I remember when...

When I could tell the type of day I'd have with the old man based upon the number of pull tabs in the sink in the morning.

The deer camp was ringed with Moosehead empties.

 

When liquor stores put beer on the shelf, instead of making you ask for it and limiting one per customer.

 

Ah, but remember... it was Budweiser Light then!

 

IIRC that first year's release didn't make it to Seattle in a very large quantity (and that vintage was brewed at a fraction of what they'd brew the next year I believe) so I had to put in quite a bit of work to get a hold of the case I ended up buying.

Crazy the impact that one has had eh?

 

Well do I remember.

 

When Sam Adams Boston Ale was really bitter and hoppy. Same with Pete's Wicked and Saranac.

 

When IceHouse and other Ice beers became the fad because of the higher ABV (kinda like the Bud Platnum of 1990). What was it like 5.5%?

 

Friend of mine drank the bad experiment triple bock straight from the Boston brewery vat back in 1993. Puked into a Burger King bag most of the drive home down I-95 to MD. Long drive I must say.

 

I remember when abbreviations were BANNED… wait no I don't.

I remember when I didn't realize supply was a giant factor in the top 100 standings.

I remember reviewing just to have reviewed an arbitrary #of beers.

I remember realizing I had no business reviewing like a good number of other people reviewing
I remember not realizing that to a lot of grown men with disposable income treat beer as if it were just potable version collecting Pokemon cards.

I remember realizing that every beer isn't sold everywhere??

I remember the bottle of Terrapin Gamma Ray that changed everything I thought about beer. I remember… "HATING hops".

I remember thinking theres no way I'm gonna be able to use all those faces in one post

 

When I first got into craft beers, I was living in Europe. I saw some of the normal Cantillons and looked up the brewery on here. I figured, if I can find some of them at this store, then I should be able to find the others elsewhere. Suffice to say, my search for Blåbær and Crianza were not successful.

 

That's an understatement. IMO, that beer was a turning for Deschutes, and spared them from becoming irrelevant to the geeks like some of the other 20+ year old breweries in the area. They were always solid, reliable 6 pack beers, but the geeks had largely moved on to the new guys on the shelves. Terminal Gravity was on fire at that point, Green Flash & Great Divide had just expanded to Oregon, and we hadn't really seen anything crazy from Deschutes since Super Jubel in 2000.

Abyss was a sleeper when it first arrived, but once word got out there it made a lot of people realize that Deschutes could still put out some incredible beer, and I feel like it single handedly regained them their credibility and relevance amongst the geek crowd. Then they followed that up with Black Butte XX & Dissident in 2008, and just like that they became one of the most lauded breweries in the state again.

I think Bridgeport and Widmer noticed this as well, and both have been trying to find their "Abyss Moment" in recent years. Bridgeport almost had something with the initial release of Stumptown Tart (a beer that generated Pliny levels of phone calls when it was first released), but they weren't able to keep the momentum. Widmer has put out some damn good beers in the last few years (Brrrbon, BA Old Embalmer), but they haven't managed to capture people's attention in the way Deschutes has.

 

I remember when a beer came in a six pack of 72 oz. Then I remember when it only came in a 4 pack of 48 oz for about the same price. Then I remember when it only came in a 22 oz bomber for about the same price. Then I remember not buying it any more.

 

You're right - I forgot about that!

 

Early 90's Ohio, the only places you could find "micro-brew" was a few good liquor stores, wine shops and an occasional bar with a "world beer tour".

Mid 90's Ohio, brew-pubs started sprouting in the cities. Toledo had Maumee Bay, Black Swamp (at Nick and Jimmy's), Bavarian Brewing (brief return as Arrowhead), Hops and Hoster's (at the docks). Maumee Bay is the sole survivor.

Late 90's / Early 0ghts, the better beer expansion, good beer started showing up in grocers and bars. Selection at mainstream places wasn't great, but at least a few places made one or two "craft" choices available.

Late 0ghts, is when the special releases started to gain power. Brewpubs always did seasonals, and brewers like Bell's bottled special releases, but these were local or retail level events. The first Dark Lord Day consisted of a few Chicago guys coming down to the brewery and taking some beer home. Before they became "special releases", they were just some new beers on the shelf.

Now, we have got more choices of beer and more places to drink or buy beer than ever before. Poorly made beer is much less common than the first "micro" wave. Good beer has expanded beyond the cities and suburbs. In many ways, this is the best time ever to be a beer drinker in america. On the down side, over-hyped, and over-hopped beers dominate a section of beer culture. Subtle flavors and mild strength isn't a flaw. (in most instances) There isn't the level of camaraderie that used to exist, but really that's probably due to beer's growth in popularity. Through it all, I still love beer, and I hope to be drinking it for at least another 25 years.