How has BeerAdvocate impacted your life?

I'd say that BA has changed a big part of my life, if not my whole life.

Only a few months before becoming a member in 2015, I knew nothing about beer. Up to those times, I even disliked beer, or at least I thought I disliked it.
Once in a bar with some friends (in 2013 or 2014), I tried to have a beer, just to see If I still disliked it. And it was not that bad.
At this time I thought, well there might be something I've missed about beer. As I'm someone quite curious, I began at this time to look for some info about beer, its making, its history, etc. It's then that I've discovered BA.

When I discovered BA, a new door opened up to me. I think now that I'm quite an expert on beer matters and not only a beer enthusiast and it's almost all thanks to what I've learned on BA.
It changed my life on a personal level but also on a professional level.
Thanks to my knowledge piled up here on BA, I was hired as a brewer (and other matters) in one of the best French craft brewery (in my opinion). I don't work there anymore as I didn't find in my every day work plenty of satisfaction as an agronomy engineer graduate. But it definitely changed my professional life and I know that one day I will go back to a beer-related job.

In essence, BA hugely impacted my life, opening up doors to whole universes both at personal and professional levels.

Thank you BA! And Thank you especially to @Todd and @Jason for making it as it was some years ago and what it is today.

 

The knowledge of some posters would lead one to believe they have a degree in beer science. I’ve learned a lot, but only scratch the surface of what they know. If I was younger, didn’t live in a townhouse I might consider home brewing. A real education right there science mixed with theory. But canning dates never entered my mind as important in 2008, I thought ABs Born on Date useless crap. The different types of hops, how light and bottles colors effect the beer you drink. Just endless little tidbits of things. Start a thread of German beers and the real knowledge starts dropping, it’s just amazing.

 

Thanks for that new knowledge of our expanding lexicon of language. I promise I will use "kaker" in only special and apt situations. "Kaker" may be useful.

 

As you can see I've been on BA since 2006 but for at least a decade I just looked at the reviews of beers. I didn't even bother with the forums until recently because I didn't see an upside to them. I was wrong. Even though I've only met a couple BAs the camaraderie is easy to detect. Whenever I go someplace new on vacation I check out the regional forums for places to hit. The cellar reviews and online tastings are right in my wheelhouse. It's a good resource.

 

There is no doubt that BA makes my life more fun!

I noticed that the BA ratings correlated fairly well with my own opinions of various beers. It took a little time, but I but joined and I am glad I did! This group lends comfort and camaraderie which are things we all need.

BA made the last year more tolerable and I LOVE the virtual beer fests! Thanks Todd for organizing these! (So happy Half Time delivers to this part of Texas!)

I am looking forward to many more years of being a part of the BA community.

 

I def drink more beer since I’ve joined.

 

It all started back when I found the Cumberland Brews brewery in 19 ninety something. It was a craft brewery where the guy doing the brewing was brewing it in a half barrel in the front window of the brewery. His beers were so good, that I became dedicated to giving whatever extra cash I had to his brewery. (Cumberland called it quits in 2019, just before the pandemic. 19 year run for a restaurant/brewery with maybe 20 tables during the summer? Good life.)

When I moved away from the brewery, I found BA and started reviewing beverages. I became a beer hunter of sorts. One store catered to beer enthusiasts and allowed and encouraged single beer sales, and well I did it lots.

In the most recent years, I was at a beer testing party where the participants were using cell phones to "review" beers like it was a status symbol to say "I drank this here and it was good"

It's always how I see how a beer is for me and I write about it. Maybe not as often as I'd like, but I'm still here and I still love this place. Thanks! *raises a 24OZ Pabst because he can*

 

Jerry! Dark Staaaaar! Listening to 11/20/71 right now as I type this. 2nd Set just starting. Pauley Pavilion. Not the greatest sounding recording but a great sounding recording considering it was 1971 Cheers!

 

My first show was only a few months before that Pauley Pavilion show at Gaelic Park. I drank Budweiser mostly back then. Later on in the early 80's though many a great micro brew was enjoyed in Dead lot. My first time ever hearing of Sierra Nevada was when a guy gave me a Pale Ale in lot. BA was another step along the road to enjoying the finer beers in life. It's definitely been a transitive nightfall of diamonds.

 

Just curious, if Sierra Nevada would ever trade for anything back in the 80's (beer, tickets, cassettes, other goodies ). Let me preface that I have never seen Jerry Garcia but I've seen everyone else post '95.

 

Trade? I guess I can't answer that question. But in the early 80's the lot guys were selling it and also slinging Samuel Smith and Newcastle, others I can't remember. Gradually you started seeing more of the locals being brought across country on tour, and it certainly intrigued me, until it was "cool" to have that local micro brew in your hand, just like it started to do in the public at large

And let me make an admission too. Even though I got to see every lineup the Dead had, I got off the bus in '92 after becoming dissatisfied with getting a good show only one out of four, and watching Jerry Garcia kill himself in slow motion while we watched. Still love to listen occasionally, but so much great classical to catch up with

 

Thanks for the response. I ve seen Sammy and NewCastle on Phish lots in the late 90s so was curious to hear what you remember on Dead Lots. Not sierra. I think Sierra was distributed pretty widely on the east coast in the late 90s.

 

Interesting question. I would say being a BA member has been an enhancement to the small part of my life that is about beer. There's a broad base of knowledge to draw from - if you can't find it here, it probably doesn't matter when it comes to beer. The people are amazing and the forums are (in my opinion) well-moderated and reasonably civilized (I have been on some absolutely horrible and almost terrifying similar forums). Even though I've never met anyone face-to that I know of and am somewhat of an introvert, it seems there are kindred spirits in this on-line environment - something as simple as enjoying similar styles leads to a feeling of being connected.

Although I spend a lot of time here (reading more than posting these days), I find it adds some perspective. It's a great outlet to hop on here during a hard day and relax for a few minutes and think of something else. Also, in an odd way, my beer drinking has actually decreased. When I joined, it was almost a mania to try whatever I could get my hands on, and there were a lot of pointless swings. BA has helped me to refine my taste and focus on finding the right beer for the right time - whether that is just chilling after a day of yard work or a BBQ or a more "formal" dinner or special occasion. On average, I drink less beer but of higher quality and more suited to my tastes.

Oh - original find of the site - I was starting my foray into good beer and was figuring there must be a way to keep track of what I had tried beyond building my own spreadsheet. Since then, I have learned about styles, what to look for, how to taste, how to identify flavors and what should be in a particular beer.

 

THIS! This is the kind of post that adds a whole other dimension to this site that is rich in serious beer information. Sometimes I laugh more at BA posts than anything I find in the comics or on FB.

 

BeerAdvocate is a wonderful resource; particularly when contemplating a new selection, or as an aid
in making a choice amongst offerings at the local watering hole...

 

I've learned a lot about beer and the different styles from reviews and by other BA's comments.

I have been lucky to meet some really nice people and get to converse with a bunch of others on a daily basis.

This is one of the most generous communities around. People are so generous with sharing their gifts of art, talent and compassion. Cheers all!

 

For me it was one day I tuned my Sirius/XM and listened to a full concert and just kept listening from there. When I went back to Louisville for a visit and several beverages I realized "That!s Why He Called It Cumberland BREWS" Plus the bumper stickers he gave out said "If I knew The Way, I Would Take You Home."

 

My youngest daughter and her husband introduced me to craft beer about four years ago. While narrowing down the style of beers I enjoyed most I came across B/A which provided a great resource to help me dive deeper into the craft beer world. Last year I retired and decided to commit to joining B/A mainly so I would have a library at my fingertips when I go beer shopping because I got to the point I was repeating skunky beers. I enjoy trying new brews but I hate buying one that had already struck out in my opinion. I never read reviews before I purchase a brew but I like to see how closely mine stack up to others. What better way to enjoy my retirement years than to drink more great beers!!!!!