Gateway Beer

[RedGuitar]

What beer did you try that really opened up beer for you the first time?

I remember trying to drink Bud Light and Corona when I was younger (before I turned 21; thanks, older brother!) and hating them. I just assumed I didn't like beer.

Then I was told to try this beer called Killian's Irish Red... behold, flavor! :cross: This led to Yeungling Lager, Porter and Black and Tan.

Then, I tried my first local micro-brew: Highland's Gaelic Ale. I remember that moment with a tear of joy in my eye! And thus the lifelong search for good (nay, great!) beer began!

 

[Bsquared]

My brother use to bring home a 6 PAC on Tuseday nights after work. He would bring home something he never had before, and we would split it while we watched Mellrose place. I think I was 19 or 20 at the time. It was bass ale that got me excited about beer. After I turned 21, I would go to the local micro brewery's in Sacramento like Rubicon and Sudwerks. Took me another 8 years before I realized I could make beer.

 

[Coldies]

I usually drank whatever was cheapest when I was underage, although I have some fond (More like vague, verge of blacking out) memories of drinking a LOT of "Fat Weazel IPA" from Trader Joes but when I turned 21 it was when I worked at a brewery and their "Palapa Pale Ale" along with their "Wipe Out IPA" was what made me open my eyes to good beer.

 

[MacGruber]

For me it was Sam Adams Summer Ale. That led to Blue Moon. Finally, Franziskaner and Hop Devil blew the beer world wide open for me. I wanted to try everything under the sun.

 

[geneb]

Never really had one. I didn't start drinking until I was 21 (honest. Other than a few tastes of stuff when I was a kid) and I usually bought whatever was cheapest. But I loved Smithwick's and Guinness. When I could afford them I would get those. As I got more money I'd start going to the wine shop (they carried beer too) and get something interesting. It was my dearest dream to get a keg of Guinness all to myself. Then I started brewing. Now I have 30 gallons of beer [that is better than Guinness] sitting around and it doesn't seem like enough.

 

[rycov]

first it was Guinness, then killians.

to the op, have you had highlands cold mountain winter ale? OMFG it is good.

 

[gcdowd]

I actually didn't start drinking until college and I started on busch. Some of my college buddies would always buy Arrogant Bastard so one day I asked for a sip. I hated it, my palette was not yet developed for good beer. Anyway, I eventually got to drinking Yuengling (my gateway beer) and then not long after on to the good stuff! I still drink a Busch every now and again and it always reminds me of college...

 

[terrencepickles]

I started experimenting with beer right after I turned 21, more out of intellectual curiosity than real love for the product.

Samuel Smith's nut brown was the first time I was blown away by a beer though.

 

[unionrdr]

For me it was Carling Black Label back in the late 50's. Then Duquesne,POC,Stroh's,Stroh's Bock...you name it. Settled on bud as a young man at Ford. Bud Dry was good.
But now,...oh my Lord,what have I gotten myself into? I snear my nose at that stuff as I blow by to the craft beers. Unless I'm down on cash & want a beer.

 

[robtotten]

Pete's Wicked Ale when I was a teenager in the mid-90s. Before they reformulated it to make it an average amber...

What beer did you try that really opened up beer for you the first time?

I remember trying to drink Bud Light and Corona when I was younger (before I turned 21; thanks, older brother!) and hating them. I just assumed I didn't like beer.

Then I was told to try this beer called Killian's Irish Red... behold, flavor! :cross: This led to Yeungling Lager, Porter and Black and Tan.

Then, I tried my first local micro-brew: Highland's Gaelic Ale. I remember that moment with a tear of joy in my eye! And thus the lifelong search for good (nay, great!) beer began!

 

[robtotten]

p.s. I first read this as "Getaway Beer"

 

[Fetus]

First beer I ever drank that I would say I really enjoyed? Chimay blue.

 

[doctorRobert]

How can Yeungling be a gateway beer? I thought people needed a gateway beer away from it... (ducks)

 

[organ]

The first beer that I enjoyed(beyond the effects of alcohol) was a Newcastle. That was in high school, though, and failed to take hold as I continued to guzzle the cheapest beer available. I'd name Rogue's Dead Guy as my "gateway beer".

 

[Mrclasen]

Spotted Cow was the first beers that sparked my interest in craft beer.

 

[Qhrumphf]

I'd never had anything by Highland until I poured for them at a brewfest a short while ago. That Gaelic Ale is awesome.

As for the question, I was the same as a lot of other posters, drinking whatever was cheapest when I was young. I'd say either Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or DFH 60 min IPA were my gateways, then I moved on to Belgians (Chimay and Westmalle initially) that really made me appreciate how awesome beer could be.

 

[Hernando]

I didn't really have one gateway beer. My first time having a good beer (drank dirty stones and rolling rock) was at the GABF. It is like losing your virginity at the bunny ranch.

 

[makomachine]

SN Pale Ale and Guiness for me as it relates to commercial beers. The real turning point for me was a home brew from a co-worker at a July 4th party. Pale Ale and at the time, it was the absolute best beer I EVER had. I raved for hours about it and couldn't believe he made it himself!

 

[Bill05]

When I was a teen, it was whatever was cheapest and strongest. Mostly Keystone Ice. Then I was introduced to Michelob Amberbock, which showed me beer can have flavor. After college, when I met my wife, she showed me there is more to beer than just getting drunk! She is a big beer snob and introduced me to southern tier and the rest is history. I am on a never ending quest to try new beers!

 

[29thfloor]

Hard to say, but the one that got me more interested in trying different styles and eventually home brewing was Chimay Blue.

 

[redman67]

I only drank bmc until the local package store put on a beer tasteing one day
knee walked out the door and never looked back

 

[humann_brewing]

What beer did you try that really opened up beer for you the first time?

I remember trying to drink Bud Light and Corona when I was younger (before I turned 21; thanks, older brother!) and hating them. I just assumed I didn't like beer.

Then I was told to try this beer called Killian's Irish Red... behold, flavor! :cross: This led to Yeungling Lager, Porter and Black and Tan.

Then, I tried my first local micro-brew: Highland's Gaelic Ale. I remember that moment with a tear of joy in my eye! And thus the lifelong search for good (nay, great!) beer began!

Great story!


the moment of realization for me was at a pub out with my brother when I had a beer called perfect porter, thinking to myself, kinda cocky with the name don't you think?

Well, I sat there and sipped on that was my eyes were opened to the world of good beer. To this day, I have not found a better porter. So much so that I went on a mission to recreate the beer since the brewery is no longer around.

Check it out here.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f126/bert-grants-perfect-porter-tribute-149888/

 

[Misfit]

The first gateway beer I had was newcastle. I have never looked back

 

[NorthRiverS]

Two beers come to mind. I first tried Olympia Dark while in college in the early '70s. No longer made since Oly went out of business. Miss it. The second is San Miguel Dark. Both beers gave me an appreciation for beers that weren't yellow in color.

NRS

 

[RedGuitar]

first it was Guinness, then killians.

to the op, have you had highlands cold mountain winter ale? OMFG it is good.

I did have Cold Mountain, and it was amazing! A local craft brew store opened in my area in the last year and that guy always lets me know when Highland's seasonals come in. He can't keep them on the shelf. I was only able to get 2 22 oz Cold Mountains this past winter.

 

[rycov]

i had it on tap this winter, from what i understand my area only got five kegs of it, and my favorite pub got two of them. sad day when they were kicked

 

[NightTrainLayne]

I was introduced to two beers soon after I started drinking beer in the mid-nineties. Pete's Wicked Ale, and Sam Adams Boston Lager.

Now thinking back, I can't remember which I had first, but they started me down this path.

I'm just now learning that Pete's formula was changed later, and that they are now out of business. . .. that at least explains why I used to think that Pete's was so awesome, and the last 3-4 times I've gotten a six-pack that it was just so-so.

 

[Zixxer10R]

first it was Guinness, then killians.

to the op, have you had highlands cold mountain winter ale? OMFG it is good.

On the topic of OMFG it's good: If anyone is ever in Pagosa Springs, CO make sure you pick up Pagosa Springs Brewing CO's Timberwolf. I cannot express in words how amazing that brew is. I would make the trip up there just for a growler to take back home.

Of course, to be honest, if i made the trip up there i wouldn't leave with just that brew, or just one of anything. I would deplete my entire checking account loading up on their stuff!

 

[Germelli1]

Sierra Nevada PA was the first beer I really enjoyed out of the light category. One summer for some reason every case of Kona Brewing products rung up as a 6 pack in the grocery store so their Pipeline Porter, Firerock Pale Ale and Long board Lager probably accounted for 80% of our caloric intake that summer

 

[HomeBrewMan]

Grew up in Ireland, so plenty of Imported mass produced crap in all the pubs, with next to no variation between pubs. Craft beer was unheard of up to about 6-10 years ago. Guinness is fine if you dont overdose on it, which can happen in Ireland. Then someone gave me a bottle of london pride & I was converted- since then I have become a brewer of crazy hop beverages & love full on hoppy beers.

 

[EdWort]

Heiniken when I was 17. It had flavor to me and a kick. I worked at a restaurant back then and lots of us would go to a late night restaurant who did not card most of the time. I worked in the kitchen, so I was late to the table one weekend night. I found out our group had a waitress who always carded everyone, so I stopped at their bar and ordered a Heini (not 3.2%), paid for it and headed up to the table.

My good friend who was 19 at the time was sitting there with a 3.2 bottle of beer and I sat down across from him with my full strength Heini and a big grin. When the waitress came by, I asked for another and she brought me one. I shared it with my friend since he did not rat me out.

 

[Beezy]

I am not sure what it was exactly. When I was younger I would always like to try different stuff but in the area I grew up in the selection wasn't great. I remember getting St Pauly Girl and thinking that was something. I would say the maltier things got me going. New Castle, Guiness, Franziskaner, etc. Those are the beers that I will still drink to this day anyway.

 

[Gtrman13]

Yeungling Lager and Black n Tan did it for me!

 

[LarryC]

When I was younger there weren't too many beers around that weren't American lagers. I tasted a few in my early teens and thought they were pretty foul. Then a buddy stashed a couple of his Dad's Stroh's out in the snow. We drank them almost frozen and it was GREAT!

I think the gateway beer for something non-BMC was probably Sam Adams though I liked Killian's Red and things like Bock beer that the big brewery's put out in the spring. Guess I finally found that beer could actually have flavor

Edit: I guess I should add that as a teenager growing up in Ohio, we used to go crazy for Coors when a truck driver friend would bring a couple cases back from a trip out west (couldn't buy it east of the Mississippi back then). I guess tastes change...

 

[TotemWolf]

It wasn't just a beer for me. It was Oktoberfest while staitioned in Germany in the 80's.

 

[tpitman]

Guiness Extra Stout is what guided me toward something other than commercial lagers. Drank a lot of Pabst, Miller, Coors, and finally Coronas before that. As for what steered me toward beer, I was 16, had tried choking down beer and never could get past the bitterness. Tried it on ice. Terrible. One night I was with two friends at a party we crashed, and I found myself sitting outside on the fender of a car with an empty can of beer and a big smile on my face. Ever since it's been my disposition-enhancing substance of choice.

 

[dfc]

I believe it was Killians and Newcastle.

 

[petey_c]

My first beers (I know, a little off topic) was Schaffer (brewed in Brooklyn at the time). It didn't do much for me (my dad gave me half a glass with dinner). I was working in a German deli and started drinking Michelob. Blah beers until I had Bass ale on tap in Old Town Alexandria, Va. From there a gradual awakening of my taste buds.

 

[donquixbrote]

Ever since I started drinking Keystones at my friend's house in high school, I've wanted something better, so I started drinking a little bit better beer: Guinness, Killians, Heineken, etc. But what really got me excited for drinking great beer was actually Leinenkugels, which I let me know that theres more to this world than light lagers (surprise!). From there it was Rogue Dead Guy and Bell's Two Hearted, and since I've turned 21 I can't help but buy exclusively micro-brewed and mostly local brews and almost always something I've never tried before.

 

[bigmv]

I drank alot of Naty Lite, Bud, Lucky Lager and Wiedemann but I didnt really enjoy the taste until St. Stans Red Sky Ale, it really turned me on to good beer.