1775, Virginia. GW and I kicked a cask at Tom’s plantation.
Tom starts bragging that his beer is better than any piss-water brewed by Brits. He says he’ll kill anyone that says different.
We tap another cask, and it gets a bit hazy after that.
[quote=“mrv”]1775, Virginia. GW and I kicked a cask at Tom’s plantation.
Tom starts bragging that his beer is better than any piss-water brewed by Brits. He says he’ll kill anyone that says different.
We tap another cask, and it gets a bit hazy after that.[/quote]
Wouldn’t GW also be lighting up some of the sticky icky that pot heads say that he grew on his farm?
It took only one glass to get me hooked on what Jim Koch calls the “better beer category.”
In June 1999 I went on a business trip to Bridgewater, NJ. I had always hated beer, because all I had ever tasted and all that I had ever known to exist was the BMC category. I saw a guy order this interesting looking black beer and I just had to try it. I fell in love and it did not take long for my friends to start calling me a beer snob.
[quote=“mppatriots”][quote=“mrv”]1775, Virginia. GW and I kicked a cask at Tom’s plantation.
Tom starts bragging that his beer is better than any piss-water brewed by Brits. He says he’ll kill anyone that says different.
We tap another cask, and it gets a bit hazy after that.[/quote]
Wouldn’t GW also be lighting up some of the sticky icky that pot heads say that he grew on his farm?[/quote]
So you heard about our boat ride in the dead of winter? :roll:
I hated all beer until my sophomore year of college when my roommate brought a case of beer when he moved in.
- Harpoon IPA - This is the beer that made me realize that there was a whole new world outside of Natty Light
- Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter - Roasty with a solid hop bite - sort of like the grandfather of a Black IPA
- Ipswich Oatmeal Stout - See above, plus oats
- S/N Pale Ale - The classic for a reason
- Theakston Old Peculier - One of the all-time greats
[quote=“erockrph”]I hated all beer until my sophomore year of college when my roommate brought a case of beer when he moved in.
- Harpoon IPA - This is the beer that made me realize that there was a whole new world outside of Natty Light
- Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter - Roasty with a solid hop bite - sort of like the grandfather of a Black IPA
- Ipswich Oatmeal Stout - See above, plus oats
- S/N Pale Ale - The classic for a reason
- Theakston Old Peculier - One of the all-time greats[/quote]
Ive got a theakstons old peculier clone if youre interested. I got it in england after visiting the brewery. They use a hefty sugar addition. Pm me if you want it
Good topic.
Have to go back to before there was “craft” and before micro even caught on. Imports were the best beer you could buy and most of those were still just so-so.
Pilsner Urquell especially if you could find it on tap
Chimay
Old peculiar
Bitburger on tap
Guinness on tap
Early Homebrew from a malt can from drano to decent
Early micro-macro: Blatz Culmbacher on tap
Then once micro caught on Sprecher, Sam & Sierra (both lost some magic as they scaled up)
And a boatload of so-so to lousy beers of all sorts of micro, macro, craft which in its own way keeps the quest alive.
Wait, the beer was called “From Drano to Decent”?
BTW, New Albion was the other “micro” I was thinking of…either BYO or Zymurgy just did a piece on them and publication of their APA recipe. Looks to me like SNPA 
[quote=“Pietro”]Wait, the beer was called “From Drano to Decent”?
BTW, New Albion was the other “micro” I was thinking of…either BYO or Zymurgy just did a piece on them and publication of their APA recipe. Looks to me like SNPA [/quote]
some of it was Drano, some drinkable, some even decent for canned malt that was available at the time.
I was fortunate to drink good beers, lagers, ales and stouts most of my life. Some cheapo garbage junk that never did anything for me. I had a samuel smiths Porter that blew me away, and then their nutbrown, and oatmeal stout and pale ale. Had some tap Guinness that was nice compared to bottled. Then had some affordable Catamount Porter from VT. Was sick of finding or paying for the stuff i liked and even had a hard time finding stuff i liked; so one day i decided to get a kit of porter and that was it - did maybe 5 kits total - all others have been my own recipes. Just got back into it after a hiatus. building my vineyard took time and energy. Missed the good stuff i made and was not happy with the sam adams stuff or even the sierra nevada pale ale which i used to like. just nothing quenched my thirst the way my own stuff tasted. so here I am back again… I am a big Porter fan and also like the pale ale too. a lighter one is nice too from time to time and in the summer. But my light has flavor that others just do not seem to have.
Living in the twin cities Summit of course had a huge part of me liking craft beer, and now I work for them! .
When I was just of drinking age I drank a lot of linnies honey wiesse (sp?) And their other beers. During the winter I would drink their big butt dopplebock. I know they are owned by miller, but back then I thought they were Damn good.
For my bachelor party, my friends took me to a beerfest in stillwater, MN, and I was blown away by how many little local breweries there were around. That was almost 4 years ago.
When I moved, I found a liquor store by my house that had a large craft beer selection, and build your own 6 packs, and just started buying beers that had a cool name or cool label. Honestly i still do that.
A few years ago I was at a friends house who just started brewing and he made the St Paul Porter kit from our host. After drinking that I was hooked! My wife bought me a kit for my birthday and I have been hooked ever since.
Full Sail Golden Ale, 3 Floyd’s Alpha King, Goose Island. Hop Leaf bar in Chicago, 1995
#1, Turning 21 and being able to go in to the liquor store. I quickly found out there were more choices than BMC.
#2, Sam Adams commercials on the TV. He was a regular guy, showing his start and why his beer was better.
#3, Sam Adams Boston Lager. this was the first six pack of something other than BMC I ever bought.
#4, a trip to a restaurant in Duluth MN that had a local brew on tap. It was an “oh my God” moment for my taste buds.
[quote=“BAD-Brew”]Good topic.
Have to go back to before there was “craft” and before micro even caught on. Imports were the best beer you could buy and most of those were still just so-so.
Chimay
[/quote]
I totally forgot about Chimay. What an ass I am! One of my exes got me drinking this well before I was enjoying craft beer. Their red label is still one of my favorite beers.
[quote=“shizzy”]
#4, a trip to a restaurant in Duluth MN that had a local brew on tap. It was an “oh my God” moment for my taste buds.[/quote]
Fitger’s Brewhouse? If so that is one of the best brewpubs in MN.
I love the Daisy Cutter. It may be my favorite local beer, but I would not call it an IPA. Certainly hop heavy, but I think it falls on the hoppier end of the Pale spectrum.
And the hand-me down thing is great to hear! I had similar experience with my brother -in-law buying us a starter kit - and then later moving to town and into our building. The fact that I can use his wort chiller, grain bags, auto-siphon etc made it a lot easier to get into the craft without forking over a big up front investment. It is also hugely inspirational to have a fellow home brewer across the hall… with a kegerator!
[quote=“GeerBoggles”]
…
-Half Acre Brewery (Chicago). Specifically their Daisy Cutter IPA. SO refreshing & crisp with strong hop flavor. I could drink 20 of them on a hot summer day.
-hand-me-down equipment. Once the father-in-law was back into brewing he took inventory of his 30+ years worth of brewing supplies and was able to set me up with ALMOST everything I needed. The rest came for christmas this year.
Full disclosure, I have yet to brew my first batch. I am getting the stuff this evening from my local HBS and plan on whipping together an American Brown Ale this weekend. Extract with steeped grains. I am pretty excited.[/quote]
[quote=“nicolai”][quote=“shizzy”]
#4, a trip to a restaurant in Duluth MN that had a local brew on tap. It was an “oh my God” moment for my taste buds.[/quote]
Fitger’s Brewhouse? If so that is one of the best brewpubs in MN.[/quote]
could be. It was 15 years ago, I wasn’t in to the craft brew thing.
First beer ever was an ice cold MGD on a hot-ass day. I was hooked. It’s still my go-to when I slumming it.
SA was very soon after that and then something with a green label that almost peeled my face off its was so damn bitter. Now I realize that was Sierra Nevada. Still one of my favorites and my intro to hops.
In 1997 at McDinny’s, a bar outside the 32nd street Naval Station, the waitress recommended I try a pale ale from a little brewery that had recently opened up in the area…Stone. I almost cried it was so good.
Rocky Racoon’s Crystal Honey Lager. Its a Papazian recipe a friend brewed. That’s when I KNEW I could brew good beer and not just crap. I bought my first kit a week later. That was 1998.
