Your most influential Beer

Has to be McEwans Scotch Ale.
Before that all i drank was cheap lager and the occaisonal cheap 70 schilling from my Dad.
Got me started on the path to appreciating flavourful beer.

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I was quite familiar with English styles, that kinda evolved organically without too many moments of shock or surprise, so I guess it has to be the first foreign stand-out beer, and alas I canā€™t remember exactly what order those came in. But would more recent more stand-out beers be a better option? I think so.

Therefore it probably has to be my top rated beer, it opened my eyes to the wonders of ageing and autolysis - Samichlaus, the original, drunk with 12 years on it.

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Michelob Dark. I started drinking beer in 1984 in Indiana so my options were severely limited - mainly only pale lagers (and a couple of cream ales which werenā€™t much different). Michelob Dark was just different enough that it started my desire to try different beers. Christian Moerlein Select Lager (when it was brewed by Hudepohl in the late 80s) was the beer that helped me uncover my love for German style beers (St. Pauliā€™s Girl started it but Christian Moerlein turned it into a mania). And Spaten Hefeweizen (I assume this was Franziskaner prior to it being renamed) started my love of Hefeweizens.

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Thatā€™s the one that changed my opinion on hefeweizen.

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Gosh, so many for so many different reasons. I would have to say the ones at the start that initially made me realize not only do I sort of like beer, there are options to be found. The couple that come to mind that really got me interested in beer would have to be

  • Paulaner Hefeweissbier
  • Rochefort Trappistes 8
  • Founders Breakfast Stout
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Ballantine XXX but not the current shit. The 3 beers from New Albion, McEwans Scotch Ale varieties. MacAndrews Scotch Ale.

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Great thread.

There are a few for me as well:

Ca. 2009/2010 - New Belgium Fat Tire. First ale that I really enjoyed, in a time that I would have called it ā€œdark beerā€. This is the beer that made me realize I really have no interest in drinking Coors light.

2011 - Užavas TumŔais. The first non-macro beer I had while traveling abroad. Opened my eyes to the adventures of exploring and experiencing beer culture in the context of tourism and traditions. That week I probably had 10 other Baltic-made beers, mostly landbier/kolsch, but some ale as well.

2012 - Innis and Gunn Original. In this period I was pouring everything I could find in British supermarkets. All macro in those days, although I think you could find punk IPA. The gamification of trying new stuff largely drove this.

2012 - Schneider Aventinus Eisbock. This was my ā€œno turning backā€. Discovered quiet craft beer shops, and started pouring some Belgian stuff. This is when I realized paying Ā£5 for a beer was sometimes justified.

2013 - Brewdog Jackhammer. I learned that I could palate high IBU IIPAs and went down the hop rabbit hole for a few months.

2016 - Fierce Cranachan Killer and Northern Monk Neapolitan Pale Ale. Both of these independently shattered what I knew about fruit in beer.

2017 - Kasteel Winter and Rodenbach Grand Cru. Basically rediscovered the subtle complexity and sweetness offered in Belgian ales.

There are so many missing here. If I had to pick one all time most influential I think Iā€™d say Aventinus. Schneiderā€™s Mein Hopfenweisse was mind-expanding too.

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Late 80s did my first homebrew. Was a kit named Continental Pilsener. Extract but still turned out pretty good especially the hop aromas and flavors. Was exciting! But probably the turning point for me was my first real beer, Anchor Liberty Ale. The hop profile was amazing at the time. So big, fresh and flavorful. Not to mention that the great one, MJ, introduced to me to it at his tasting in Philly! Awesome stuff!

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Too bad that the Ipa is on the shelves here and not the Liberty Ale. :frowning:

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Wounds my heart with a monotonous languor.

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A handful of supermarket staples are to thank for kicking off my interest in beer just a few years ago, nothing particularly special really. On a whim I decided to see how many different countriesā€™ lagers I could taste from my local supermarket. A month or so into this I realised how same-y they all were and how bored I was of drinking them. So I decided to go for those beers whose names I could not pronounce (Belgian and German stuff).

Leffe Blonde, Hoegaarden, Franziskaner, Weihenstaphaner - these 4 made me realise not every beer was a bland lager/bitter, and that other styles existed. I immediately got hooked on witbiers, hefeweizen, and Belgian ales.

At some point I also picked up a bottle of Punk IPA. This opened my eyes, or rather taste buds, to the world of hops, and IPAs quickly became my main interest.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Flying Dog Raging Bitch were among my first American craft beer samples, I found both to be intensely bitter on first tries, but on second trying was able to appreciate them a lot more and even enjoy them - these made me take note of the American craft beer scene and were proof that it wasnā€™t only shitty lite beers they made.

And lastly, the one that got me extremely obsessed with keeping up with current on trend beers was Cloudwaterā€™s DIPA V series, I think v5 or v6 was my first, and it completely blew me away. From that point on I had to have every single one.

Now, most of my income goes on keeping up with the current trendy breweries in the UK. My liver hates me.

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Anchor Liberty Ale. My first real taste of hops, it had me searching for more beers like it.

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Redhook ESB. It was the first ā€˜craftā€™ beer I ever had and the first American beer that wasnā€™t an industrial pale lager.

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Hoepfner wheat beer.
Many years ago,I got the chance to stay with someone who lived in Karlsrhue for 1 month. I never thought a beer could taste this good.I can still remember sucking on my tongue and-inside- cheek to try and squeeze out every bit of flavor 30 minutes after finishing a bottle.

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A mixture of a few:

North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout was one of my first beer purchases once I turned 21. I hated it the first time I had it, but then bought it again a few weeks later because I wanted the bottle label and hadnā€™t kept any of the previous ones and loved it.
https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/north-coast-old-rasputin-russian-imperial-stout/680/26851/

The first ā€œinternationalā€ beer I actually really liked, Birra Moretti La Rossa (oh my, I never re-rated this oneā€¦)
https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/birra-moretti-la-rossa/7709/26851/

ā€¦and of all things, my first rating on here: Blue Moon Belgian White Ale (oh my, I never re-rated this one eitherā€¦)
https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/blue-moon-belgian-white-ale/2228/26851/

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Damn, I didnā€™t transfer my review of La Rossa to RB. Thatā€™s one of my favourite Doppelbocks.

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Might have been my first doppelbock. Nope. Only my 8th. My next to lowest db rating - just above a RinkuŔkiai. Glad you did this. Reminded me how to swim around to find out things about the most important person on the site. Me! :rofl:

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:beer: Rodenbach Grand Cru. :beer: - That was in 1998 (I was 20)ā€¦ I used to drink on tap : Kasteel Donker, Chimay, Lindemans Faroā€¦ That was not so common at this time in France! A friend suggested to me to taste the Rodenbach Grand Cru. My god! I said : ā€œThatā€™s vinegar! How can you drink that!ā€ I couldnā€™t understand that was called a ā€œbeerā€. Then, a few months later, that became my favorite one - and I entered the wonderful, rich, vast, amazing, complex world of Beerā€¦ :crazy_face:

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Newcastle, Bass, Grolsch, Youngs Olde Nickā€™s - Mid/late '80s.
Peteā€™s Wicked, Rogue Hazelnut, Flying Dog Doggie Style, Sam Adams Cream Stout - '90s.
All gamechangers for me.
But most influential has to be


Heineken ~ 1980.

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Haha, had pretty much the same reaction to my first Duchesse de Bourgogne. While I prefer the Rodenbach Grand Cru, Duchesse still has a special place in my heart as one of the most memorable beer experiences ever.

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