How and When Did You Become a BA?

It's rather mundane, but once I started to try random beers, I noticed the BA and ratebeer shelf-talkers, looked the websites up, and I've been a beer-a-holic ever since.

 

I'm more an (LN) BA than anything else.

 

I came to this site after moving to the West Coast from Scotland and trying a Ruination IPA. Compared to IPA's in the UK I was completely overwhelmed by the hops, so wanted to do some research. I was also planning on getting into homebrewing at the time, so when I searched Ruination I came to this site, and saw there was a section about Homebrew too, so I signed up.

However, before moving out to the West Coast I'd gone to college in North Carolina, and Mississippi. I was always known as the guy drinking "them fancy chocolate beers!" which was Sam Adams mainly (all that was available at that time). I lived in Jackson, MS and they had a "build your own sizer" for not a lot of money, maybe about $7, but it was prix fixe, so they didn't care what you had in there so long as there were six bottles. Surprisingly they had Sam Smiths in there, so I used to load up on those. I remember, even towards the end of my time there, they were checking to see what bottles there were.

So I've always liked "better" beer, but that doesn't mean I wasn't pounding Bud Lights etc in college, or doing Keg Stands of Natty Ice.

 

2006 I was at a bar in Key West (Jack Flats). I wanted to try something different and saw Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Honestly, the label grabbed my interest. I remember thinking how bitter it was, but also noted the pine and grapefruit. That was that. Got on BA soon after that to explore other options and gain some knowledge and very happy I did.

 

Arrogant Bastard popped my cherry in 2007.....joined a week later.
And I haven't been right since.

 

I remember liking Boston Lager at a couple of parties. One day I saw SA Winter Lager in the supermarket and I bought it thinking It should be as good as Boston Lager. I was actually blown away at the time. I started getting curious and was trying every different beer I saw. Of course I didn't know what I was looking for until I found this site. Once I started learning about craft and really started to know what to look for and where to find it, the rest was history.

 

I was getting sick of Coors every weekend so I started grabbing the old Smithwick's, Corona's and Gordon Biersch's out of my dad's fridge and didn't look back.

 

1977 when I had my first Elephant beer 6/pk,even then it kicked my ass.Cheers

 

A trip to Germany in 2011 got me thinking about the history of beer. That same year a trip to Bend Oregon I went to 10 Barrel brewery and ordered a flight of beers. Trying new beers everywhere I go started my BAness.

That turned me into a ticker. I will return to some of my favorites, but I really enjoy getting a few new beers and cracking them open.

 

Found the site looking for on line beer reviews, joined in 11/11. Lurked for quite a while, read a lot of reviews, read a bunch of threads. Thought it very cool that all this beer information is in one place and that there are great folks from all over the place on here and started participating I guess sometime in the Fall of 2012. Good people and good beer...what it's all about.

Had been drinking cool beers for a while, but didn't consider being an advocate. Learned about that here.

 

Oddly enuff, found this site while Googling "Budweiser".

 

My first sip of beer was natty ice... My second sip of beer was stone IPA. I started drinking craft almost exclusively when I was 17.

 

I lurched o here for about a year or so . I always drank craft since college but only basic 60 min, bcs, golden monkey, etc. Once I drank a ten-fidy I joined the next day.

I 'became' a beer advocate when I bought 12oz craft cans for the same price as 24oz mbc lights going to concerts/ball games

 

Very similar, except I didn't sample many beers there. My girlfriend is from Belgium. We went there (and London and Paris, so only in Belgium for 3 days) to visit friends, and see the sights.

For me, it was when her parents would come to dinner, and always bringing several Belgians with them (Duvel, Rochefort, Chimay, Grimbergen, Delirium, etc.). That's when I got hooked, and have since moved over to trying many USA craft beers.

 

Next time you go, check out the World of Beer. It opened tonight!

 

Old Toad! I'm from Rochester... been to the Toad many times... and Rolling Rock across the driveway, many years ago... yes, I'm old.

 

I was just getting into homebrewing forums when I found BA in 2006 I think. I never got into reading or writing reviews because what everybody else likes is completely irrelevant to me, what I like is even more irrelevant to anybody else.
I had been drinking good beer for almost 30 years before I found this site so there was no one beer that turned me into a Beer Advocate.

 

it was Stone Old Guardian, nuff said

 

In 2001 I was living out in NoCal with the GF at the time and my local had Arrogant Bastard on tap and once I tried it I was hooked. It was possibly the best place in the US to be starting my journey between all the local breweries and frequent business trips to Portland and Seattle.

Moved to Florida in 2005 and instantly realized how good I had it, I had to mail order all my beer from a few shops in SoCal and drive beers back from trips to NYC.

 

I was living in a van down by the river and said, "it has to get better than this". I found BA, and it did indeed get better.