What beer got you into craft beer?

Another vote for Sam Adam's.
That was the beer that made me realize that beer did to have to be AALs and an occasional Guiness. Cheers.

 

I forgot to mention Watney's! When I back from Europe in 1986, I drank Watney's for 3-4 years. Loved that stuff. Yeah, it doesn't compare to today's options, but I would love to have another Watney's.

 

LOL. It was a good party. I had to drive one of our friend's home who had a little too much. We weren't used to the ABV for sure!

 

Pelican Bay brewery Kiwanda cream ale. I stopped by this brewhouse right on the Oregon Coast and started out with this beer and I have been hooked ever since

 

It goes back to the mid '70's for me. My brother went on an exchange program in college to England. He spent our parents' beer allowance on a case of Bass Ale. I was enraged. "Try one, you just might like it", he confidently replied. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I was drinking IPAs in 1975, when I couldn't find an American brewer that was making one.

 

Sam Adams' Imperial Stout, Imperial White, and Double Bock, back in the spring of 2010...

 

I once had 3 imperial pints of Old Rasputin before seeing Phil Lesh & Friends; at least, my friends told me I saw Phil Lesh & Friends.

 

Yeah. I don't remember which one,but something from Stoudts for sure.

 

Sam Adams Boston Lager, Bass Ale, Saranac Pale Ale, Pete's Wicked Ale and Guinness (not exactly "craft," but different from the pale yellow fizzy stuff I'd always drank). The Washington Tavern in Albany, NY had a decent tap selection for its time (early-to-mid 90s), and I branched out beyond Budweiser . . . and never looked back. . . .

 

Bells Oberon...who would a thought?And New Holland Mad Hatter.

 

(As I've said before) Ommegang's original 4 ( Hennepin, Abbey Double [then called just Ommegang] , Witte, & Rare Vos) , especially Rare Vos , which is still a favorite, & a regular, today .

 

I was not long out of college on my first business trip--to Denver in 1989-ish for my government employer--our hosts recommended a new spot downtown called Wynkoop. That area was much different than it is today--a bit of a ghost town. I don't remember what I had, but I loved the beers and the vibe. There was no craft beer in Virginia at the time so this was a new world. I've never turned back.

 

Murphy's Irish Stout, circa 1995.

Sam Adams Scotch Ale about then or shortly thereafter.

SNPA.

Those three were the "early draws."

Then I got away from beer for awhile until about 5 or 6 years ago. At that point it was

Orval

Old Rasputin

Duvel

 

Chimay.

 

Guinness & Sam Adams seasonal mix packs for me got me over the Busch and Bud Light phase. Then having a Victory Golden Monkey I became all about craft beer exploration.

 

Troegs HopBack!!!

also Bell’s Amber, and Weyerbacher Double Simcoe.

Both of which are brewery-only options at this point I’d I’m not mistaken.

 

Sprecher - about '84ish Milwaukee.

Had a go to bar owned by native "German" (Port of Hamburg near MKE Mitchell Airport) that "primed" interest in beer with flavor prior to Sprecher (where domestic beer was verboten and only for your female date). Favorite was Spaten Optimator on tap and Hackor Pshorr Weiss in a tall glass (and better still 2L boot with friends)...craft beer now is becoming like macro beer of old...all marketing (cartoon pix on bottles, etc.). Hard to tell what's good and what's shit.

 

Stone IPA

 

Summit Extra Pale Ale in the early-mid 90s. I was slow to get into it. I was a volume drinker, so I'd buy a six pack with a 12 pack of cheaper stuff.

 

In the mid 70s I lived way out in the boonies in an old house at the end of Red Clay Rd. 60 acres of an old homestead and tobacco farm. I always kept a case of Watney's Red Barrell, Bass Ale, and assorted, mostly French Bordeaux in the perfectly cool pantry. I raised Golden Retrievers and grew vegetables, tended bar in town and took many classes at UNC-G and read. It was the golden era of my education. I wish I still had that fine Troy Built tiller.

 

Odell (and I know it may not meet ones def of craft) , I just found beer recently after 40 years of being an oenophile.

 

Sadly now, Alesmith is not easy to find even here in Northern California. It's out there, but you have to know where to find it.

 

it was Schneider Weisse as a matter of fact. i was always very interested in beer and curious about trying lots of different beers, but my notion of how many beers were available to me was in reality a tiny fraction of what was really out there; i just knew what was on the taps in the pubs and what was sold in the shop down the road. SW, along with a few other hefes, were the first beers that introduced me to the world of beer outside of what you could just buy in supervalu. i wasn’t quite at buying 30 euro bottles of whiskey infused barrel aged imperial stouts from norway yet, but this was my first foray outside the main-est of mainstream beer. i have been enjoying going further and further down that rabbit hole ever since.

 

Think it might of been Atwater-Vanilla Java Porter!

 

SABL and the SA family of beers. Used to love all the seasonals. Graduated high school in ‘91.

 

Sam Adams Boston Lager was the one, I had Pete's Wicked Ale but my palate wasn't appreciative of what I was having.

I was a Bud and Guinness drinker. Sam Adams Boston Lager was the one. I had Pete's Wicked Ale but don't remember much about it.
After that, Sammy mix packs, Samuel Smiths, Sierra Nevada's, Stone's, Flying Dogs, Dogfish's, Lagunitas, Ballast Points, Otter Creeks, Magic Hats were the ones I delved into

 

Why would Odell not be craft??

 

Strangely. Groovy Brew from the late Pioneer Brewing Company in the late 90s. Prior to that all I knew was AAls. Kind of surprised to see it on BA.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/778/2949/

 

I was well aware of craft beer as of early-to-mid 1987 by dint of being stationed aboard NAS Alameda, CA. I would hit Triple Rock in nearby Berkeley and drink Anchor Steam at my uncle's place in SF, where he was a professor at SFSU.

It wasn't until shortly after I retired in October 1998 and bought a copy of Lew Bryson's Pennsylvania Breweries [Vol. 1], and using it as a tour guide, that I became immersed in craft beer. I became a regular at Lancaster Brewing Co. (LNCBC), attended my first beerfest there and then REALLY had my eyes opened with my first visit to Victory BC in Downingtown! It was that first sip of Hop Devil that made me realize that I am a hophead. After that, I was truly off and running.

 

I met Carol Stoudt at a beer fest, late mid 1980’s and we hung out for a while. Her beer was great(scarlet ESB) and that got me looking for other American micro, the fest was mostly English beers. I also hung at the Khyber a lot and that was very punk rock and beer centric. Jim Anderson also taught me about beer at the old Tavern on Green. I was also just curious about beer and always stopped at the old circle liquor on the way back from my parents house and bought odd dusty bottles of beer there, many Belgian.

Enjoy

 

After many years of drinking Coors Light and Icehouse I met up with my brother in law (who was drinking usually Icehouse himself) and he asked if I ever tried i craft beer. I said what’s a crap beer? He said I said craft , we been drinking crap. I said no , so he handed me my first craft beer. Which was Carolina Pale Ale by Carolina Brewing Company Holly Springs NC. This was about 10 plus years ago. To this day it’s still one of my go to beers. And even though under new ownership, it’s still a good beer. Just not a fan of the new logo.

 

First visit to a brewery tasting room, back when there were only 4 breweries in Asheville. We chose French Broad Brewery, because they opened before 4PM. The others in Asheville were Asheville Brewing, Greenman, and Highlands.

Had their Wee-Heaver, and their ESB, and WOW, I learned I had been drinking the wrong stuff.

Was also at French Broad yesterday.

 

Summit EPA was widely available on tap in my student days and was way better than the cheap keg beers people bought for parties. Then I found Unibroue and the whole range of Belgian imports and was hooked.

 

Alaskan Amber in the mid 90’s

 

I picked up some Magic Hat #9 last night, which I would credit with making me a beer snob. Light, highly drinkable Vermont export. It takes me back to single days in the first years of the century at the Hill Street Pub in Albany New York.

 

New Amsterdam Amber-it was the NY area's Sam Adams before Sam started to spread. Have always looked for different beers even in high school when we were not old enough to drink. But the US craft scene has to be New Amsterdam....

 

There really were no "micro beers" back in '79-'80 when I started drinking beer. I couldn't stand the Miller and Bud friends were pounding so it was all about the imports - Becks - Becks Dark, St Pauli Girls and Bass Ale - even Ballantine was/is better than Bud. The brewery trips and home brewing came a few years later and the journey continues.

 

Those smutty 12 packs were great. Back when I first started to drink craft beer, you pretty much had to buy beer by the case at a beer distributor in Pa. There were only a handful of actual beer stores and bars that sold singles and six packs. You couldn’t buy beer in supermarkets at that time as well. So your best deal was to invest in a case. The Smuttynose mixed case was my go to for right around $27. The wholesaler that brought all the new craft breweries into the area had a little storefront. Cash only. Stone, Troegs, Victory, Weyerbacher mixed packs were great deals as well.

 

I was lucky enough to take "The Art and Science of Brewing" in college. Getting credit to learn to brew and drink beer during class class obviously drew college-age me in, but learning about the different styles and brewing small batches for comparison got things started. We also took trips to a local microbreweries as part of the course and this really started the craft beer ball rolling downhill for me.