Hail and farewell, beers of my youth

Interesting story. For me it was a local beer, Choc 1919, that made me realize there was so, so, much more out there and I didn't have to just pound down the same swill every weekend... and it actually tasted like something.

 

Happy 60th Birthday
cheers!!!!

 

Bells Oberon. Simple and delicious.

 

SNPA. That was my genesis.

 

Riverwest Stein. First legal beer at my first bar ever.

 

Back around 1987 I knew nothing about beer besides Bud, Miller and Old Style. I met a guy named Rob who turned me on to a beer I had never heard of; Chimay. I remember being amazed at the floating clumps of yeast and the powerful flavor. Over the next 10 year s I mainly continued to drink BMC swill but had exposure to some Hefes and other good German beers in Milwaukee. In 1997 I moved to Rochester NY with my new bride and somehow discovered Beers of the World. I was mesmerized by the choices there and bought my first English beers. For the next 10 years BOTW became an annual pilgrimage at Christmas time to buy Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout and Taddy Porter but at this point beer was not part of my every day life. In 2011 the Department of Justice seized the online poker sites Pokerstars and Full Tilt. At the time I was an avid poker player and rarely drank alcohol as I wanted to be sharp mentally. I had started to build my bankroll and had dreams of becoming a professional poker player. When that ended I felt lost and lacked a passion or hobby. Somehow (and I don't remember) my love of beer was re-awakened. I started patronizing BOTW regularly and found Beer Advocate. After shooting in the dark, trying different beers I discovered Fuller's London Pride and my world changed instantly and forever. All of a sudden I wanted to drink beer all the time and started trying and sampling many different beers. After awhile I realized that English Beers were my favorites but soon grew to love many Belgian beers as well. Now beer is as much a part of my life as coffee or even food. I am passionate about beer, love it and don't ever want to go a day without it.

 

Life is short. Drink good beer. Happy almost birthday. Cheers.

 

happy birthday, b-one!

I wasn't a beer drinker for a lot of my drinking life - dry ciders were my preferred beverage. Then one day, a friend introduced me to cask conditioned Theakston's Old Peculier (brewed back when they were an independent brewery before the takeovers, mergers, divestments, then regaining their independence!)

I still love me some fermented apple juice, but these days I will be seen drinking something brewed by a craft brewery.

 

There were 2 beers in my fresh age of 19, Magic Hat #9 and Hoegaarden. Around the same span of time I discovered these, I discovered a local brew pub, Main St. Cafe (Willibrew) in Willimantic, Connecticut. The rest, as they say, is history.

I should add, before this, I didnt really drink beer. I was turned off by the Bud Light, corona, and Red Dog that kids were drinking.

 

For me, it might have been Pete's Wicked ale. First time I remember actually being able to identify that flavor of hops. I wonder what I would think if I tried one now. I haven't had it in almost 20 years.

 

i actually found myself thinking about Petes Wicked and Petes Wanderlust some time ago, wondering if it was still made.

 

happy beerday!

I was lucky as a young'un. I had a very ethnic (german) upbringing... so while everyone else was drinking the bud, schmidt's, and other mass produced brews, I grew-up w/ spaten, hofbrau, paulaner.

That being said, I never cared for them, and only drank bock beer (which eventually lead me to my current stout obsession). But still, my "swill" was still much better than others'.

 

Sounds like it just went out of distribution recently. I saw a six pack a year or two ago and had a laugh, but didn't buy it.

 

Rhino Chasers, Petes, Oasis, HC Berger , Sam Adams Honey Porter...
All my first forays into the world of great beers !!

 

Yeah, Gambrinus (ex-Corona importer, owner of Spoetzl, BridgePort and US Trumer) discontinued the Pete's line in March, 2011. They had bought the brand in 1998, when it was still among the top ten US 'craft' brewers and selling around a quarter million barrels a year.

 

My first foray into beer drinking was basically killing a 30 pack of 'Stones with my dorm buddies when I was too young and stupid to know better. In fact, those couple of years before I turned 21 were miserable when it came to beer drinking. To me, a Corona or a Rolling Rock was considered a "good" beer compared to the Ice House, Keystone, PBR, and Natty Lite that I was used to getting at college parties. For a little while, I stopped drinking altogether because drinking became a chore of how many can I drink to get drunk. Once I turned 21 and started visiting bars in and around the Chicago area, I began to experience the world of craft beers. My very first craft beer was Three Floyds Gumballhead, which is still to this day one of my very favorite beers. From there, I tried all sorts of craft brews wherever I could get them. Now at the age of 27, I wont drink anything less than a craft beer. It wasn't until rather recently that I began to really get into the craft scene and start trying to make a conscious effort to try some of the best beers available. I really enjoy it now and my faith in beer drinking has been restored.

 

I still remember trying Pete's Wicked Ale, Anchor Steam, and Guinness on the East Coast in the early '90s (visiting from the Midwest) and realizing for the first time what beer could be. I was like Navin R. Johnson: "Well, if this is out there, think how much more is out there!"

Then I moved to Seattle and realized I'd only seen the tip of the iceberg.

 

Watney's Red Barrel in the 80's

 

I remember arguing over and drinking Bud Light, Miller Light, Coors Light, Busch Light, Milwaukee's Best, Natural Light, etc. Good times. A lot has changed in my life from those days. It was Sam Adam's BL, Guinness, Newcastle, and finally SNPA that sealed the deal for me.