What Beer/s Did You Drink Before Homebrewing?

[clean brewer]

Hey all,

Just posting this in reflection to another Topic about VB being rubbish..

Anyhow, being a Qld boy, I seemed to grow up around XXXX, this was my drinking path... h34r:

• Started on XXXX Bitter
• Went to XXXX Gold
• Then to Carlton Mid-strength
• Hahn Premium
• Tooheys Extra Dry to finish off before starting Homebrewing

Oh, and I would drink C----a when I was out thinking i was pretty flash.. :blink:

These times have changed and drinking much nicer Beers now....

:icon_cheers: CB

 

[Pollux]

This will be depressing, in order.

Toohey's New
New with a dash of lemonade
Empire
That Carlton Cold-shot with vodka in it
Carlton Draught
TEDs and Hahn dry
Tui
Monteiths range
JS range

Then I started brewing.

 

[rclemmett]

When I started out I drank whatever I could get......

The only beer that I can say I went through a phase of only drinking would be Old.

Then I moved onto what I do now, If I haven't tried it I buy it.... Within reason, no low carb shite.

 

[Muggus]

I started like any good 16 year old on VB and New, sometimes Tooheys Extra Dry or Carlton Cold. Usually chuck in a bit of dosh to buy a case with another mate or two.
Generally if it were up to me, i'd buy a sixer of something "better"; Crowies, Heinies, Becks, San Miguel, etc.
And my first few brews probably reflected these beers.

Then one day me and my mate who I brew with bought a sixer of this new beer called Little Creatures Pale Ale...and it all changed!

 

[Bizier]

Boags Original
Boags Strongarm (when it was released in NSW)
Carlton Draught
Coopers
Euro Lagers
Weihenstephan... set sail from here

I have never had one beer religeously and I get bored easily, so I have always changed it up even when I was a kid (being exactly 18 years old for a period there).

 

[mwd]

To be honest Anything on special at the bottleshops.

I even checked the Thursday and Friday local papers as that is when specials are advertised.

$50.00 for a case of beer is a criminal act of robbery IMHO.

( I had a workmate from Columbia where a case of beer is under US$10.00 )

Tax, Tax and more Tax. Even the mainstream beers in the US are a reasonable price.

Rant Over.

 

[Greg Lawrence]

Started off on stuff like Lion Red, Heiniken, Joseph Khutz (spelling?) etc as a young fella (in NZ)
Then did a stint on Waikato Draught for a few years with a bit of Monteiths distinction ale.
Steinlager was my staple diet for the next 6 years, with a bit of Monteiths or Macs occasionally, also a bit of Coopers Lager (K&K), then I moved to Australia.
All my mates here were drinking Cascade, so I joined them for about 4 years until I discovered Coopers.
Then I discovered beers like LCPA, LC Pilsner and the entire James Squires range.
Then I got back into brewing, discovered AHB and there has been no looking back.
Now when I go to a pub, unless there is something like Squires or Coopers on tap, I will drink Tooheys Old.

 

[DUANNE]

i always used to drink melbourne bitter or boags premium and occasianally a drafty or two. i really did think boags was a premium beer! then istarted brewing and moved on to little creatures and from there it has got out of hand. i used to hate dark beers but now i love stouts porters belgians and any thing german. if i see a beer i havent had before i must get it. for a hobby that i started to make cheap beer it really has cost a lot.

 

[manticle]

Before home brewing I would drink the same beers I do now. My main limitation is price so when poverty strikes I may drink Carlton Draught, when pay goes through I may go and buy a selection of expensive favourites or 6 beers I've never tried before. I haven't changed
On my regular list over the last few years would be:

Carlton draught (and the very occasional Melbourne Bitter)
Coopers Pale and Stout (preferred everyday drinking beer)
Boags premium and Boags Draught
Little Creatures pale
Lowenbrau
Kingfisher
Tsingtao
Schofferhoffer
Erdinger
Kozel
Sambor Brok
Kilkenny
Leffe blonde and bruin
Chimay blue

I've always liked different beers, just as I enjoy different whiskies or wines but my budget has never matched my tastes.

That said homebrewing has led me to try to understand the process and history of beers and beer styles and actively research (using my taste buds no less) some of the things I learn about as well as thinking about what I taste in a different way.

I'd never heard of lambic before HB, couldn't tell you the difference between a lager and an ale, didn't know what draught meant etc, etc, etc.

 

[Bribie G]

Fruity Lexia 4L

 

[cliffo]

From when I started going out and drinking beer to when I started home brewing:

Carlton Cold
Tooheys New
Tooheys Extra Dry (was my mainstay for years)
Heineken
Becks
James Squire range
Home Brew

Now its mostly home brew but I still like to get a mixed six pack from the bottle shop every few weeks to try beers I haven't had before.

These days when I go out into the big bad world my staple is Coopers Pale Ale (generally aavailable everywhere) and depending on where I am LCPA, Squires or whatever beers other than the standard VB/Tooheys range is on tap.

cliffo

 

[InCider]

Fruity Lexia 4L

Goon of fotune! :lol:

I was more of a Golden Gate Riesling man myself BG. Didn't even need it cold when I was a student h34r:

 

[bum]

Started on Carlton Cold, progressed on to VB, ditched that for Carlton Draught. Pretty much stayed there (or should that be "staid there" ) until I started brewing. It is only since then that I started trying craft beers and even now I probably haven't tried all that many - LC, JS, Gage Road, Barons, La Trappe, Mountain Goat is about the extent of it. Truth be told, I usually drink spirits when I go out. My mates don't really hang in places where they have anything good on tap - lucky to find Cooper's.

 

[manticle]

Fruity Lexia 4L

Despite continuing abject poverty, eternal studenthood and a general desire for alcoholic beverages, there are several liquid refreshments I've never been able to drink.

They are:

Fruity Lexia
Queen Adelaide wines
Brandivino
Captain Morgan's Rum
Toohey's red
Blue champagne
Wine coolers

I also struggle with grappa, Ouzo, Chartreuse, Absinthe and jagermeister but they're slightly raised above in that they're just not to my taste (as opposed to being Bilge water).

 

[rclemmett]

Tooheys Red :icon_drool2: Its no Reschs Real but still quality... Hangover before you're drunk.

 

[Pollux]

Goon of fotune! :lol:

I was more of a Golden Gate Riesling man myself BG. Didn't even need it cold when I was a student h34r:

I used to have a cask of Berri Fresh Dry white on my desk when I was a student, I drank it at room temperature.

I also remember drinking a random beer that came in green 440ml cans at $20 for a case.....It was horrid but did the job.

 

[warra48]

Started on NZ horse P, also known as the local draft beer, in the late 1960's.
Toohey's New after moving to Aus in the 1970's.
Eventually discovered Toohey's Old was a much better drink.
I got heavily into wine for a long time, particularly small vineyard reds.
Discovered JSAA and LCPA, and it went from there.

Edit: spiliing uuhh spelling

 

[Muggus]

Oh, and I would drink C----a when I was out thinking i was pretty flash.. :blink:

Actually it's interesting you mention the C word CB, because I recall drinking it for the first time back in the day, and thought to myself "If this didn't have a lemon wedge in it, this would be utter shit", and would get into heated arguements with mates about how much better Heineken and other green bottled 'imported' lagers shat all over it.
Was probably the only beer i thought was actually "bad" back in those days. My how things have changed...

 

[clatty]

Fruity Lexia 4L

Passion Pop h34r:

 

[Bizier]

Yeah, that Blacksmith and whatever else? I was in an absolutely debaucherous sharehouse that regularly split these. Was walking distance to Figtree Cellars in Wollongong... we wore a damn goat track.