, but I have yet to get into sours. That may be the next logical step. I'm also going to cut back a bit, as too much of anything can cause burnout. At times this past year, I felt I was getting to that point.

    It's been great overall!
     
  14. TheElbow

    TheElbow Initiate (0) Sep 3, 2013 California

    Year 1: Sam Adams is so much better than Miller Light.

    Year 5: I really like these beers here in San Diego.

    Year 7: Oh, these beers are all called "craft beers." Well, they taste very good.

    Year 8: Belgian beers are the only beers.

    Year 9: Seasonal drinking. BA stouts. Also, I have too much beer.
     
  15. ImperatorScab

    ImperatorScab Pundit (785) Jul 15, 2013 Tennessee

    I'm a total newbie when it comes to craft beer. I think I'm going on year 2, now, if I'm remembering my general dates correctly.

    But, to give perspective between then and now, I'd say this:

    Then: Whatever it is, I'll try it. I have no preference on style or brewery, if I haven't had it, I want it.

    Now: Whatever it is, I'll try it. However, there are definitely styles I gravitate towards because I've learned that I regularly like them the most, (hefeweizens and stouts) and at least one style I tend to avoid because it's not usually outstanding to me. (AAL) Now I notice the subtle flavors in beer a lot better than I ever had, like picking up specific malty, hoppy, coffee, chocolate, grassy, clove, etc flavors. So yeah, in a nutshell, I learned which styles I like the best and my palate has become more sensitive.
     
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  16. QuakeAttack

    QuakeAttack Pooh-Bah (1,999) Mar 19, 2012 California
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I'm old. So, I will try to keep to brief:

    High School/College (1980-1986): Craft Beer didn't exist. Henry Weinhard's was probably the closet at the time. We called it "old wood" for it's, ah, unique taste. In college, a wise classmate bought a keg of Optimator our junior year for a Octoberfest Party. While not craft beer, it opened my eye's to real beer.

    Nirvana Moment (1986): Did the backup through Europe for a couple of months. Got to taste real beer. English bitters. German beers. Missed Belgium. Very depressed to go back to the USA to drink primarily piss water.

    Early Craft Beer (1986-1992): Started drinking SN (Pale Ale, Porter, Stout), Redhook (ESB), and Pete's Wicked Ale. About 50%-50% between craft and European beer consumed. Tried Sam Adams, but was never a big fan.

    Married w/Kids (1992-2010): I kept drinking SN, but stopped with Redhook. I would try a few "new" beers like New Beligium, but the rotation was primarily SN (what you could get at the supermarket). With four kids over the period, we didn't get to bars at all. Plus, I'm fundamentally cheep.

    Craft Beer Nirvana Moment (2011): Happened to be at the Public House at AT&T Park. Ordered Stone Double Bastard and Ballast Point Victory at Sea. Holy beep. Realized the I could afford bombers even with kids going off to college (I.e. just as much as paying for a beer at a bar).

    Today (2011-2013): Didn't go wild, but would go to BevMo and local shops on a weekly basis. Stone, BallastPoint, AleSmith, Lost Abbey, North Coast, etc. Went to first beer festival at SN this past October and had a blast. Went to Hair of the Dog when in Portland. Life is good.
     
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  17. duchessedubourg

    duchessedubourg Savant (1,157) Nov 2, 2007 Vermont

    Twenty-five years ago one of New England's first brewpubs opened in Burlington, and I fell for drinking craft on tap for the duration. Which inspired me fifteen years ago to start homebrewing as our state had an ABV limit at that time of 6%, keeping many styles out of consumer's reach. Ten years ago I started becoming most interested in Belgian-style beers, and other traditional imported styles. My "local" consumption was limited to Magic Hat, Otter Creek, Ommegang, and Unibroue. More brewpubs opened at that point and I began to lose interest in homebrewing because I could buy the styles I didn't have the patience to brew & age myself. Five years ago, VT became awash in great beer at brewpubs, and with the ABV cap lifted to 12%, we could get most anything we liked at retail, both domestic and imported. Now I drink mostly sours, brett and Belgian styles (both domestic & imported,) rarely homebrew, and support every quality brewpub I can here in VT, and when I'm traveling.
     
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  18. Lare453

    Lare453 Pooh-Bah (2,822) Feb 1, 2012 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I have a similar timeline, still trying to drink all that stuff I got in year 2. Lol

    Year three, add sours.
     
  19. qcbrewer

    qcbrewer Pooh-Bah (1,979) Dec 3, 2010 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    Fantastic topic. I apologize now for this being too long, but I couldn't help but be wordy... Seriously, I'm sorry!

    Year 1: Birmingham Bridge Tavern, Pittsburgh, PA - 2003. At the time Yuengling was my absolute go to, mixed in with Molson XXX ($2 special on 50 cent taco night), Miller Lite, and Rolling Rock. My new found "Cheers" of a bar then had a contest entitled "Drink Your Way Around The World", in which 10 beers from all over the world were to be consumed, and the reward was a plastic Viking helmet. Some of these included Edmund Fitz, La Fin Du Monde, Fosters, Guinness, Blue Moon and Sierra Nevada. Based on popularity, this expanded to a second round of 20 more beers (a cheap plastic sword was given out), and then yet again for another 20 more (where a cheap Halloween style skull chalice was given out). Those who finished the entire set within a specific time frame (I think 3-4 months) were then invited to a Vikings Only party with a lot of free good beer.

    I haven't been the same since. From that point on I was hunting out new beers to try and La Fin Du Monde, Edmund Fitz, Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout, and many others quickly became my new go to beers.

    Years 2 and 3: Continued to go to the "BBT" during my time in Pittsburgh, and tried everything under the sun. Troegs' Nugget Nectar became a regional favorite, but Great Lakes continues to this day as one of my favorite breweries (if not the over all favorite). I began home brewing in 04 with a good friend (although, at that point I was certainly just the apprentice and only assisted in his creations - which were fantastic, and I'm sure still are although I don't get to have them as often anymore since I moved).

    Year 4-6: I moved to NC where the beer/brewing scene was on the cusp of explosion. The "Pop The Cap" legislation to get beers over 6% had passed a year before, and from what I remember, NC had roughly 20 breweries as a whole (fast forward to the present, NC now has 94 breweries, with another 15 planned to open within a year or so). By this time I became more focused on styles, with IPAs, Porters, and Stouts as overall favorites with the occasional seasonals in the line up.

    Without my old BBT to help guide the way by getting in new styles and brews every week, I think I stalled a little bit at this point. Brixx (a good pizza place with a good beer selection) was all I really had nearby, and those choices were fairly limited, but they were certainly solid choices. Good news is that I had now access to 6ers (PA law in 03-05 didn't make buying anything but a case easy/cheap), so I would purchase primarily favorites during this period. Slowly I became more of a Localvore in my purchases.

    Shortly after moving to NC I started home brewing with a good friend, but honestly, while we certainly bought our fair share of expensive equipment, I just don't think we've ever maintained good consistency. I still brew today, but FAR less than we did during years 4-8.

    Year 7-8:
    While in previous years I was VERY into beer and took every opportunity to brew, try new beers, hit up local beer fests to try the newest from the newest brewery in the state - it took meeting BA member Kell50 (shout out!) at a new brewery tasting to really get me where I am today. Finding someone who was as interested in beer as I was/am has been great. At the time he was more into Wheat/White/Hefe's and knew a slew about the Belgian styles. I was still more well versed in the American styles of IPAs, Stouts, Porters, and misc. Now, I'm not saying that it wouldn't have happened on our own, but he's now really into resin-y IPAs and loves stouts, and I have really grown to love saison's and the whole Belgian family (still not into the wheat area though).

    Now we have bottle shares with friends on a regular basis and BA talk is pretty much ALWAYS on the docket. The BA forum conversations, which beers we need to get our hands on, over hyped beers, style trends, and brewery openings are constantly talked about - and I love it. Heck, that was most of our conversations last night at the now favorite beer bar, Duckworth's. Meeting Kell50 and starting to go to Duckworth's (60+ taps of some amazing stuff) has gotten me where I am today.

    Years 9-present: This fall I reached 10 years of craft beer and I couldn't be happier with this wonderful hobby. As some of you may know, I now have a job that allows me to travel within a huge area of the country, so this year's goal has been to visit as many breweries as possible. As of today, I've been to 130 different breweries (not counting multiple visits - which have certainly happened). In doing this I get to taste great local beers that NC, and many other places, just can't get. While I'm still a localvore (there is always something made in NC within my fridge), I love tasting what others consider local, and being there in the brewery is a great to experience the whole package.

    Half of my wardrobe is brewery T-shirts I've collected over the past 10 years, I have over 20 signs/mirrors, my brewery glass collection is well over 75 (of last count), I have a brewery bottle opener collection, this past May I built a bottle cap table with over 900 bottle caps (in the shape of NC representing close to 75 different breweries, and with Kell50 there are plans to make some corn hole boards out of cans as well. I'm a little obsessed.

    My styles are all over the place and primarily seasonal, but I'll NEVER turn down an Edmund Fitz or La Fin Du Monde to this day. These days, hops and stouts still reign, but I am more and more interested in different sours, "fruit" beers, and experimental ales - which, in my opinion, follows the industry as a whole.


    Craft beer, my friends, is a wonderful thing. As I drink a Firestone Double Jack - here's to the next 10 years and beyond...
     
  20. AlcahueteJ

    AlcahueteJ Grand Pooh-Bah (3,088) Dec 4, 2004 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Don't apologize! It's YOUR story, and it was an enjoyable read.

    Cheers![/quote]
     
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