How I learned to appreciate beer...

[primesuspect]

I figured this story should be told. I discovered and learned to love beer because of PirateNinja.com (http://pirateninja.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=66&func=view&id=16715&catid=10) (Gravite2090 on Icrontic - and {IC}Hammercock in TF2).

How did you discover beer?

[mas0n]

When I was 19 I went to Germany for a few months to work at a restaurant on Ramstein AFB for 4 days a week and travel around Europe for the other 3. Everywhere I went I ordered the house beer which was usually brewed either in the basement or down the street.

mmmmmmm beeeeeeeeeer

[Gnome Queen]

I like beer because you guys insulted my taste in all other alcohol till I finally caved and started drinking lots of it.

...and it is delicious. Om nom nom.

[Cyclonite]

College. Hated beer. Was the only thing available most of the time. Granted, it was some of the most craptacular stuff you could find, but I finally got used to it.

Then, I started to find the good beers. Anytime I had an opportunity to hit a microbrewery, I would. Once Icrontic started talking about various beers, I would try to find it.

Man, I love beer.

[GHoosdum]

It started for me with the stereotypical "cold one on a hot day" while doing yard work and such. Later, I began to develop an appreciation for good beers when I worked with my Father while I was living in Georgia. We'd pick up a craft beer or local microbrew on the way home from work on Fridays, and sample it. Now I'm at the point where it's rare that I'll drink a beer that doesn't have a lot of care put into its creation.

I find a good stout or hefe to be absolutely delicious. The German Purity Law of 1516 is one of the best things that ever happened to humanity.

[Thrax]

Now let me tell you about a little beer called Thraxbane, perhaps more commonly known as Kuhnhenn's Java Stout...

[RyderOCZ]

Now let me tell you about a little beer called Thraxbane, perhaps more commonly known as Kuhnhenn's Java Stout...Thrax and Ryder consume much of this when available :D

[fatcat]

bon-fires in the sandpit @ the age of 16. kegs of beer, 4x4's and country girls. good ol times.

my first sam adams was in JFK airport when my flight got delayed. Fresh off the tap, it was heaven in a glass. had just turned 21. before that during the army days is was all hard liquor. jack, jim, sothern comfort, captain morgan. usually mixed with coke or mountain dew. after the army was bourbon bourbon bourbon. i learn which kentucky bourbons were the best with my good friend scott.
married years was rolling rock, molsen, or labatts. it was until I got divorced that I got on the correct train. the bell's, boulevard, k-brew. it was IC that got me to where I am today

[UPSLynx]

Oh man, what epic stories of beer-induction. I must add mine, and I know you all know already what my source of win-beer came from.

I grew up with the OMFW I'M NEVER DRINKING ALCOHOL mindset. This came from my youth group upbringing and faith - though I didn't really know what I was talking about. I swore I would NEVER drink the stuff, no matter what. Not even champagne on my wedding night. It simply wasn't happening.

Then I got an internship at WNDU-TV, and turned 21. And these guys I worked with, well, they liked the drink. I would go to bars with them weekly and just enjoy the company and atmosphere. But I wouldn't drink anything, just water.

Finally, I started to really think about alcohol and it's implications. I had grown up, and matured in my spirituality. I did lots of reading and research with the Bible, talked to a lot of friends about it, and I realized that drinking isn't bad. CONTROLLED drinking, nothing wrong. Biblically, there's nothing against that. (Drunkeness, different story). But in the end, this NO ALCOHOL mentality helped me develop a strong personal control with alcohol, and I'm glad I can be entirely responsible with the stuff.

So I decided I'd try a drink. The first one was a captain and coke. Liqueur became my taste. I loved rum, whiskey, some vodkas. I loved the expensive stuff. But beer, no. I hated beer. I knew I hated beer before I even tried it.

My first beer was coors light. And it sucked. There was no taste to it, bitter after flavor. There was simply nothing good about this beer. I knew I'd continue to find favor in rum, so I stayed away from beer.

Then I go to the Dream Theater/Opeth concert in Detroit, and crash at ICHQ for my first time. Prime and Keebler are showing me around the house, and we stayed up until the early hours of the morning just talking around the table. They ask if I want a beer, I explain my disdain for the stuff. I remember Keebler pretty much dragging me out to the fridge saying trust me, and he hands me an Oberon by Bell's. We poured a glass, I drank it, and I had awoken.

Beer sucks. Real beer is incredible. I drank up that Oberon, and I loved it. That night I also had my first Sam Adams, and sampled a few other win beers. My tastes changed.

Then I went home, and was pissed to find out how impossible it was to find any of these great beers at home. No local bars stock the stuff. But I've learned to buy my own stuff at party shops.

I still favor rum. But man, I love me a good beer.

[Lincoln]

I remember Keebler pretty much dragging me out to the fridge saying trust me, and he hands me an Oberon by Bell's. We poured a glass, I drank it, and I had awoken.
This was a triumph.

[primesuspect]

I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.

[primesuspect]

Icrontic loves her beer, it's true....

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/icrontic/2816253389/" title="Icrontic.com Oktoberfest 2007 beer fridge #1 by Icrontic.com, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2816253389_2a815f089c_b.jpg" width="683" height="1024" alt="Icrontic.com Oktoberfest 2007 beer fridge #1" /></a>

[Thrax]

Too many hops present in that fridge.

[Gravite2090]

Not enough hops present in that fridge. Needs moar!

Agreed.

The first beer I ever had was in 8th grade at some end of the year party. Not sure who invited me (considered a nerd...I know wtf, I'm so cool). I got there with my friend and some kid who now serves me burritos at a restaurant was like, who invited these nerds?
Well, I didn't say anything then ... but shortly later I tried my first beer! A bud-light. It tasted like bananas. I was thoroughly unimpressed, but after drinking the whole thing I mustered up the balls to take my shirt off and throw it in the face of the kid who called me a nerd. He got mad and threw my shirt in fire, ending the conflict.
I kindly asked the parents at the house if I could use their phone, called my parents to come pick me up that night and explained that I had lost my shirt and had no idea where it was. Oh to be 12/13. Later that night I probably logged on to a BBS and played some 4 player Doom2, ya get off it.

Now...many more stories later, and a whole ton of Corona, Bud, etc later ... my Dad found out I was drinking and told me if I am going to drink beer then I should stop drinking piss. He taught me the ways and he did it well. And now, with a tear in my eye, I feel as if I have done the same for many others :o I literally have a trophy for my beer knowledge that was won by skunking many another in a beer trivia contest. It sits high on my shelves, but not as high as the Westvleteren.

[Thrax]

You've tried Westvleteren? Was it their fabled Abt 12?

[Gravite2090]

You've tried Westvleteren? Was it their fabled Abt 12?

I haven't tried it yet, it is resting and waiting for me in my cabinets. It has to be the right moment, and it is the 12.

[Thrax]

/envy

How did you acquire it? A pilgrimage to the heart of Belgium?

[primesuspect]

Arrr, it be a good tale... Pirate Dan be one o' the original pirates, mates!