My first beer-drinking experience occurred when I was 15 or 16. My mate's parents had gone away for the weekend, so a bunch of male teenagers did what was expected of them under such circumstances. I think the beer of choice was Toohey's New, bottled. I drank around 8-10 of them, got awesomely drunk, and passed out. I didn't particularly enjoy the taste, but I was young and it was the only alcohol that was on offer, so I wasn't going to be picky. It took me another 3-4 years to drink beer again. I seriously couldn't touch the stuff after that night. I loathed the taste, so I preferred to drink bourbon ands vodka instead. It wasn't until after highschool that I decided to try beer again, but this time properly. I knew my friends would be turning 21 within the next few years, and the only alcohol provided at most parties was beer or wine, and wine most certainly wasn't an option. So I gradually got used to the taste of beer (having one or two before moving onto spirits) until I eventually began to really enjoy it. There's a few main choices in New South Wales when it comes to beer, particularly on tap. VB (Vagina Backwash, Vomit Bomb, Very Bad etc) is notorious for tasting bad, as its nicknames suggest. Despite the fact that I was beginning to enjoy beer again, I still couldn't stomach Toohey's New. That left me with Carlton Draught, which has been my main beer since now for the last 4-5 years. I can now happily sit on Carlton for most of the night, and as far as taste goes, it's one of my favourite Australian beers. Another one that I've started to enjoy in the last 12 or so months is Hahn Super Dry (which I believe is similar in substance to American Light Beer?). I still prefer Carlton Draught, but I've found that sometimes Super Dry is a little easier to stomach. I'll only drink bottled beers at parties, when tap beer is unavailable. In these situations sometimes I'll stick to Carlton Draught, but as Chater mentioned Heineken is often a popular choice, as is another beer my grandfather got me onto, called Hammer And Tongs. The review is a few years old, but everything that is said is still relevant. Including the price. Being able to share that sort of connection with my Grandfather is also an extra incentive. Canned beer is a no-no. In any situation. I'd rather drink water. The German's are obviously known for having superb tasting beer, and I can definitely attest to that. However, Bavarian beer is on a whole other level when it comes to quality and tatse. You know a country has it's priorities right when they make laws concerning the ingredients of their beer. I've had many a night getting stuck into a handful of German steins, but I'm yet to wake up with a hangover. Brilliant stuff.
I started out drinking before freshman year of college. As all freshman do, I drank everything handed to me, though I much preferred Jack Daniels or vodka to most beer at that level (think Busch Light, Keystone, Natty, etc). My sophomore year I got into gin big-time, but also started drinking Blue Moon and other hefeweizens. I didn't really start drinking beer until I went to Egypt, where the local beer (Stella) was much cheaper than everything else. It was also shit. When I got back from Egypt, my roommate was (tangentially to being a huge asshole) a giant beer snob. That's not to say he looked down upon anything that wasn't a microbrew - he loved microbrews and cheaper everyday beers alike. From him I got into: - Rolling Rock - Bass - Guinness (love it) - Shiner Bock - Leinenkugel - Yuengling - Sam Adams So not a whole lot of pale lagers, more darker beers. I'll still drink a hefeweizen for the taste, but it's hard for me to drink a lot of them because of the hangover. My favorite at the moment, though, is Golden Monkey. Something like 9.0% ABV but does not taste it at all. Someday I want to go to Germany and drink proper beer. That place is beer nirvana.
My beer history started with warm Heineken that I had stolen from my parents. It tasted like crap but I powered through it. Throughout high school that was pretty much my staple. Freshman year of college I drank the usuals, key light, key ice, Colt 45. I also experimented with some better beers like Oatmeal stouts. Going to school in Boulder I had a wide selection of microbrews that I was exposed to, as such I drank pretty much everything and anything. I found out that I prefer ambers and copper ales. The other thing I learned is that super high BAV beers are just pointless. Any beer that 10% or more is just not my thing. At that point they start tasting like alcoholic maple syrup. Thats not to say I didn't try a lot of them. I enjoyed Avery's Kaiser, Maharajah, Beast, Double Beast, Son of Beast, basically their whole line up. They're good for a sip, but good luck trying to finish a whole bottle. Once I graduated I went to live in San Diego for a while. San Diego has a very good microbrew scene, it also has a distinct preference in beers. Basically in SD, the more hops the better. I went to all the big breweries, tasted the various IPA's, double stouts, imperial everythings, and even pilsners once they started making them. Starting out I was a huge fan of the bold IPA's, but the problem with those is you can't have more than a handful before the hangover kicks in. I currently favor stouts. I like bold stouts that have coffee flavors to them. If I'm having one beer to sip and enjoy, it would be Green Flash Double Stout.
When I was partying in my late teens, and had a crappy job, I drank a lot of keystone. Keystone tastes like dorm rooms and bong loads. When I got a better job and a truck, I got hooked on Newcastle. Used to drive out to the middle of nowhere with my friends and drink in the woods, or have cookouts at each others' apartments. Newcastle tastes like impromptu bonfires miles from anywhere, charcoal smoke and grilled meat, and Superbowl parties. And bong loads. I stopped smoking weed and after nobody was in college anymore, I used to frequent some of the local pool halls with my friends, and eventually my current girlfriend. Yuengling was almost always on special. Yuengling tastes like stale secondhand cigarette smoke, the crack of the pool balls and extreme sexual tension. Now all of my favorites are expensive, though I'll drink just about anything if pressed. Given a choice, though, I'm an admitted beer snob and an IPA lover, and will order whatever is good, or whiskey if there's no good beer available.
I used to drink cheap, shitty beer. I never "loved" beer. I pretty much just drank it to get drunk. Then I met my husband, who is arguably the biggest beer snob ever. I went from drinking dollar beers, to being a fucking critic. Now, I visit microbreweries, sample their IPAs, and discuss their "dry-hoppiness," and their "medium to high bitterness." Ha. Such a change indeed. I drink expensive beer, good tequila, and cheap wine. Nothing else really interests me.
Sierra Nevada Pale ale is my absolute go to. I tried it first when I was 15, and have loved it ever since. However it costs 3 bucks a bottle here. All liquor is really expensive here, so you have to get the best bang for your buck. You can go for the beer that's name is the alcohol content : Seven Point Two for two bucks a can. or for a real kick get a beer that is 10.2 percent alcohol and 2.85 for a half liter can. First time I saw a bum drinking on the street in the middle of the day here, he was drinking that, so you know it must get the job done.
First beers/High school: Whatever I snuck from my parents. Dad exclusively drank Coors Light, so it was almost always that. Sometimes it was other stuff if we had a party and there were extras lying around. College: Keystone Light, Rolling Rock, PBR bottles (pre hipster bullshit) or whatever was already cold and paid for. However, we also focused on trying as many good beers as possible. By the end of college, my roommate and I had three shelves full of individual bottles--I think 90+ different beers in all. I may have been drinking a 30 of Keystone in a weekend, but during the week I was exploring the good stuff. Now: I have an equal appreciation for Miller Lite and good microbrews. Miller is perfect if I'm drinking and I have somewhere to be after, or if I'm golfing, or just drinking a lot. It's simple and cheap and I can function well with 12 of them in me (though, if I could buy Yuengling in this fucking state, I'd replace Miller with that in a second). However, I primarily drink microbrews. I like Dogfish Head, Magic Hat, Sam Adams, Otter Creek, Harpoon, Bluepoint Brewery, Lagunitas, Sierra Nevada, et al. I've got a Fat Tire clone in primary as we speak. Since I'm not normally drinking more than about 2 beers a night anymore, I focus on drinking better beer, and save the cheap light stuff for binge time.
Like most I started with whatever was cheapest in college, the more watery the better, anything to not taste the beer. When I turned 21 and was able to get beer myself I started trying everything I could get my hands on. My two favorites were Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and (when in season) Shipyard Pumpkinhead. I would get those when I could afford them, but mostly went with Natty Light since I was a poor college kid. Near the end of college I started getting into the darker beers after a friend of mine had me try Sam Smith Oatmeal Stout, after that I started doing brewery tours and mainly drinking craft beers. Nowadays I'll only drink a Bud if it's the only thing there, I also make my own beer which is an awesome hobby and I recommend it to anyone interested in drinking good beer. One thing I regret is missing the window of brewing a sick batch after sick batch of beer with a bunch of my roommates, I only did one batch before I moved into the place currently shared with the GF, we still do it, but it's just not the same when it's just the two of us.
I am definitely the odd man out in this group. I use to hate the taste of beer and solely drank mixed drinks but it got to be a pain when showing up at friends house, being offered a beer and having to ask if they had anything to make a mixed drink. (preferably whiskey) so I started forcing myself to drink beer when I was about 22-23. The taste eventually grew on me and now its my go to drink. I guess I never grew out of the college phase as at 34 years of age, my favorite beer is Bud Light. Its crisp, refreshing, cheap, accessible and I can drink it all day long with no hangover. I'll have a Sierra Nevada, Fat Tire, Guinness from time to time but usually only one or two and then I need something else. Like a Bud Light. If I get somewhere and Sierra is the only option, I'll drink it and have the most raging headache the next day. Bring on the red dots
Not surprising but I started with the cheapest draft beer on tap at whatever bar I happened to be in. I still do this on occasion but mostly for the nostalgia, definitely not the taste. The first time someone bought me a microbrew IPA is when I figured out what beer was supposed to taste like and I have been a hophead ever since. My go to beer is Guinness, summer or winter I will drink that black goodness anytime. The go to get fucked up beer is Coors Original in cans, this is in my fridge always.
I didn't start drinking until some time into college. Even then I would pregame with a bunch of chicks who I was friends with (on of whom I wound up dating for awhile), so it was mostly shot/chaser/shot/chaser etc. This is, it turns out, not a very pleasant way at all to get drunk, so I started taking baby steps towards drinking beer consistently. I never much cared for it (still kind of meh about it), so I started with whatever was cheap and or available. Which basically was Coors/Bud Light. These worked out well, because they're terrible beers, but terrible in the sense that they're virtually flavorless. From this I moved on to slightly more festive (read: Hispanic) bad beers like Corona. I drank primarily Corona in bars for a while, largely because I didn't know of other beers that I might like and I wasn't going to waste 7-8 bucks on some beer that I wasn't going to enjoy. This was sometime in the middle of college, usually when I was back in NY, going to bars with coworkers, so I didn't really have the option of choosing cheap, terrible dive bars with decent prices. When I DID get that option, I got into PBR. It was almost always cheap and available, and I actually didn't mind the taste at all. It's still my go-to cheap beer, though now I supplement it with Blue Moon/Yeungling/Brooklyn Lager. Of course, Woodchuck is better than all of these, and is my go-to sitting around drink.
Always drank to get drunk, still do. -High School: Natty, Keystone, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONES Farm -College: Natty, Budlight, Coors -Post college: Coors I never grew an "appreciation" for "good" beers and microbrews (with the exception of Fat Tire, which I have a feeling beer snobs have turned against as it is toned down for the masses). But it terms of drinking, I like having beers you can chug and chug to while playing drinking games or while tailgating, partying etc. You just can't do that with heavier "good beers." My old roommate worked at Rock Bottom and could get kegs of their specialty stuff for about the same price you could get a keg of bud light. At least four times I begged him just to go with Bud Light before we were having huge parties. He was insistent we have "good beers." Most of the time people would have one or two beers or try and play a drinking game and get horrible stomach aches, vomit, and pass out. EVERY TIME we had Rock Bottom kegs they went unfinished, like 3/4ths unfinished, because "good beers" just can't be drank in large quantities for parties. He tried getting those little half kegs, they still went unfinished before he finally gave up and went back to buying bud light.
In my first years of proper drinking I tried to stick to spirits and a mixer as I was pretty small at the time and could not be doing with going to the toilet every 5 minutes because of my infant sized bladder. I liked beer but I could only drink 3 pints before I spent more time going to the toilet than a coke head with short term memory loss. but when I started out on Fosters, which as anybody from the UK or Oz will tell you, it makes piss taste like a reasonable beverage. It was too weak to effectively do anything so I quickly moved onto Kronenbourg 1664 which isn't too bad. It's the classier Stella, a strong lager without all of the connotations of spousal abuse. These days I usually stick to Amstel, its strong enough, nice rounded flavour and it doesn't leave me functionally retarded the next day if I drink too much. Or Guinness, you can never go wrong with a pint of Guinness
I absolutely love good beers. I always try to find something I haven't heard of. My favorites have been the Abbey beers from Belgium, but they're a bit expensive here. I started out by taking my parents' corona. Once my mom found out she demanded that I at least put a lime in it. Once I had to start paying for it it was the usual, coors light, bud light, miller lite etc. Whatever we could get our hands on. Now I generally stick to better stuff. I'm a big fan of every brewery in VT, and am trying to find adequate south west replacements.
I started drinking exclusively on flavored Burnett's vodka mixed with whatever soda I had and Busch Light. This was freshman year in a nutshell. I had Bacardi Gold one night, threw up, and vowed never to touch anything but vodka since then. That, naturally, stopped fairly quickly. I did stick with only vodka and beer for the next year after that, but have since branched out quite a bit. This year, I have been known to bring a 12 pack of either High Life or PBR bottles to a party, set it in the fridge and drink as much as I want. I feel like 12 is a good number because around 6 I start giving them away, and I need like 8ish to be pretty drunk. Gives me 4 freebie beers to give to girls or donate to the house the next day. If I am looking to drink nicer beer as a treat, I stick with American brown ales or a good pale ale. Lonerider Brewery out of Raleigh makes a really tasty brown ale, Sweet Josie. That's definitely my favorite right now. I don't mind IPA's, but I just can't drink 2 or more of them in a night. Liquor wise, I prefer Jack Daniels Honey on some ice (It's not too sweet). There is also always kahlua/vodka in my house for a white russian or 5, and there is always some Captain Morgan Private Stock to take shots or mix with coke. These are all recent occurrences, since this summer saw me actually having an decent income for the first time in my life. Before that I drank whatever was on sale at the ABC store. This thread just has me excited for the weekend. I'm gonna pick up a 6 pack of Sweet Josie and tailgate my ass off.
Ever since Anheuser sold out, I've leaned towards the IPAs and most microbrews in general. Schlafly, Boulevard, Terrapin, and Sweetwater are some of my favorites. And anything with pumpkin is disgusting.
I started out in my freshman year of college thinking Leinie's Honey Weiss was the greatest stuff in the world until I had a Schell sampler and decided that stuff was better. Once I was in an apartment the next year, I got a case of Natty Ice and was hooked. It is, admittedly, my go-to cheap beer still. However I started drinking darker beers if I wanted something nice and like porters and stouts. Me and my brother bottled a strong double brown ale this past weekend and will enjoy it when it's colder out. Nowadays I mainly stock up on better beers when they're on sale or get a case of Busch Light tallboys. Sometimes I spoil myself with a case of a Schell brew or a sampler from a brewery I haven't tried beer from yet.
If anyone in the New England area (mostly up state New York, New Hampshire, I think Maine and of course VT) wants to try something amazing, go get a Switchback. Right now you can only get it on tap or buy a keg of it. I was anxiously awaiting their ramped up production while living in Burlington, but it never happened. It's been one of my favorite beers for a while now. Free tours at their brewery on Saturdays, call ahead and make reservations. Flynn ave right by the lake.
High school: Beer that was cheap and accessible - as in we could steal a can or two from our dads without them noticing, or get the local drunk to buy us a six: Bud and Michelob College and shortly after: I drank pretty much whatever was around, but my preferences changed from Keystone, to Busch, to Killian's Irish Red. Since then: Sam Adams is my go-to beer, but I've become what hooker would call a beer snob. I'm a huge microbrew fan, brew my own beer, and try anything new I can find, including having Alaskan Amber delivered to my house from a distributor I found on the net. Bud, Bud Light, or Corona or any of the other mass produced beers don't cut it - and I've drank nothing rather than drink those. I will have the occasional Coors light, but only when a glass of water isn't handy.
I've tended to drink what is cheapest. That means either Coors Light or PBR. Now that I've been living in Portland, I've had a few friends who are certified beer snobs and have pushed every manner of microbrew in my direction. I've been to more breweries and had more tastings than I can count. I still would prefer a Coors Light or a PBR for a hot sunny day, or if I'm looking to get drunk. Good beer is for cooler temperatures or dinner.