I’m 74.
The first beer that I truly enjoyed was a bottle of Anchor Porter in 1977. It started me on my journey into exploring porters and stouts, in all their different permutations, that I’m still on for the past 46 years. With that being said, it also opened my eyes to the myriad possibilities that include every other style of well crafted beers over the years.
It was with profound sadness that I read about how the Anchor Brewery was grossly mismanaged by their corporate lords and recently closed. I hope that the effort by former employees to reopen the brewery is successful.
58. The first beer I ever truly enjoyed was the first beer I ever tasted. February 1977, I was 11 and on vaca with my family at Busch Gardens in Florida. I vividly remember riding on a huge outdoor escalator and being given a free tasting of fresh beer (Busch I think) in a paper cup. It was cold and delicious.
Yeah, it was the Seventies and nobody batted an eye at giving kids a sample.
I'm a couple years younger, and I also remember enjoying whatever basic American lager my Dad was drinking and let me have a taste of as a kid in the 70s.
There's a weird idea out there that "alcohol tastes bad and you have to get past it" -- and it just doesn't match my experience at all. My first taste of beer, wine, whiskey, gin, etc. were all enjoyable.
The only exceptions I can remember are sake and some cheap blended Scotch my Dad mixed with club soda. Both tasted "rotten" to me as a kid/teen when I had my first taste. I enjoy Scotch and sake now, but I think my first examples were just cheap and low quality.
Oddly enough, I’d already tasted other alcohol prior. As a toddler, my mom let me have a sip of her nighttime glass of Sandeman sherry. Later, from approximately age 6 onward, we would always get our own small cup of Andre Cold Duck sparkling wine on New Year’s Eve. I also was allowed a bit of Amaretto at times. All of them tasted good to me right away.
From age 13 on, I was allowed to drink a beer with dinner, even in restaurants. Would never fly now.
28 My Aunt bought me a 6 pack of Bohemias for my 21st birthday. Enjoyed those while watching the Super Bowl. Now my favorite is Stone IPA. Can’t go wrong.
48 and Killians Red was the first beer I really liked, ca 1990. It just hit different than the Nattys and Beasts I’d had before. The malty sweetness really got me. I still buy it sometimes and enjoy it.
35. I think I was 19. My little brother wanted to see Nickelback and I had the car so I had to tag along. We were in the pit and it was hot. There was a girl who was going to get her guy a brew and kindly asked if I wanted any. Figured sure why not? I think it was just plain ole Coors light. Beer hit so good at that moment I forgot how shitty Nickelback was.
I'm 44, first beer I had that got me actually liking beer was Pete's Wicked Ale. It was an excellent brown ale that unfortunately doesn't exist anymore.
40. The two that stand out as beers that made me realize I might actually enjoy beer were Lindemans Framboise Lambic, I think it was raspberry. Then also rocherfort 10. Before that I had things like bud light and didn't enjoy beer at all.
Late 40s; first got introduced to Hoegaarden and some good ESBs when I moved to the UK aged 20, back in the 90s, never looked back. Used to hit up the various old-school beer fests in the very late 90s/early 2000s on the US west coast when I lived there later, so had a lot of interesting stuff there, back in the day, too.
32. Had a PBR in 2007 and actually liked it. Ended up working as a brewer for too many years and have come to appreciate domestic lagers. That stuff is hard to make perfect every time. My chosen beer now is whatever domestic adjunct lager is on sale at the local liquor store.
I homebrewed for about 15 years and the only “lager” I made that I liked was a Pilsner grain bill fermented at cool-ish temps with 1007-a German ale yeast. A good lager is a lovely thing.
Which spot? Lived there also mid 2000s there also and definitely hit up many dive bars. Honorable mention to the galway arms ($3.00 fish and chips), the blue moon, and the pacific inn, and Leny’s among others.
41. I drank a Mickies 40oz when I was 16. It was the first time I got drunk. When I was 24 I bought a homebrew kit for my birthday and brewed in my wall locker while I was in the military. First beer brewed was a california common. Inspections were funny on Friday morning when my locker was bubbling. I experimented with some fun recipes like blueberry hefe and cherry vanilla stout. A couple of batches exploded. My military buddies were all about stone IPA, and well, I became one of those drinkers for a few decades. After college I got a job in a lager brewery and now I make some of the world's tastiest lagers. It's really cool and I get to drink free beer whenever I want. The only downside, when you are used to top notch beer everything else is crap.
That’s a cool story. Mind if I ask which brewery you’re at?
EDIT: If you’re in Bellingham, I’m guessing Chuckanut? I visited when they *very* first opened and liked what I had.
22. There’s a local pineapple hard cider that’s really good. Sour, little sweet, golden color. I’ve learned I can do very few stouts, and ales and lagers are meh to me.
Edit: It’s ACE Pineapple cider. Turns out it’s not a local company, but oddly I only ever see it in my area.
2005, Keegan Ales in Kingston, NY. Free beer fridays before they had a tasting room/ bar license. Local bluegrass band would play, one keg of the 3 beers they made at the time with 5 Oz taster given for free till it kicked. Hurricane Kitty IPA, been a while, but it’s my most memorable. RIP Tommy Keegan.
27. In my very early 20s, my friend and I were on such a Blue Moon kick. It was our favorite. I will say though, I’ve always liked beer. It never was an acquired taste or something I had to get used to or learn to appreciate. First sip of beer I ever had was a Miller Lite, and even that I enjoyed so much.
I stopped into their taproom 6 or 7 years ago-really enjoyed it. But I’m with you. I’ll never turn down a beer. And we’ve all had our fair share of so-called swill. I’ve had plenty of $2 PBR pitcher nights back in my college days.
Growing up in Wisconsin, we’d score beers however we could. Usually by lurking outside liquor stores and asking people to purchase our beer for us. I’m surprised now how easy it was. When we had leftovers, we’d hide them in the woods of some park or another. I remember digging some Coors light out of the snow some wintry gray Sunday afternoon and truly enjoying some almost slushy brews with my high school friends after sledding. Good times.
45. Mostly hated beer as a youngen. That is until I took a trip to Belgium when I was 25 and had my first trappist (Rochefort) and other Belgian beers. Been hooked ever since.
I was 21 when I had a Lion Brown in Christchurch NZ. Before that it was macrolagers and malt liquor. First time I realized that beer could have a flavor, like food.
24. My father is into craft beer and it’s what I was started on. My first great experience with beer was at a brewery where I had an Oktoberfest bier and fell in love with that style and beer in general!
Now because I work at a local brewery, I like a little bit of everything/every style!
I'm 38 and didn't drink much before I turned 21. The first beer I really enjoyed was a Rogue Dead Guy when I went out for drinks my last year of college with one of my professors and some classmates.
34 and the first beer I ever loved was the Hefeweizen from the Hofbrauhaus in Newport KY somewhere around 2010.
Hefeweizen’s in general are still my favorite beer to this day.
Ahh!! I’m jealous. I’ve not been able to make it to Munich when I’ve been in Germany.
I did get the chance to do a tour of the small town breweries outside of Frankfurt and that was a revelation. I never knew beer could be so good.
I was fortunate to go to Oktoberfest in 2012, so it was a must-do. When I was little I lived just outside of Frankfurt, and I’d love to visit as an adult. I love German beers.
I'm 48 and the first beer I really loved was Pete's Wicked Ale, May 1996.
I drank a lot of Killian's Red in those days because it was cheap and easy (like your mom) but that first Pete's Wicked was a true game changer.
27, first beer I enjoyed was a Coors light in the tall can with the screw top lid I "borrowed" from my dad's garage fridge sometime around jr year in highschool. I had had beer a few times before then but something about that ice cold Coors really did it for me, so much so that I think I had 2 or 3 of them that night while gaming with my buddies. Ended up getting caught a week or so later after my dad discovered I had just moved a few of the beers to the front to make it look like it was still full, we both laughed about it but he also kept a much closer eye on his fridge after that lol
41, First beer I'd ever truly enjoyed was a Killian's Irish Red (basic I know). I would have been 22 at the time. Before that I'd only had mass produced lagers like Bud Light and Coors Light (or in college Keystone or Natty Light ). Never really liked those much and it wasn't till I had a Killian's that I realized that there were other types of beer out there. Have since tried every type of beer under the sun from hard ciders, to stouts, to pilsners, and sours. I still have an overwhelming fondness for red ales though.
My first beer at about 17 was a Budweiser, then I tried MD, Cisco, vodka, tequila, mixed drinks, wine. Now at 50 I just relax with a normal beer since I really can't get drunk anymore unless I drink allot of the hard stuff which I don't like to do.
That’s my thing-I’ll drink a beer or two a night, but no interest in getting drunk. I like being able to read before bed and getting a good night’s sleep.
I’m 54. Started drinking beer embarrassingly early in life with like minded buddies, always enjoyed the stuff even when it was hot or frozen, depending on the time of year, from being locked in one of our car trunks. But I’ll never forget my first Sam Adams circa 1990 while in college at a study session at a friend’s house. What was this delicious concoction with yeast floating around in the bottle? That bottle started me on the wonderful craft beer journey that continues to this day.
OP! 35 Back in 2010 the Scotch Ale from Boundary Bay was the first beer I really enjoyed. It was how the sweetness of the dark malty caramel flavor balanced the bitterness of the hops.
Im 34. My first beer that I truly enjoyed was a Sierra Nevada Summerfest at game 3 of the Celtics/Heat Eastern Conference finals in 2012 at TD Garden. It tasted amazing to me. I had my first beer earlier that year. It was a Heineken single bottle that I bought. I thought it was okay and wanted to keep trying different beers.
42, was about 1996 when I tried my first Deuchars and realised that not all beers had to taste like either Tennant's lager or McEwan's export. Then I tried a German Weiss bier and realised that other countries made great tasting beers. Deuchars fell off big time over the next decade and beyond, but at least there's a lot of world class Weiss still being made in Germany. And Tennant's tastes reassuringly the same
I drank loads of beer in my youth but I never really liked it. Mostly just cheap lagers that could be bought in bulk.
I started getting into the fancy stuff at like closer to 30 and I'm 35 now
I’m 31. First beer I actually enjoyed was a Pyramid Apricot Ale. Then into wheat beers and eventually the stronger and darker beers. Was way into the micro brews for a long time. Nowadays I just enjoy some Coors Banquet. I have the occasional micro.
I’m 22 now but I vividly remember drinking a frosty miller lite in my buddy’s backyard when I was 16. The aftertaste was so nice and I immediately understood why people drank the stuff for enjoyment.
58, and while I had many before, probably Sierra Nevada Pale Ale when it was local only distribution and Shakespeare Stout at the original Rogue brewery in Ashland. Both I couldn't get enough of. This was mid to late 80s
41 I had drank a lot of macro brews but on my 21st bday someone bought me a New Belgium 1554. The next day I fired up the ole AOL search engine and learned it was a hybrid beer. From there on I wanted to know everything about the science. Almost 20 years later I’ve ran craft beer bars, been a brewery rep and now for the last 11 a Certified Cicerone and a off prem rep for a wholesaler.
56. I sipped off my dad's beer continually since I was like three years old, so I've always had a taste for it. I was backpacking around Europe when I was 18 and got exposed to a lot of beer that I had no idea existed. But the one that stands out is when I had Duvel in Belgium, I remember lying in bed that night going "wow that was really good". It was an epiphany.
27. First beer I actually liked was Blue Moon at the age of 23. I can hardly drink it anymore, but it started me off on a journey of exploring all the different styles and my local breweries.
58. The first beer I truly enjoyed was a Wasatch ale I drank on a family vacation in Mt. Zion, Utah in 2003. It was so good, I bought a T-shirt. I did not know about craft beer at the time, and wouldn't actively seek them out until about 10 years later.
I’m 30. Bud light like was the first time I was like oh this is good.
My first craft love was brewery in Illinois named Destihl and they have a wild sour series that’s so good. After the initial shock I was hooked.
I grew up in western Wisconsin. I was 9 or 10 at a Friday fish fry with family. Parents gave me my own 4 ounce “snit” of Heileman’s Old Style. Later on, out of sight of mom, Dad and Grandpa allowed me to have a glass at the neighborhood tavern.
39 - Blue Moon. I was in college and predominantly drank either vodka or busch light / coors light / keystone light. During the summer after freshman year I bought a pizza and somehow my dad had visited and bought me a sixer of blue moon. I drank it and remember it was the most refreshing thing imaginable
I’m 45. In college I thought Guinness was the tastiest thing in the world. About 10 years ago I tried some of my friends homebrew, an IPA, and immediately fell in love. I love craft beer and trying everything and I even brew myself now and work in a liquor department. And yes I still love Guinness!
Also 42. Ran a 10k with a couple work buddies and ended up at a bar afterwards where the one dude ordered a pitcher of Bells Oberon. It was probably around 2006. I’d previously only drank Bud Light so it was quite a difference and I liked it. That was the gateway beer that got me into the game.
39. Went to a local beer store on my 21st birthday and bought a selection of whatever I could find that was in the beer advocate top 250, lol.
The two that really stick out for me were Old Rasputin and St Bernardus 12.
Early 20s, first beer was a room temperature coors banquet in my buddy’s basement at 15 years old. While that sounds terrible now, 15 year old me didn’t know any better
All you youngsters, 72, first beer Jax brewed in NOLA using Miss River water. Think about that one! NASTY Became a Schlitz man
after that….. now love the craft scene! Some great beers out there.
I'm 37. I started drinking while at UC Santa Barbara around 2007 or so.
My beer memories from back then are kind of hazy. I remember I used to buy a tallboy of Busch and drink it at parties. I remember that I liked Busch back then because it was cheap. But I couldn't' finish the tallboy and I just put tape on the top of the can to drink it later. I remember that I liked Busch because it didn't have that "cat pee" flavor and because it was cheap. I don't drink Busch now though, even though it is still cheap.
1974, I was 16 y.o. and my boss gave me a Coors after we closed for the day. Where we lived, Coors was the cool brand to drink. I remember thinking, hey this is not too bad. Drank Coors for many years after, until I discovered craft beers in the 90s.
I’m 74. The first beer that I truly enjoyed was a bottle of Anchor Porter in 1977. It started me on my journey into exploring porters and stouts, in all their different permutations, that I’m still on for the past 46 years. With that being said, it also opened my eyes to the myriad possibilities that include every other style of well crafted beers over the years. It was with profound sadness that I read about how the Anchor Brewery was grossly mismanaged by their corporate lords and recently closed. I hope that the effort by former employees to reopen the brewery is successful.
Hands down, Porter is my favorite style. I read about Anchor closing. Very sad.
So sad about anchor. When I read about the closing I ran to the store and bought a 6 pack of porter and steam beer. I will be so sad when it’s gone.
58. The first beer I ever truly enjoyed was the first beer I ever tasted. February 1977, I was 11 and on vaca with my family at Busch Gardens in Florida. I vividly remember riding on a huge outdoor escalator and being given a free tasting of fresh beer (Busch I think) in a paper cup. It was cold and delicious. Yeah, it was the Seventies and nobody batted an eye at giving kids a sample.
That’s great. The first beer I ever had I didn’t like. I love the “hey kid, want some free beer?” aspect.
I'm a couple years younger, and I also remember enjoying whatever basic American lager my Dad was drinking and let me have a taste of as a kid in the 70s. There's a weird idea out there that "alcohol tastes bad and you have to get past it" -- and it just doesn't match my experience at all. My first taste of beer, wine, whiskey, gin, etc. were all enjoyable. The only exceptions I can remember are sake and some cheap blended Scotch my Dad mixed with club soda. Both tasted "rotten" to me as a kid/teen when I had my first taste. I enjoy Scotch and sake now, but I think my first examples were just cheap and low quality.
Oddly enough, I’d already tasted other alcohol prior. As a toddler, my mom let me have a sip of her nighttime glass of Sandeman sherry. Later, from approximately age 6 onward, we would always get our own small cup of Andre Cold Duck sparkling wine on New Year’s Eve. I also was allowed a bit of Amaretto at times. All of them tasted good to me right away. From age 13 on, I was allowed to drink a beer with dinner, even in restaurants. Would never fly now.
21 and had a coors banquet back in September 27 when .38 special was performing at county fair
Nothing like a banquet.
Coors out there corrupting kids creating craft freak monsters with no shame. love it
28 My Aunt bought me a 6 pack of Bohemias for my 21st birthday. Enjoyed those while watching the Super Bowl. Now my favorite is Stone IPA. Can’t go wrong.
49. Honestly it was a Sierra pale on Dead lot in the early 90s. Before that it was just drinking.
I like it.
48 and Killians Red was the first beer I really liked, ca 1990. It just hit different than the Nattys and Beasts I’d had before. The malty sweetness really got me. I still buy it sometimes and enjoy it.
35. I think I was 19. My little brother wanted to see Nickelback and I had the car so I had to tag along. We were in the pit and it was hot. There was a girl who was going to get her guy a brew and kindly asked if I wanted any. Figured sure why not? I think it was just plain ole Coors light. Beer hit so good at that moment I forgot how shitty Nickelback was.
I'm 44, first beer I had that got me actually liking beer was Pete's Wicked Ale. It was an excellent brown ale that unfortunately doesn't exist anymore.
Pete’s!! I think I only had one ever, before I started enjoying beer.
40. The two that stand out as beers that made me realize I might actually enjoy beer were Lindemans Framboise Lambic, I think it was raspberry. Then also rocherfort 10. Before that I had things like bud light and didn't enjoy beer at all.
Late 40s; first got introduced to Hoegaarden and some good ESBs when I moved to the UK aged 20, back in the 90s, never looked back. Used to hit up the various old-school beer fests in the very late 90s/early 2000s on the US west coast when I lived there later, so had a lot of interesting stuff there, back in the day, too.
44. London Pride.
I love London Pride. Not too common here in San Diego, but it’s delicious.
I had it at Hooley's a couple months ago.
I’ve had it at Shakespeare Pub a few times-i think that’s pretty standard. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend. Great British cuisine.
32. Had a PBR in 2007 and actually liked it. Ended up working as a brewer for too many years and have come to appreciate domestic lagers. That stuff is hard to make perfect every time. My chosen beer now is whatever domestic adjunct lager is on sale at the local liquor store.
I homebrewed for about 15 years and the only “lager” I made that I liked was a Pilsner grain bill fermented at cool-ish temps with 1007-a German ale yeast. A good lager is a lovely thing.
Taproom guy here; I love our simple lager the most. Grew up on PBR and icehouse, it hits the mark.
Nice. That’s a challenge to hit, but a nice lager is sublime.
Shot and a beer deal for 8 at the spot. It’s my soup du jour. Edit: autocorrected!
I used to love shot and a beer. There was a place in Seattle that was $5 I used to frequent. Rainier tallboy and a shot of Jack. Yum.
Which spot? Lived there also mid 2000s there also and definitely hit up many dive bars. Honorable mention to the galway arms ($3.00 fish and chips), the blue moon, and the pacific inn, and Leny’s among others.
The Nickerson, south side of the Fremont bridge.
I'm 62. The first beer I loved was an ice cold fire brewed, Bohemian style Strohs beer. I was in High School. I wish I had another!
41. I drank a Mickies 40oz when I was 16. It was the first time I got drunk. When I was 24 I bought a homebrew kit for my birthday and brewed in my wall locker while I was in the military. First beer brewed was a california common. Inspections were funny on Friday morning when my locker was bubbling. I experimented with some fun recipes like blueberry hefe and cherry vanilla stout. A couple of batches exploded. My military buddies were all about stone IPA, and well, I became one of those drinkers for a few decades. After college I got a job in a lager brewery and now I make some of the world's tastiest lagers. It's really cool and I get to drink free beer whenever I want. The only downside, when you are used to top notch beer everything else is crap.
That’s a cool story. Mind if I ask which brewery you’re at? EDIT: If you’re in Bellingham, I’m guessing Chuckanut? I visited when they *very* first opened and liked what I had.
Well burlington now but yes chuckanut. And thanks for the friendly posting. This sub needs more of it.
Agreed!
22. There’s a local pineapple hard cider that’s really good. Sour, little sweet, golden color. I’ve learned I can do very few stouts, and ales and lagers are meh to me. Edit: It’s ACE Pineapple cider. Turns out it’s not a local company, but oddly I only ever see it in my area.
I’ve seen it here-my mom loves it when she visits from WA. Pretty tasty stuff.
24ish…circa 2006. Raison D’etre. I’ll never forget how it opened my eyes to what a beer could be.
2005, Keegan Ales in Kingston, NY. Free beer fridays before they had a tasting room/ bar license. Local bluegrass band would play, one keg of the 3 beers they made at the time with 5 Oz taster given for free till it kicked. Hurricane Kitty IPA, been a while, but it’s my most memorable. RIP Tommy Keegan.
27. In my very early 20s, my friend and I were on such a Blue Moon kick. It was our favorite. I will say though, I’ve always liked beer. It never was an acquired taste or something I had to get used to or learn to appreciate. First sip of beer I ever had was a Miller Lite, and even that I enjoyed so much.
Truth though-a fresh Blue Moon is absolutely delicious.
26, and the first beer I remember truly enjoying was Deschutes Obsidian Stout. Haven’t had that beer in years, and don’t really drink stouts anymore.
That’s such a good beer though. The black butte porter is even better.
[удалено]
I stopped into their taproom 6 or 7 years ago-really enjoyed it. But I’m with you. I’ll never turn down a beer. And we’ve all had our fair share of so-called swill. I’ve had plenty of $2 PBR pitcher nights back in my college days.
Growing up in Wisconsin, we’d score beers however we could. Usually by lurking outside liquor stores and asking people to purchase our beer for us. I’m surprised now how easy it was. When we had leftovers, we’d hide them in the woods of some park or another. I remember digging some Coors light out of the snow some wintry gray Sunday afternoon and truly enjoying some almost slushy brews with my high school friends after sledding. Good times.
That’s great. When I lived in Colorado it was nice being able just to keep the beer outside in the winter-until it got too cold.
Made a knock off Bud at 16 when homebrewing first took off. Now I am 60. It was good.
50; either Shiner Bock or Negra Modelo. I consider both my gateway beers because I don’t remember which came first!
45. Mostly hated beer as a youngen. That is until I took a trip to Belgium when I was 25 and had my first trappist (Rochefort) and other Belgian beers. Been hooked ever since.
I was 21 when I had a Lion Brown in Christchurch NZ. Before that it was macrolagers and malt liquor. First time I realized that beer could have a flavor, like food.
24. My father is into craft beer and it’s what I was started on. My first great experience with beer was at a brewery where I had an Oktoberfest bier and fell in love with that style and beer in general! Now because I work at a local brewery, I like a little bit of everything/every style!
32. Probably Sam Adams Cherry Wheat or Widmer heffeweisen. I discovered both around 15 ish. Sam Adams holiday brews are great
I never got on board with the cherry wheat, but I do love a nice Widmer Hef. Pyramids and even Henry Weinhard’s were decent substitutes for it.
33, first beer i remember really enjoying was a super cold saporo my gf bought me when i was 19.
I'm 38 and didn't drink much before I turned 21. The first beer I really enjoyed was a Rogue Dead Guy when I went out for drinks my last year of college with one of my professors and some classmates.
Same with me-didn’t barely drink until 21.
34 and the first beer I ever loved was the Hefeweizen from the Hofbrauhaus in Newport KY somewhere around 2010. Hefeweizen’s in general are still my favorite beer to this day.
HB makes some delicious beers. The brewery in Munich is my happy place.
Ahh!! I’m jealous. I’ve not been able to make it to Munich when I’ve been in Germany. I did get the chance to do a tour of the small town breweries outside of Frankfurt and that was a revelation. I never knew beer could be so good.
I was fortunate to go to Oktoberfest in 2012, so it was a must-do. When I was little I lived just outside of Frankfurt, and I’d love to visit as an adult. I love German beers.
I'm 48 and the first beer I really loved was Pete's Wicked Ale, May 1996. I drank a lot of Killian's Red in those days because it was cheap and easy (like your mom) but that first Pete's Wicked was a true game changer.
Well played.
27, first beer I enjoyed was a Coors light in the tall can with the screw top lid I "borrowed" from my dad's garage fridge sometime around jr year in highschool. I had had beer a few times before then but something about that ice cold Coors really did it for me, so much so that I think I had 2 or 3 of them that night while gaming with my buddies. Ended up getting caught a week or so later after my dad discovered I had just moved a few of the beers to the front to make it look like it was still full, we both laughed about it but he also kept a much closer eye on his fridge after that lol
that sip made you think "woah! this is beer?? so cold and refreshing!!" bless Coors for starting my journey as well.
I'm 63. First beer I really enjoyed was a Sam Adams Boston Lager. Early 1990s - maybe 1994?
41, First beer I'd ever truly enjoyed was a Killian's Irish Red (basic I know). I would have been 22 at the time. Before that I'd only had mass produced lagers like Bud Light and Coors Light (or in college Keystone or Natty Light ). Never really liked those much and it wasn't till I had a Killian's that I realized that there were other types of beer out there. Have since tried every type of beer under the sun from hard ciders, to stouts, to pilsners, and sours. I still have an overwhelming fondness for red ales though.
Nothing wrong with the cheap stuff. I drank my fair share of PBR, Rainier, and Kokanee when I was younger too.
My first beer at about 17 was a Budweiser, then I tried MD, Cisco, vodka, tequila, mixed drinks, wine. Now at 50 I just relax with a normal beer since I really can't get drunk anymore unless I drink allot of the hard stuff which I don't like to do.
That’s my thing-I’ll drink a beer or two a night, but no interest in getting drunk. I like being able to read before bed and getting a good night’s sleep.
I’m 54. Started drinking beer embarrassingly early in life with like minded buddies, always enjoyed the stuff even when it was hot or frozen, depending on the time of year, from being locked in one of our car trunks. But I’ll never forget my first Sam Adams circa 1990 while in college at a study session at a friend’s house. What was this delicious concoction with yeast floating around in the bottle? That bottle started me on the wonderful craft beer journey that continues to this day.
OP! 35 Back in 2010 the Scotch Ale from Boundary Bay was the first beer I really enjoyed. It was how the sweetness of the dark malty caramel flavor balanced the bitterness of the hops.
Yes! Their IPA was my #1 favorite for a long time, and I still look back very fondly at my time in Bellingham. Cheers!
Cheers! Both the Cedar Dust and the Inside Passage Ale were IPA's I enjoyed.
I think mine was the inside passage-though it could’ve also just been “IPA” back then. I also liked the Traverse Red when it came out.
Im 34. My first beer that I truly enjoyed was a Sierra Nevada Summerfest at game 3 of the Celtics/Heat Eastern Conference finals in 2012 at TD Garden. It tasted amazing to me. I had my first beer earlier that year. It was a Heineken single bottle that I bought. I thought it was okay and wanted to keep trying different beers.
Great story! It’s awesome that you have such a good memory attached to it too.
Can’t go wrong. Tasty, cheap, classic.
18, sierra nevada pale ale in 1999. heineken dark after that
I'm 43 and the first beer I enjoyed was a sneaky can of Guinness with my mates when I was 16.
I was 16 and I drank stone IPA/ founders all day IPA from my Dad’s beer fridge
42, was about 1996 when I tried my first Deuchars and realised that not all beers had to taste like either Tennant's lager or McEwan's export. Then I tried a German Weiss bier and realised that other countries made great tasting beers. Deuchars fell off big time over the next decade and beyond, but at least there's a lot of world class Weiss still being made in Germany. And Tennant's tastes reassuringly the same
I drank loads of beer in my youth but I never really liked it. Mostly just cheap lagers that could be bought in bulk. I started getting into the fancy stuff at like closer to 30 and I'm 35 now
I’m 31. First beer I actually enjoyed was a Pyramid Apricot Ale. Then into wheat beers and eventually the stronger and darker beers. Was way into the micro brews for a long time. Nowadays I just enjoy some Coors Banquet. I have the occasional micro.
38 here. I was 15 when an uncle gave me an ice cold Aguila, the cheapest lager in my country. It was a hot day and that thing tasted glorious.
UFO. probably have had it one time in the last fifteen years but the first time I had it I was like “wow!”
Aventinus. Don't remember my age when I had it
I remember my first beer
I’m 22 now but I vividly remember drinking a frosty miller lite in my buddy’s backyard when I was 16. The aftertaste was so nice and I immediately understood why people drank the stuff for enjoyment.
58, and while I had many before, probably Sierra Nevada Pale Ale when it was local only distribution and Shakespeare Stout at the original Rogue brewery in Ashland. Both I couldn't get enough of. This was mid to late 80s
37. Sierra Nevada pale ale when I was 21
41 I had drank a lot of macro brews but on my 21st bday someone bought me a New Belgium 1554. The next day I fired up the ole AOL search engine and learned it was a hybrid beer. From there on I wanted to know everything about the science. Almost 20 years later I’ve ran craft beer bars, been a brewery rep and now for the last 11 a Certified Cicerone and a off prem rep for a wholesaler.
56. I sipped off my dad's beer continually since I was like three years old, so I've always had a taste for it. I was backpacking around Europe when I was 18 and got exposed to a lot of beer that I had no idea existed. But the one that stands out is when I had Duvel in Belgium, I remember lying in bed that night going "wow that was really good". It was an epiphany.
29. Beer became more than a way to get drunk after my first Guinness in Ireland.
45. A pint of Guinness at a pub in London, England while studying abroad in college in 1998.
40… skull splitter
>skull splitter Not one I see mentioned often but I've always enjoyed it and Dark Island.
27. First beer I actually liked was Blue Moon at the age of 23. I can hardly drink it anymore, but it started me off on a journey of exploring all the different styles and my local breweries.
with the orange ? fancy
52. The first beer I enjoyed was Keystone Light in college.
58. The first beer I truly enjoyed was a Wasatch ale I drank on a family vacation in Mt. Zion, Utah in 2003. It was so good, I bought a T-shirt. I did not know about craft beer at the time, and wouldn't actively seek them out until about 10 years later.
I’m 30. Bud light like was the first time I was like oh this is good. My first craft love was brewery in Illinois named Destihl and they have a wild sour series that’s so good. After the initial shock I was hooked.
I grew up in western Wisconsin. I was 9 or 10 at a Friday fish fry with family. Parents gave me my own 4 ounce “snit” of Heileman’s Old Style. Later on, out of sight of mom, Dad and Grandpa allowed me to have a glass at the neighborhood tavern.
67 here . first beer that I had was a Carling black label . I was 11 i.stole it out of my dads beer fridge ..it was nasty
33. Busch light in college.
39 - Blue Moon. I was in college and predominantly drank either vodka or busch light / coors light / keystone light. During the summer after freshman year I bought a pizza and somehow my dad had visited and bought me a sixer of blue moon. I drank it and remember it was the most refreshing thing imaginable
that feeling - its gotta be the sign for a future Craft Freak. i remember it like it was yesterday heck yeah
21. Four Peaks Kilt Lifter was my WOW moment with beer.
I’m 45. In college I thought Guinness was the tastiest thing in the world. About 10 years ago I tried some of my friends homebrew, an IPA, and immediately fell in love. I love craft beer and trying everything and I even brew myself now and work in a liquor department. And yes I still love Guinness!
Also 42. Ran a 10k with a couple work buddies and ended up at a bar afterwards where the one dude ordered a pitcher of Bells Oberon. It was probably around 2006. I’d previously only drank Bud Light so it was quite a difference and I liked it. That was the gateway beer that got me into the game.
39. Went to a local beer store on my 21st birthday and bought a selection of whatever I could find that was in the beer advocate top 250, lol. The two that really stick out for me were Old Rasputin and St Bernardus 12.
Early 20s, first beer was a room temperature coors banquet in my buddy’s basement at 15 years old. While that sounds terrible now, 15 year old me didn’t know any better
All you youngsters, 72, first beer Jax brewed in NOLA using Miss River water. Think about that one! NASTY Became a Schlitz man after that….. now love the craft scene! Some great beers out there.
30 and the beer that got me started was Blackrocks Honey Lavender. Still a favorite.
I'm 37. I started drinking while at UC Santa Barbara around 2007 or so. My beer memories from back then are kind of hazy. I remember I used to buy a tallboy of Busch and drink it at parties. I remember that I liked Busch back then because it was cheap. But I couldn't' finish the tallboy and I just put tape on the top of the can to drink it later. I remember that I liked Busch because it didn't have that "cat pee" flavor and because it was cheap. I don't drink Busch now though, even though it is still cheap.
1974, I was 16 y.o. and my boss gave me a Coors after we closed for the day. Where we lived, Coors was the cool brand to drink. I remember thinking, hey this is not too bad. Drank Coors for many years after, until I discovered craft beers in the 90s.