Your biggest epiphany in craft beer

Sam Adams Noble Pils is fantastic. Victory Prima Pils and Brooklyn Lager are also excellent brews in my opinion.

While the season for Sierra Nevada Summerfest is over, it's a beer worth loading up on every year.

Sixpoint The Crisp is a quality brew as well, maybe a bit tougher to find in Texas though.

And of course, most everything by Weinstephaner is tremendous.

 

First time I had Bourbon County Brand Stout was definitely an epiphany. It was the first big Bourbon-barrel-aged stout I had ever had. My mind was tuned to ``beer'' and my tastebuds responded with a message of ``super-rich, super-flavorful, in-your-face, liqueur-like, liquid-dessert coming your way''.

There was no going back after that. I was done for.

 

Realizing that i don't need to try every single release and rare beer.. Plenty of awesome beers near me!

 

I've had many from BCBS to Black Tuesday to Heady Topper to Double Sunshine to Eliot Ness, but both the biggest and most recent epiphany was something I never thought would happen: I began to love sours. My wallet hasn't been the same since.

 

The first time I had a craft beer that wasn't a macro AAL and realized that not all beer tastes like shit.

 

When I realized how much more variety I could enjoy by buying make-your-own-sixers rather than an entire 750 mL of bourbon. My local store doesn't do much f***ing on the mix-a-6 though.
And now I've moved on to 750 mL bottles of beer, so...

 

#1: Back when JP was it for American farmhouse I realized US beers could be as good as Belgian beers.

#2: Much more recently, that a lot of Belgian 'shelf turds' (or store aged if you prefer) are much better than most of the US stuff that's a PITA to get.

 

I came here to more or less post this. My first epiphany was probably my first few craft beers (Smuttynose Finest Kind, Hennepin, Duvel...etc.) when I realized, wow, beer can be awesome!

My second was when I realized high abvs, hops, and barrel-aging are not all there is to beer. Low abv beers can taste just as good, if not better. To appreciate them though, you need to try a little harder, learn a lot more, and be willing to listen to those that are knowledgeable. Look beyond the top 250.

My third (which was probably around the same time as my second) was when I traveled to Europe. You learn so much from leaving the US and realizing what there is to offer overseas beyond what we get on the shelf here. I feel this should be a requirement for all BAs.

 

My experience is similar except Ruination was my 2nd IPA. Torpedo was my 1st. I figure I've tried everything that's decent and locally available but I still like to try different beers when I travel or when something new comes out that's locally available.

 

Me, too.

 

Bombers suck! everything is more expensive in them, and i prefer drinking stouts/sours 12oz at a time

 

That's funny, because my girlfriend actually enjoys stouts more than most of the styles of beers I drink. She's not big on hoppiness, so she really doesn't enjoy my IPAs but she'll give any stout I'm drinking a try and more times than not, like it.

 

Trading is silly.

 

#1: That I loved bourbon barrel beers.

#2: Tried trading and it was fun for two months, but too much work (for now).

#3: I spend way too much money on overpriced beers that are untested/unknown.

 

Home brewed beer does not have to taste like its home-brewed!

 

This is what I came to say. My days of trading for beer are over.

 

except for Gueuze and Lambic.

 

Bourbon Barrel Aged!

 

Flying Dog Gonzo – I realized that I really love beer.

Cantillon Kriek – I realized that I really love sours, this was the first real sour I tried.

 

West Coast IPA's are delicious, but IPA's from other regions are just as good, but with their own unique character.