Do you remember what got you into craft beer?

Was never a BMC drinker, I was always searching for something better, then I discovered 4pks of Founders Breakfast Stout and Three Floyds Brewpub. It's been a wonderful, albeit expensive, discovery.

 

I remember looking through a breakage section on discount and found a DFH Raison D'Etre, and 90 minute. I though about giving them a try since those were the first beers I had seen at 8 and 9% ABV. Those two made it much harder to enjoy BMC after that.

 

i was thrust into the position of being a beer manager at a store with no knowledge about beer other than I knew how to get drunk for cheap (something I learned from my college days) I tried and tried styles I knew that were lighter to try and grasp at something and it was Full Sail Amber that spoke to me. Still to this day i love that beer.

 

I decided to give my british lineage some respect by getting good ol' Newcastle in high school('93-95). It was good and tasty, unlike the domestic bullshit, and made me realize that with beer you don't need to drink piss water to get drunk!

 

Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

Still a damn mighty fine beer....

 

Fat Tire and Spotted Cow

 

My first craft beer purchase was RR Pliny and Redemption at Tom's Farms after playing a round of golf at Glen Ivy. I wasn't into beers at all. Both Pliny and Redemption tasted so different than what I had in the past that I ended up researching and found something called "craft beers." And, haven't looked back...

 

Orlando Brewing's Blackwater Dry Porter is I would have to say what got me into craft beer. I have to say now CCB is my favorite brewery just because it is close, they are very creative, and I haven't had the chance to branch out into much else. I would love to get my hands on some FBS

 

Was drinking Sierra Nevada's in phish lot and then had my first taste of Cantillon in Oct 2011.

 

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

 

Miller Lite. Hated it and then I progressed to Amber Bock -> New Castle/Heineken -> Craft

 

Sam Adams in the early 90s, but as far as local microbrews, I tried a Marthasville ale at a small bar in the Atlanta suburbs in the mid-90s and started drinking their beer. Marthasville was the first craft brewery in Atlanta supposedly. Unfortunately the brewery didn't survive for long, but Sweetwater came along shortly afterward and was a more than worthy successor.

 

Drink a Dink, baby!!! Dinkel Acker mini-kegs, way back when- and it was quite the bitter/hoppy dry Pils at the time. Then on to their Dark (Dunkel) and very tasty Oktoberfest.

I'll also never forget my first Guinness Extra Stout- the guy who gave me one was all "hey- if you like that dark stuff this'll knock you out." And it did- it became my beer of choice for tailgating, concerts, parties for a while there. Good times...

 

After college, my job was right down the street from a brewpub (RAM Restaurant & Brewery), would go there with co-workers for quite a many happy hours that first summer and drink up their Hefeweizen $2 pints / $3 mugs on Tuesdays was a fantastic deal!

 

Never really drunk anything else for half a century. Round here we escaped the "keg revolution"
The small local regional breweries back then would be regarded as craft these days and a few of them are still around.

 

A mix of Sam Adams, Blue Moon and Shock Top pulled me in. Then I got deep into Belgians and the rest is history. Hardest leap for me was getting into hoppy beers.

 

Just up until a few years ago, craft beer was non existent here in Puerto Rico, all we got were light lagers like medalla, coors, heineken and other stuff along those lines... I discovered a six pack of sam adams boston at a local wal-mart with a buddy of mine and the rest was history. Everything craft beer from there on out.

 

Weyerbacher's Double Simcoe IPA was my gateway.

 

Probably a tie between Bass Ale and Yuengling for me. My Dad always had Bass Ale in the fridge growing up, so it kind of opened my eyes early on to different types of beers out there. And in college I lived with a couple buddies, one of which was a big Yuengling guy. We always had cases of Yuengling Lager, Porter and Black & Tan in the fridge which helped me look past all the 30 packs and kegs of Red Dog/Natural Light, etc. that were everywhere and I never liked for obvious reasons. Sierra Nevada and Dogfish beers were next and the rest is history.

 

Affligem Noel opened me up to the fact that beer could have such complex flavors.