What was your gateway craft beer?

Imported German Lagers were my intro and once I got the taste have never gotten my fill.

 

My first memories that I can pull up are fall tour Phish concerts in the early 90's with Harpoon IPA and Sam Octoberfest in my back pack, no need for a cooler in Worcester, MA in late fall, which I guess was "Craft Beer" at that point, and then Sierra Nevada Pale was it for me for a long time but when I moved to San Fran in 2010 and had Pliney the Elder I think that's where I really got into it and man it has really exploded between now and then.... and I love it! #hoppybeer

 

Samuel Smith Nut Brown was the first beer that got me into craft.

 

Starting in undergrad in Stillwater, OK and finishing in grad school at Davis, CA.

Labatt Blue --> Shinerbock --> Guiness/Boston Lager --> SNPA/Black Butte Porter --> Racer 5/GF WCIPA/Stone IPA --> Ruination/PtE ...

 

I avoided lagers (and by extension, most German beers) for the longest time. Then on a whim, I bought Paulaner Salvator, Ayinger Dunkel, and Kostrizer Schwarzbier and had them all that night. Remember thinking, "This is... different" but not exactly falling in love with them, either (didn't help that I drank out of bottle).

Really finding I enjoy Helles and Pils, which is almost opposite from what I started out with (brown ales, porters, stouts). Just because its light in color...

 

Anchor Steam when it started appearing on the East Coast in the way, way back, but also Blue Point Hoptical Illusion, more than a decade ago, when Blue Point was still an independent. Gustatory gold, both.

 

Hoegaarden.

 

For me it was Widmer Drifter and Dead Lift....

 

Killians was one of the early brews I had as well... It was also a great "gateway" beer to introduce to others who only drank swill.

 

I wish I could remember. If I had to "guess" what good beer tasted good from the start, maybe Boston Ale from Sam Adams? But that was many, many moons ago.

 

Mac & Jack's African Amber was the first American craft beer I tried, and I instantly loved it.

But the first brew I tried and really liked was Ayinger Brauweisse.
And it's still one of, if not my favorite go-to beer even to this day.

 

In college I typically drank Busch Light, Bud Light if feeling fancy.

Discovered Mich Amberbock about the time I was graduating and really liked that.

Then Fat Tire. Drank a lot of Fat Tire.

Then Sam Adams Octoberfest. I'd buy cases of that towards the end of the season.

Now I'll swing by the store several time per week and make it a point to stop at liquor stores when out of town for work or play!

 

After Pensacola, I was then stationed in Jacksonville. There was a german restaurant in the mall (Mr. Dunderbak's Regency Square Mall) that I used to go to all the time. They had some great dark German lagers on draft (Hacker-Pschorr dark was my favorite at the time). If you bought a stein you could get free or very inexpensive draft during happy hour.

 

The first beers that got me into beer were actually Canadian (Moosehead, Molson, Labatt) but I don't know that I'd call them craft beers, it was just that they showed me that beers can taste different, and were (in my opinion) better than American beers at the time.

Beyond that there were three beers that I really enjoyed, all English, and again, not quite craft brews in terms of what most people think of as craft brews but you get the idea. They were John Courage, Whatney's Red Barrel, and Whitbread. Whitbread was brewed with a dual yeast strain and was a little bit different than the others. At first it was my least favorite, but then I learned to love it and now I yearn for it although it's now lost forever.

 

Probably a toss up between Surly Furious or Founders All Day IPA for the IPA side of the game. I believe I can trace back my adventure into Stouts with a visit to a once Local Old Chicago(Eagan, MN). It was around Halloween 2014 I believe, and they had Surly Darkness on tap(hard to believe an Old Chicago actually curated an awesome beer for once). A guy sitting next to me at the bar said I needed to try it, and the rest is history.

That Old Chicago location did an amazing job with their beer selection. Sadly it closed a couple years back....

 

BP Sculpin - I went to my first GABF in 2012 with a friend who is in the industry. We did the Rare Beer event and hit up various bars but my 'Whoa' moment was when I had my first taste of Sculpin on the convention floor. From that point forward, I couldn't wait to have it again. When I finally learned it was going to be distributed in Chicagoland, I was hooked and ready to buy more. Fast forward and now I'll drive a few hours, wait in lines, and trade for beer.

 

Turned 21 when I was going to school in Davenport, Iowa and started drinking craft almost immediately. Don't know if this was the first beer, but we DID drink A LOT of Boulevard back then, which was one of the only craft brewers with a decent presence there with BBC, Sierra Nevada, and Anchor rounding out the craft footprint, IIRC. Mid to late 90s for those scoring at home.

 

Laguanitas little sumpin sumpin. Drank it one time wanting to try something different at a food truck park in SF. Opened up the door to trying new beers. I've settled on ipas and stouts but starting to try sours/wild ales. I still have a place for Modelo especial for those warm to hot days though.

 

Anchor Steam Beer that was in1976 and it was the only craft beer.