I remember my first beer

[phone]

This new forum is sure to be great because craft beer popularity is on the rise.  Big beer companies have moved to NC and local breweries are popping up everywhere.  NC is actually a great place to be if you're a beer lover. However, this hasn't always been the case.

 

"On August 13, 2005, Governor Mike Easley signed House Bill 392 into law, lifting the 6% ABV cap to a more-reasonable 15%. We called, we wrote, we conquered. We popped the cap…and we’re just getting started."

 

http://popthecap.org/

 

This means brewers could start selling high gravity beers.  The possibilities became endless.

 

NC is kind of like the panthers of the beer world.  Most probably grew up favoring bud light or MGD, but surely you now have something local you call your own.

 

But let's go back to your first beer.  Was it love at first site or did you struggle to keep it down?

 

I'd acquired a 6 pack of Miller High life "the champagne of beers" early in the school week.  Being 15 and all, my best friend and I stashed it in a bush behind his mom's house.  School had just started so it was mid August.  This means our bottles were going to be ripe and ready for chugging by Friday.  Finally the night came to try beer. We popped the caps, took a whiff of the aroma (I will always remember this smell), clanked our glasses together, raised the beverage to our lips and let it down the hatch.  It was disgusting.  It took me 30 mins to finish the beer, even after chasing every sip with cool ranch doritos.  After about two bottles I was drunk and didn't care that it tasted like cat piss anymore.

 

Though the taste was pretty much horrible, I noticed the sense of fellowship that night has stuck with me ever since. Beer should be about bringing people together and sharing good times.  Cheers!

 

[ThPantherFan]

I think I was 16 or 17 and had been plowing a field for a guy in the middle of summer.  I was using an old Alis-Chalmer tractor with a top exhaust.  The temperature in the sun was hitting 100 and that hot muffler in my face made for a sweaty day.  Being young and dumb I hadn't taken enough water with me and the guy felt sorry for me.  He brought me an ice cold Country Club, pony.  I'll never forget how quick that went down and how quenching it was.  I've loved beer ever since but can't stand Country Club.  Of course this was in the 60's when it wasn't against the law to give a kid alcohol.  Or at least no one cared.

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

I think I was 14-15 or so. A couple friends and I snagged some Coors light from my dad's fridge and pounded them in my basement and played PS2. Glory days. Getting beer was so damn hard in high school that I remember stashing an 18-pack of Bud Lights in my guest bedroom closet for several months and drinking them when the time was right with my friends. Nothing like old, flat, warm beer. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

My first beer was on a boat fishing with my GFs dad. I was 17 and it was a Miller High Life. That was the nastiest piss water I have ever had. Took me several years to drink another beer and a couple more before I learned about microbrews. Now, I'm a sucker for a delicious red.

[myfozzycotchery]

This new forum is sure to be great because craft beer popularity is on the rise. Big beer companies have moved to NC and local breweries are popping up everywhere. NC is actually a great place to be if you're a beer lover. However, this hasn't always been the case.

"On August 13, 2005, Governor Mike Easley signed House Bill 392 into law, lifting the 6% ABV cap to a more-reasonable 15%. We called, we wrote, we conquered. We popped the cap…and we’re just getting started."

http://popthecap.org/

This means brewers could start selling high gravity beers. The possibilities became endless.

NC is kind of like the panthers of the beer world. Most probably grew up favoring bud light or MGD, but surely you now have something local you call your own.

But let's go back to your first beer. Was it love at first site or did you struggle to keep it down?

I'd acquired a 6 pack of Miller High life "the champagne of beers" early in the school week. Being 15 and all, my best friend and I stashed it in a bush behind his mom's house. School had just started so it was mid August. This means our bottles were going to be ripe and ready for chugging by Friday. Finally the night came to try beer. We popped the caps, took a whiff of the aroma (I will always remember this smell), clanked our glasses together, raised the beverage to our lips and let it down the hatch. It was disgusting. It took me 30 mins to finish the beer, even after chasing every sip with cool ranch doritos. After about two bottles I was drunk and didn't care that it tasted like cat piss anymore.

Though the taste was pretty much horrible, I noticed the sense of fellowship that night has stuck with me ever since. Beer should be about bringing people together and sharing good times. Cheers!

My first beer was with you drinking high life at jp's house.

[The Saltman]

Icehouse gross. I was a stockboy at my fathers gas station and man it was so gross but I couldnt stop drinking it.

[SCP]

My first beer was St. Ides. I even poured some out for my homies. I was your typical Dr Dre listening white guy in the early 90's.

[phone]

My first beer was with you drinking high life at jp's house.

Haha yup. Andrew's aunt would buy us highlife on the reg. Now if we're talking liquor, that's another story. Mike and I busted open a bottle of his dad's jack and again chased it with coke and doritos. That was the first time getting drunk. It was awesome because the basement had a pool table, ping pong, a putting green, a record player with big ass speakers and a tv. I remember we got super drunk and ran circles around the basement as fast as we could in our socks haha. We had a good thing going until until he got caught puking in the church bathroom one sunday. You remember that hahaha. The worst part was having to work that day. He's mom didn't want his grandma to know so they said he had a stomach bug or something. She kept bringing him crackers and bottles of sprite while letting him nap in the bathroom haha.

[Jase]

My first beer was a Pauli girl. Pauli girl was looking pretty good to me by the end of the bottle.

[motocross_cat]

17 years old, at a bonfire in the middle of the woods. The beast was all we could "hey mister". Was warm by the time we could drink it so the only way was to shotgun them b/c it was so bitter. I miss those days.....

[RelaxImaPro]

Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I actually remembered my first beer. It happened pretty casually...

Now my first time getting drunk? Lol yeah. I remember that one. Wild Turkey 101 and Bacardi 151. I was 14.

That ended up being a very, very, VERY rough night. Learned a whole lot of rookie lessons really quickly the hard way that night. Threw up all over the living room floor all the way to the bathroom.

[Hotsauce]

My first beer was a hot Natty Light that I stole from my dad at our lake house.

[MtnJax]

17 in Switzerland. Hofbrauhaus Weisbier.

 

i'm not counting the sips of Coors Light my dad let me have when I was like 3

[Panther49er]

Me and a high school buddy grabbed one of my dads silver bullets from the fridge after school one day. Sophomore year. Decided it was time to finally try a beer. Split it in two red solo cups since we were cool like that. Took me an hour to finish 6 oz. The other guy couldn't even finish his.  To this day have never bought a coors light (won't turn down a free one of course). I love quality microbrews though. I'm from Asheville so no surprise. Have home brewed a couple batches which turned out great. It's crazy how fast microbrews have grown since my first beer, and I'm only 23. No telling what the brewing world will look like in 20-30 years... Half of America will probably have chronic liver disease! And since I'm a nurse, I'll be taking care of them... Hell I'll probably be one of them! Cheers!