We went through beer phases growing up, from 3o packs of Busch in the WV hills drinking with friends in high school, with an occasional holy grail...keg of Yuengling.  Onto college in PA, Meadville to be exact...drank returnable bottles of Yuengling Lager and Straub 16 ounce pounders, which were also returnable.  When my brother, Dante' and friend, Kolby started drinking in the Burgh.  We found a place called Fuel and Fuddle in Oakland near the Pitt campus...great late night menu with the added bonus of a good beer selection.  Their house ales at the time were the Nut Brown ale and Oatmeal Stout from Wild Goose Brewing formerly of Frederick, MD.  This brewery is now where the Flying Dog stuff is churned out after they relocated from Denver CO, as I understand the background of Wild Goose they originally started in Baltimore on a Ringwood system.
Anyways we had picked over all of the local grocery stores selections and while at Fuel and Fuddle one night we saw a 750 ml bottle of Corsendonk Abbey Brown Ale, this beer pretty much changed the definition of beer for us three.

Salute

Tony

In high school, we drank mostly National Bohemian (Baltimore beer) and other BMC type beers...our "breakthrough" beers from BMC were Fosters and Guinness. By the time I was a Freshman in college we were sampling everything available. I went to college in the Baltimore area (great beer town) and had a good friend who was 21, so on Friday nights we would play spades or hearts, hang out with the ladies and buys a case of 4 mixed 6-packs and tried to have different beers every weekend. Really opened my eyes to great beers and beer styles. By the time I was of "legal" age, I could still knock back the swill the college crowd did, but it was not enjoyable pallet-wise. I visited many of the brewpubs and good beer bars in Bal'mer as often as my studies and budget would support. Almost 20 years later, still love great beers of course and have been brewing at home for 18 years this year. Love good beer, love brewing...

I started as a bud lite swiller sitting on random tailgates and continued with this WV early twenties tradition for several years. When I was a little older I got married. The wife was a nice addition, but she came with a beer freak of a brother in law. After about six months of his ridicule I started to experement with some of his expensive foreign beer. This is when i fell in love with the wonderful mothers milk that pours from Munich Germany. Who wouldnt love something called Hacker or erdinger dunkel weiss?

For me, It was a visit to a microbrewery on the Outer Banks of NC called the Weeping Radish.  I had a couple of their beers (Helles, Fest and Black Radish).  I was hooked on them and became a home brewer and sought out craft beers after that visit.

I know I tried a few I can't remember the names of, but the beer that really changed me was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Damn, I may have to have one tonight for old times sake.

That's what got me, too.  A big thick pitcher of Guinness while out in California.  Then found Upland Brewing in grad school.

I started on Guinness, so I then regressed in to tasting all the nasty American light lagers just to confirm they were not good.  I didn't start tasting many craft beers until 4-5 years ago (just after turning 21 I guess), but I have always preferred stout and really never drank the "normal" beers for the area.

I would have to say that my first taste of the "gateway" would of been at a little pub called the bier garden in Portsmough VA. I spent most of my child hood in the 7 cities, and drank most of the normal stuff, bud, and the beast. But my first trip there when i just turned 21 a couple buddies of mine bought me a Aventinus what dopplebock, A pretty hard one to start with considering its abv is about 13% none the less I got hooked from there, I still drank the normal stuff but would splurge once in a while. When yuengling finally made it to WV is when I totally made the switch, I know that was not too long ago, but I was unaware of most craft brews in the state, and I thought sam adams was too pricey. So the yellow melted snow is bought for friends. I just wish someone could tell me of a place in Fairmont that sells some extraordanary beer.

I started out on Lowenbrau, Rhinelander, and Miller Red Label (not a bad macro brew), but soon graduated to the world of Killians, Guinness, etc.  I think the first beer that I really LOVED was Newcastle Brown.  Soon thereafter I started looking for imports and craft beers and a whole new world opened to me.

It seems that I have always liked to experiment when it came to beer. I was having people buy me Guinness that I would take with me to our local "cruising" spot in Kanawha City. My friends hated it, but it made me seem cool, at least in my mind.I remember having a bonfire and keg party at my moms house in Cabin Creek when I was about 20 and I got a keg of Killians. There were only about 4 of us out of 20-25 that would touch it.Sierra Nevada and Saranac products became my go to beers soon after that and it has been one hell of a ride since then.One of these days I will tell you all the story of how Wild Blue, the faux craft beer from AB is indirectly responsible for the WVCBAS.