In the Beginning...

"I hate the taste of beer."-me, 1993

I was at a kegger party on the campus of a university mostly known for it's partying.  My friend, to whom I just uttered that phrase, responded with "We ALL hate the taste of beer.  But it gets you drunk."

And there it was.  Accepting mediocrity (lower than mediocre, actually;  I believe it was a keg of Natural Light) to get drunk.  So I acquiesced and became the typical college freshman.  But I didn't like it.

Fast forward one year, I was working in a bar as a barback. In conversation with one of the bartenders, it came up that I didn't like beer.  He matter-of-factly told me it was because I didn't KNOW beer, and took it upon himself to sit me down and teach me.

He started with Guinness on tap.  After shift, he poured us each a pint, and watched me wince as I took the first sip.

"We're going to do this every night until you like that."

And we did.  After each shift, we'd have a pint of Guinness and talk about beer. And talk about what we're tasting, mouth feel, nose (or lack there of, in the case with Guinness).  Once I started getting an appreciation for Guinness, we moved on to other styles; ales and lagers.

He taught me a incredible amount in a relatively short time. But most of all, he got me out of the college-mindset of drinking to get drunk (granted, I was still college age at the time, so well within my "right" to have that mindset).  He taught me how to ENJOY beer, and it's something I've never forgotten.

Life's too short to drink bad beer.