What beer Converted you?

Throughout my 20's I pretty much lived on Two Hearted, Founders Breakfast Stout, La fin du Monde and NH The Poet (I was goth and I loved the label). Never got into Oberon like everyone else in Michigan, I thought it tasted like soap. (Same with blue moon.) The worst beer I probably consumed was shared pitchers of Newcastle, because it was the darkest beer I could get my friends to pick. (And many many pitchers of PBR while broke, which I would love to forget.) I have always been a picky bitch.

 

Flower Power served on tap. I knew it was a winner as the bartender handed me the pint. The tropical fruits and hemp- herb aroma was like nothing I've ever experienced. Coupled with a low malt influence sealed the deal.

 

Sam Adams honey porter

 

Great Lakes Edmund FItzgerald followed closely by Great Lakes Oktoberfest. I miss not having those available in Oregon, especially during the fall.

 

I thought that all beer was gross until I had a Guinness but having Chimay Red for the first time changed my life.

 

Sam Adams is so common up here that when I started drinking it I didn't realize it was craft. So for me it was three philosophers.

 

Creemore Springs Lager

 

The very first craft beer I had was a Ruination that was given to me when I was 16 after my first day as a dishwasher on one of two busiest days of the year- Mothers Day. The other guy called out who was suppose to close so when my new boss asked me if I wanted to do a double I couldn't say no. 9am-1am is a long f**king day, needless to say I was gifted a draft or two once we closed down and the guests were all gone. Once I was about to leave my manager came over with a bomber of this insane looking gargoyle beer and popped it into a brown bag. "Better not let your mom find you passes out in the front yard kid, good job tonight", and I was on my way. Once I got home I popped that bad boy in the car, packed up some "medicinal" greens and drank that hoppy bastard straight out of the bottle. Love at first sip. Then somehow I wasn't wowed again until I had Bell's Winter White then Chimay Grand Reserve. Haven't been the same since, nor has my wallet.

 

My first foray into loving the craft beer world was with Hopslam when visiting a bar with my brother in 2009. It was like having my eyes opened for the first time and my expectations have never been the same... thanks bro.

 

It was 1999 and I was already drinking German beers, but Belgian and Belgian style ales blew my mind and there was no turning back. The first one that really did it was Vondel, which unfortunately hasn't been brewed since 2005 or so. Soon after I found St. Paul Dubbel, Chimay Blue, Trois Pistoles, La Fin Du Monde etc, etc.​

 

Left Hand Milk Stout.

I was at the Mellow Mushroom in Athens, GA eating pepperoni and cheese pizza with a friend of mine and he ordered a pitcher of it. I haven't looked back since.

 

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Torpedo.

 

Deschutes Mirror Pond

 

Double Bastard did it for me.

 

Sam Adam sampler packs through high school. DFH 60 + 90 minute my freshman year of college. Those two sealed the deal for me.

I also worked in a bottle redemption center at a grocery store through high school and got to learn and investigate a lot of beer labels. I remember thinking that Dundee Honey Brown must be the tastiest beer ever. The sam adam founding fathers sampler packs they had back in 2006/7 also had awesome labels and descriptions.

 

November(ish) 2010: Sam Adams Winter Lager

 

Grottenbier got me into beer in general, and a few months later, Fou'foune got me into my favorite style (sours).

 

The "original" Pikes Peak Brewery in Colorado Springs and their Red Granite Ale. I was hooked after first couple sips.

 

4 words... La Fin Du Monde. Immediately translating this to english I knew I had to try it. Oi polloi!
However, it was many years later when I realized how much I was missing in the good ol state of MI. Hit the MBG summer beer fest in Ypsi in '11 and I have been hooked on MI and US craft brews since.

 

No real epiphany for me, just a growing love of foreign beers mid 70's, English, German, and Belgian. I was lucky to live in NYC back then and had access to great stuff. Finally a first taste of SN Pale in the 80's, and things have just gotten better and better since then.