A few weeks ago St. Louis Hops posted an article asking readers to describe the moment in which they turned their back on their buddy, Budweiser. We, and you, are hoping and praying that beer drinkers across the United States, particularly our leaders and the guys who arrest and are arrested on front porches in this great Union, see the light of day. Mike and I would suggest that everyone reading this article right now had an epiphanous moment in which they realized that beer did not have to be a pale, flavor-free lager that short on malt and hop content, and pumped full of additives like rice.
What a glorious moment that was, for all of us, and the world needs to hear your story. Perhaps your craft beer conversion came from the diligent work of a beer-vangelist, perhaps you found yourself at a pub that only served better beer, or maybe and angel appeared to you in a dream, advising you to change your ways. Whatever, we want to hear it.
It has been said, there is no Zealot like a convert. Perhaps in reliving your moment of enlightenment, the old zealot for better beer will be revived in you, and you may thus serve the craft community with passion once more.
Nate’s Story:
I can distinctly remember the moment in which I was set free from the shackles of the likes of Natty light that I purchased from the gas station. I was already flirting with better beer. Out of morbid curiosity I had begun straying here and there from the usual suspects and found myself picking up a sixer of Killians or Amberbock. Some may disagree, but I found the flavors bolder and more appealing. I even picked up a pack of Guinness here and there, but I still find myself going back to basics.
But one day a buddy and I stumbled into The International Wine Center in Springfield, MO. I don’t remember why…I think just to check it out and try to convince ourselves that we were cultured individuals or maybe we were just looking for a sweet deal on some not so sweet beer. Either way, I remember seeing the shelves full of thousands of different types and brands of beer. It blew me away. I had no clue the beer world offered such variety. From that point on, I began buying a different beer every time I had the chance. At that time I, the Neophyte that I was, strictly shopped in the Imports aisle, thinking other countries held the market on good beer–A slightly logical conclusion when the cheap lager past dominates the American market and airwaves. Eventually, via Boulevard Brewery, I discovered and loved the American Craft Beer scene.
What was your moment?
More of an evolutionary process for me than a ‘moment’. Mostly Coors light or Rolling Rock for many, many years, then mostly Bass Ale, and Guinness for many, many years. Then we started The Brew Club whose whole purpose was to try as many different beers as possible, and then write about them. So I guess for me it was a long plateau and now I’m on a very steep growth curve!
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I have *always* hated Bud, Miller, Coors and all the lite variants. Was stuck on Michelob for a long time and would occasionally try an import.
When I did it was always skunked (being in the Indiana and slow sales of these varieties being what it is). I didn’t have my epiphany until I started finding “Industrial Specialties” that actually had good flavor. Then I ran into Mike at Crown and it was all over. I’m buying a different beer every time I go in and really enjoying the contrasting experiences.
More of a slow slide into awareness than an epiphany, I guess.
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@MIke and Dave, i think it always is a bit of an evolutionary process. All of our accounts start with trying some commercial imports before jumping into craft beer and “industial imports”
@Dave, “Then I ran into Mike at Crown and it was all over.” HAHAHA. I am not surprised. Mike is quite a salesman. In fact, he “sold” me on homebrewing years ago.
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Golly. I was in college. I had been initiated into the ranks of beer drinkers by my fellow dorm buddies. First beer: Beast Light. I remember it well. It tasted awful. It was a Monday. Emmit Smith took the first play from scrimmage and found a gaping hole in the Giants’ defense to score a touchdown.
Second beer… a dorm-sponsored, off-campus “ice cream social.” Bud Light was the offering. Ok, it was a step up. I followed this modus operandi for a little while, until Jack and I acquired the favors of an older friend to buy us some brew. We walked into Albertson’s beer aisle, and to my astonishment, there was a multitude of malted barley beverages dosed with varying levels of hops. The various labels on display presented a glimpse of heaven. Oh, the colors! Oh, the flavors! Oh, the FLAVORS! From this point forward, I was hooked, albeit still a neophyte.
Each subsequent trip involved a purchase of a yet untasted beer. The sky was the limit! I began to find my niche in the German ales and lagers available. I became an expert on hefeweizen. I dappled in dopplebocks. I reveled in dunkel weizen. I marveled at the weizenbock. Indeed, German biers had reclaimed a long, lost son.
My emphasis on the German offerings, of course, was not to the exclusion of Belgian, Czech, English, Irish, and Scottish offerings. (I even tried to go Italian, but left with the impression that they ought to stick to wine.) I found that Guinness, while the ubiquitous stout, was over-rated in my opinion. I thought, why limit yourself to Irish dry stout? What about milk stout? What about chocolate stout? Oatmeal stout? Imperial stout. Russian Imperial Stout!
I don’t recall when my emphasis on imports began to make room for American craft brews. It just sort of happened. Now that I live in the northwest, American offerings (specifically NW brews) are typically the choice du jour. While I’ve been living up here, the hop has become an even better friend of mine. IPA anyone?
Beer. It does a body good.
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Mine was simply buying a Michelob variety pack. After that, I tried some new stuff and it was almost over. Once my wife bought me some home brewing stuff for X-mas it was definitely over.
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Dave,
Thanks for writing in and talking about this. I’m always gratified when I have an impact on someone. My enthusiasm for the subject has always propelled me to share with others. I’m glad to have met you and peaked more interest where it was already growing.
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I think you’re right about it being a process. People tend to evolve slowly (beer Darwinism, let’s call it) in the world of beer. I also think I had the same experience as Scott. It was a steep learning curve after the initial plunge.
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Tex,
Every time you respond it’s like reading a beer gospel story. I think it’s a lovely tale to tell.
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Tex,
I agree…well written story. I can’t believe you don’t have a beer blog!
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Don’t tell him that, Nate. He’ll never come back!
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Having been the good squeaky clean AG pastor’s kid, I hadn’t had any alcohol until I was like, 20 or so. It was red wine with my of-age wife.
But since I hadn’t drunk alcohol as a teen, I decided to take up coffee, so that by the time I was 15 or so I was drinking it black.
So having had big red wines, and having drunk black coffee, when I had my first beer I decided to have a Guiness. I have to admit that I have never once had a light beer of any kind. So I was born into the light, having never been a child of darkness. Except the darkness of a good thick stout!
Praise him!
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I drank a ton of lager in high school, college, and immediately after college, but my epiphany happened about a year ago. I was barely drinking (maybe a beer a month) at that time, and it was either Molson Canadian, as that’s my wife’s favorite, or Guiness. She wanted a 6-pack, so I ran in to our local liquor store (the only one in town), to grab it. On the way to the register, I was looking in the cases and saw a gargoyle on one of the bottles, and the name was “Arrogant Bastard”. I laughed for a second, paid for my beer, and went home. I kept thinking about it though, and I thought it was pretty funny to name your beer that, so I told my wife I was going to buy one. I’d had a similar experience with Bad Frog beer in the late 90′s, so I wasn’t expecting much.
After my daughter went to bed for the night, I pulled out the Bastard and popped it open, and I was immediately scared. I had never smelled anything like that before, and the taste absolutely blew me away. As I was reading the bottle, I noticed they had a website, so I pulled it up on the computer. Looking through the beers, I immediately was drawn to their Imperial Russian Stout, so I looked for it online. It was August or September, so they were already sold out for the year, but I found a store (Kahn’s in Indy) that had Old Guardian in stock. I went to Kahn’s the next day and grabbed Old Guardian, their 12th Anniversary, and Oak Aged Yeti. After that, the hook was firmly set.
I’ve had over 300 different beers in 11 months, and I average 7-10 beers a week, so it’s always something new. I went from a hard-core guzzler of mediocrity, to a mostly non-drinker, to a full-fledged beer nerd, and I’ll never look back.
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@adhunt: Praise him indeed! Consider your self spared…
@Howard: Now that is a praiseworthy conversion story. It must have been fate that you noticed that arrogan bastard on the shelf that day!
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