Mistakes you made when you were first drinking craft beer?

Thinking Boston Beer Company was the greatest brewery in the world.

 

That's funny. I went to a bottle store once in March looking for BCBS and the owner laughed and stated that was gone in November. He told me he had a list and i needed to be on the list. That's when the game changed for me. I found the best store in my area(best selection and prices) and became loyal to that store, needless to say I get BCBS now.

 

Biggest mistake was not getting into them sooner!

 

Buying over hyped beer based on BA ratings...

 

Understanding how much more complex a beer can get. The in depth profiles that are pulled out when more choicer ingredients are being used in the Brewing process.

 

I was so anxious to try as many different beers as possible so that I bought nothing but singles or variety packs without doing any advance research. Not being so knowledgeable back then, if a label identified a style but had no real description of taste, etc, it didn't help me enough to make good decisions about my purchase selections. I ended up getting wilds, sours, lambics, etc. before my palate was ready for them, and before I appreciated them (yuck). To do it right, some organization of style progression is highly recommended for any noobies reading this.

 

Not knowing to check dates.

 

chugging

 

Having a session with 8% ABV beers while watching the soccer match ....

 

Being a huge fan of fresh ipa style brews yes msscott I agree the difference between a fresh squeezed ipa and an outdated one are two different ball parks. Possibly two different games if you know what I'm saying.

 

I probably drank Pale Ales and IPA's for ~10 years before I ever realized what fresh hops tasted like in a hop forward beer (i.e. within 2-3 months old of bottle date). Flying Dog Raging Bitch (local) was the first I ever got from a bottle shop shelf that was reasonably fresh in the 2005-2007 timeframe.

When I have a stale ale now-adays, it tastes just like all those IPA's I had from 1995-2005 timeframe!

 

In 2010 when I first discovered Beer Advocate, walking into my favorite local craft store with a printout of page 1 of the top 250 beers, and asking toe store working if they have any of these brews? Of course starting from #1-#20, I dont' recall if any were available. Quite embarrassing looking back.

 

Thinking that I knew how to taste beer. I got started with craft beer around 2004 and I've learned so much about the complexity of ales and lagers in that time. It's amusing to look back on some of my ratings and realize how ignorant I was. I will probably be able to say this again in another 12 years.

 

Locked myself into only drinking Pale Ales and IPAs. I wish I had tried more styles back then.

 

Taking so long to discover resources like BA to expand my knowledge of craft beer. For the longest time through the 2000's, I thought Sierra Nevada, Sam Adams, Sweetwater, etc were the extent of the craft beer world (not that there is anything wrong with those breweries). I travel a lot for work and thinking back on it now, I cringe at how many times I was within an hour of a world-class brewery and had no idea. For the past three years, I have rarely traveled for work without including a brewery stop somewhere into my itinerary.

Also, not having any idea about how freshness-sensitive some beers are. I used to pick up PAs and IPAs all the time without checking bottle dates.

 

Drinking everything too cold. That first Petrus Pale went right over my head.