What was the first craft beer you remember trying? I think my first was an Alaskan amber or a fat tire. Looking back, was probably in the late 90’s. Fond memories with my dad and those beers still exist to this day—cool they are still in existence. What was your first craft beer? Any story behind it? Any special connection to this day?
Not craft per se but my first, "theres different beer out there" aha moment was thanks to Yuengling; first craft was probably Long Trail Ale, or SNPA; no way of knowing for sure though I go with Long Trail because they are what really made me turn the page to solely craft beer.
I didn't have my first craft beer until I was in my upper 20's. I believe it was Green Flash WCIPA. Love at first sip for the style & a whole new world of beer, in general. I never looked back. Cheers!
Not sure it would be considered 'craft', but probably Prior Double Dark. Even when we were teens, mostly quaffing Genny and Miller, if we saw something different, we'd grab it. It was news when Rolling Rock started showing up in the mid 70s.
Not beer, but root beer. Brewpubs back in the early 90s usually had a housemade root beer. Since it was a special occasion when my dad to me to these places and he'd talk about how much better the beer was, and the root beer was different than what I was used to, I followed the logic when I got old enough to drink. First "different" beer? Either Guinness Extra Stout or Michelob Black and Tan when I was 16. First actual craft? Lost to time.
I think it was Atlanta based brewery Red Brick Brewing (later Atlanta Brewing Co.) Red Brick Ale. But it was not that memorable. What really cinched it for me was Anchor Steam Beer. In the early 90's my dad and I were on a business trip in San Leandro, CA. We had not long checked into our hotel and asked the desk attendent where to go eat. He sent us up the street to a seafood restaurant. We sat down and wanted a CA beer, so the waiter suggested and brought us two Anchor Steam. We took a swig and both looked at each other at the same time and said "wow, this is great!" After we got back to GA, I looked for it was pleased to find it at some nearby stores. I had seen it before but never gave it a though. A nice memory I share with my dad. We just had Augustiner Helles this evening for an early Father's Day celebration. Cheers!
Nothing much better than having beers with your dad. Almost a right of passage - you've reached manhood.
Below is something I posted over 10 years ago: “I drank a lot of Rolling Rock before I ‘discovered’ craft beer. The first craft beer that I started drinking was Stoudts Gold (which was first brewed in 1987) and then I started drinking Brooklyn Lager and Sam Adams Boston Lager. I then ‘graduated’ to ales such as SNPA.” Those beers back in the latter 1980’s and early 1990’s were categorized as microbrewed beers then. Cheers!
Because it’s still a fond memory, I’m copying and pasting my post from a similar BA thread in 2018: Definitely, no doubt -- it was sipping a Snake River Brewery Zonker Stout, at the brewery in Jackson, Wyoming, some years ago, on a sunny afternoon, outside on the ground level, sitting at one of their picnic tables, under one of their sun umbrellas, with the Teton Range in the background. It's an experience I look forward to repeating each year when we vacation there.
Not exactly craft but I remember Michelob used to sell variety packs with 4 different styles. That woke me up to different styles and it was off to the races. The first true craft was an Ohio brewery called Buckeye Brewing. They had an IPA that would be tame by today's standards but i liked the bitterness. I don't think they're still around. After that I migrated to Sam Adams and Lagunitas.
A craft brewery had recently opened in town, Arcadia Brewing with a British ales-inspired line-up, and I had been an AAL drinker all my life. I was curious about beers beyond MGD so I took the family out to dinner there. I had no idea what to order so the server recommended a sampler flight. I remember that it had their London Porter, the IPA and probably the Oatmeal Stout and the Pale Ale. I recall liking the porter, hating the IPA (grapefruit flavored beer?!) and I don't recall my reaction to the other two. So I ordered the porter each time I returned until I developed a taste for everything else.
Lagunitas IPA, probably around 2006 or 2007. The first beer I ever really enjoyed. I started ordering it whenever I could, which at the time in Sonoma County was absolutely everywhere. It was at least a year before I learned that IPA was a style of beer and not just the name of that one. Russian River was responsible for that realization.
I guess our homebrew in 70 doesn't count. Nobody else's intro was Anchor Steam? There must be people around who grew up in California. We tried it early 70's when it arrived in bottle in San Diego. We might have seen an Anchor neon earlier, but it was probably draft in a biker bar that we didn't dare enter. Next was probably New Albion Ale at the Brickskeller in DC (beer was probably too old?). In about 80 we ran across Cartwright Portland Beer on vacation in Portland. We bought the beer at the supermarket, but also met Coury at the brewery.
