First beer to blow your mind.

This is a really, really tough call. But, two beers instantly came to mind. The first, a cliche, is PtE. It's fairly easy to get in Seattle (where I learned to love beer), but it was probably my first Beer True Love and taught me that I do, indeed, love hops. The second is La Folie. It was my introduction to sour beers, and made me go "I didn't know beer could be like this!" which very quickly started a mad love affair.

Shoot, as I was typing that, I remembered my first glass of Cascade Blackberry Nightfall. New Year's Eve 2009/2010. I remember saying something along the lines of "holy shit this is the most amazing beer ever."

 

White Birch Barrel -aged something or other (does it really matter which one?)

Had it at a tasting 3 yrs ago & it was so unbelievably bad, I've sworn off BA beers ever since. Admittedly I had several BA clunkers in a row but WB 's was the worst. Compounding the issue was that this abomination was selling tot $15 per bomber & had good reviews on BA. Started my crusade against over -priced crappy beer. )

 

First it was Hopslam, then FBS. Most recently had to be FW15 and Heady.

 

I'm going to show my age here, in college back in the early 90's, I worked at an organic deli. I thought fancy beer was simply imports. Corona, Becks, Molson etc. One of the guys who owned the deli told me that for $20, I could come to an after hours party where he was bringing "serious beer".

Sierra Nevada Pale and Porter, Pete's Wicked, Sam Adams Boston Lager and New Belgium Fat Tire. My mind was blown. This was in Norman, OK back in the day and none of this was available there. They would drive down to Dallas and pick some up. I rode along on the next run and scraped together enough $$ for a mixed sixer, a bomber of New Belgium Abbey and a short bottle of Chimay red.

That was almost 20 years ago and I'm still drinking and seeking this stuff out.

 

First to truly blow my mind was Peche Mortel on-tap in Montreal before I was even 21, it all started then.

 

Stone Double Bastard was what started everything for me. Mind blown recently by FW XV on tap, and from a bottle Bigfoot '12. Love being surprised by beer all the time!

 

90 minute at a fun summer wedding. Had tons of beer before but this was the first that stopped me in my tracks.

 

ommegang abbey ale. i moved to the US from australia nearly 8 years ago and the coopers range was about the best beer i'd ever had. one day in philly at the pizza shop i splashed out on a 'big bottle' that was lurking in the corner of the cooler. so many flavors that i hadn't experienced in a beer. after that i was hooked.

 

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. Sounded good when I first saw it on the shelf, tried it and hot damn! No looking back.

 

Probably Ommegang Ommegeddon for me. It was the first time I'd had a beer and my response was, "Wow. Wow . . . okay, wow." You know when you taste a beer, and try to take it slow because you want to savor it and dissect it, but you can't because it's so fucking good? Ommegeddon was the first time that happened for me.

Since then . . . Nugget Nectar, Heady Topper, Dark Matter, Piraat, De Graal SloCK, not sure what else. But yeah, Ommegeddon made a huge impression on me.

 

Hopslam has done it for me to

 

Sam Adams Cream Stout. It was the first beer that had enough complexity to it to make me raise an eyebrow. Still a very solid beer in my opinion.

 

Sweetwater IPA. I'd just turned 21, and although I lived in Canada for a while and was able to drink their I never had a favorite when it came to beer. I'd had IPA's before but it was a long time ago and I'm guessing I was too drunk to notice the flavor. SO much flavor, the bitterness, the availability, the look on my friends' face when they try it and fake vomit.. In the month and a half since I've been 21 I've had so many IPA's I can't even count... Although I like others better (Two Hearted Ale, Alexander Keiths IPA), sweetwater is the first beer that made me go wholly shit!
This is my first ever post on beer advocate, If you have any advice on how to do reviews let me know, I love drinking a new beer and then checking out the feedback for it on this site.

 

Hmm well I did have Chimay Blue, six months ago which was awesome and the second one just a month ago was Avery Mephistopholes Stout, which really f'ing blew my mind!

 

First beer that wowed me was a Chimay Grand Reserve on my 21st birthday. Been hooked on craft ever since.

 

Mine was the St. Bernardus 60th. Both are phenomenal beers!

 

was going to say the same thing, trying that on draft for the first time was just the beginning for me

 

Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ale and Oatmeal Stout are what made me realize how good beer could be, rescuing me from college crap beer, but once past that transitional zone, Nogne O God Jul was the first that made me say GOD DAMN! The next bottle was nowhere near as good, sadly. Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye made me sit up and go bazoom-zinnng and clap. Rochefort 6 made me actually chuckle with delight and admiration. Rogue Double Chocolate surprised me with its art.

 

Kentucky Breakfast Stout was, when I first tasted it, such a well-rounded, balanced and flavorful beer. Still is.

And very nice avatar, my friend!

 

BCBS [2008] was the first brew to amaze me as well- such a nicely-layered, booze-infused imperial stout (my first barrel-aged imperial stout, I believe). Another beer that I can vividly recollect is Deschutes' Lost Barrels of Mirror Mirror at Holiday Ale Fest '09. Ridiculously good!!