What was your gateway craft beer?

Alesmith Speedway Stout, San Diego, CA, was the beer that did 'it' for me!

 

For me, back in the mid 80s, it was Spaten that first showed me the light. Especially Franziskaner, which I still hold in high esteem many decades later.

From there, growing up on the west coast, Sierra Nevada Pale and Anchor Steam were revelations.

A little later, some local micro-breweries appeared, namely Golden Gate, St Stan’s, North Coast, Mendocino Brewing, and of course Anderson Valley.

Some astute readers might notice that Russian River is missing from my list. I did actually try Pliny shortly after it came out. But, by that time I had already grown tired of the West Coast (although I didn’t know that as a genre) style Pale and IPA. So Pliny fell on deaf taste buds.

And although I can’t prove it, I suspect the recipe for Pliny has been updated for the fresh-hop renaissance that has happened over the last 10 years. It was this focus on fresh hops and also the advent of NEIPA that brought me back into the IPA fold.

 

Was drinking regular pub tied house stuff. Then someone said there’s a pub called Crown & Sceptre near Hemel selling real ale.
Had some Greene King Abbot Ale. Kept returning.

 

I was a newly minted 21 year old, and hated beer. I hated the flavor of all the big brands. One night while shooting pool, my friend handed me a dogfish head 60 minute, and I was hooked. I wanted to try more of these "small brands," and try out all the different styles out there.

 

Geary's back in the late 80's, when they were still pretty new. I also got a taste for Anchor Steam around that time, though I don't know if you could've counted them as "craft."

 

Occidental Brewing's Dunkel showed me how good a malty beer could be. I have not looked back.

 

Celebrator & Molson Brador were the first rare intro's to 'higher' ABV but Pete's Wicked Ale and Wicked Red started me down the road to craft ... then came Sam Adams, Anchor, Sierra Nevada...from there the doors were blown wide open

 

Hop Rod Rye, given to me by a friend shocked that I thought Steel Reserve was a "good beer". About a year after having that Hop Rod Rye--which triggered an insatiable craving for craft beer I hadn't known was there--I started homebrewing.

 

Dogfishead Raison D’etre. So good and so strong. Unfortunately they haven’t brewed it again in years.

 

On a bike trip through Utah and Colorado in the summer of 1986 I had a Boulder Beer. It was an amber ale (I think) and I really enjoyed it. Then at home in Massachusetts shortly after that Sam Adams Boston Lager and Harpoon were introduced and were pretty easy to get so I started drinking those. Then the first beer revolution hit in the late 1980s and early 1990s and I was hooked. Haven't had a mass produced adjunct beer since then.

 

I had been enjoying red and brown ales for awhile. It was Rogues Dead Guy Ale that blew me away and allowed for transition to IPA's , Porters and Stouts. I haven't had a Dead Guy Ale in more than a decade, so I don't even know if I would still like it.

 

As like Jason mine was Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout @ the Salty Dog in Gainesville. Me and a fellow classmate had 2 hours between classes. She made the suggestion to head over and grab a beer or two. I had tried quite a few non-mainstream beer by then, 1995, but that one started my journey!

 

Spotted Cow

 

It was one of the ales at Sherlock's Home in Minnesota. Great place in my memory. Bill Burdick, I think, was the proprietor, along with his wife. Wonderful British pub....

 

The gateway was San Miguel Dark. No kidding. Straight outta the Philippines. It was January, 1985 at a geophysics field camp in Panamint Valley, CA. The middle of nowhere, just west of Death Valley.). Bought it at the lone package store. It just seemed so radical at that time and place. Up until that point I liked beer for the buzz but hated the taste of it. (I remember my dad giving me a sip of Budweiser at 10, and I thought it was completely disgusting. Still do.) I lived in Boston in the late 80s and a friend told me to check out Marty's Liquors in Allston/Brighton and Newton MA. The next four beers I discovered were Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter, Julius Echter Hefe-Weiss, Samichlaus and Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine. There was lots of Sam Adams to be found in Boston in those days. Sam's was okay, but I always preferred Harpoon IPA. Then in the early 90s I bought Charlie Papazian's book and learned of a German woman selling beer-making supplies out of the basement of her house in the NW Boston suburbs. At that point I was completely hooked on homebrew.

 

Moosehead. It was the late 80’s in Nebraska. My reward at the end of each college semester. Then came Shiner Bock thanks to my brother at Rice, then New Belgium happened.

 

Southern Star Pine Belt Pale Ale. I'd been drinking Shiner and stuff over the adjunct lagers already, but never really knew much about things. Southern Star was a new brewery located not far from me and they were using cans which was unusual back then. The grocery store had a big display and they had 16oz cans of the Pine Belt. I thought pale ale meant very light at the time, but that beer was heavy on the hops and the flavor just zinged off my tongue. I started learning about the other styles I hadn't paid any attention to and the whole beer world opened up for me. Now it's been many years and we have so many local breweries and all the stores and bars have great selection and my fridge is full of home-brew too.

 

Without a doubt Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. It was the first time I tasted/noticed hops in a beer. I’ve been a hop hound ever since.

 

I was never much of a beer drinker. Then I heard that an old buddy opened a brewery, Broken Compass (20 minutes from home) in Breckenridge, CO. On July 4th (2014?), I figured I'd go check it out. Ax suggested that I try the Coconut Porter - the one they were quickly becoming known for even though they had very recently opened. I think that was the one.

Their other beers kept me hooked (the Coconut is a little sweet to drink frequently). Chocolate Coffee Stout, Ginger Pale Ale.... Then I learned how much I love HOPS! I used to think "hoppy" was a nasty, bitter, skunky taste. Anybody reading this knows how wrong I was.

Now, everywhere I go, I'm looking for a little brewery/taproom. My buddy split off from Broken Compass and opened a new brewery, HighSide in Frisco, which is half the distance. So, I don't get to Breck as much anymore but I do need to go back for some Coconut Porter again one of these days.

 

Graduated Northeastern in Boston in 95'. Nappy's changed by Sam Adams & Harpoon; training wheels taken off by Smuttynose & Wormtown; manhood status from Tree House & Trillium.