"Break-Out Beers"

The term "Breakout beer" refers to a beer that breaks the trend for a beer drinking, going from light mass produced commercial beers, to darker craft beers locally and from other countries. For me, there are 3 beers over a period of time that shaped the way I think of beer now.

At first it was Sam Adams Boston Lager. It is one of those great beers that will always be a favorite of mine. A lot of beer snobs out there seem to hate sam adams for various reasons. I am definitely not one of those people. Some people think they are trying to become too big or too mainstream. I feel that sam adams beer helped pave the way for a lot of other craft beer. I feel that without Boston beer company, we might not have a lot of the beer we have today. When it comes down to it, the pride, passion and quality in a sam adams beer is undenyable and I respect Boston beer company for that no matter what others might think. Sam Adams Boston Lager helped make me realize what craft beer is all about and how damn good it is!

A lot of beer drinkers have told me how much they hate dark beer or imported beer. New Castle Brown Ale is the beer that made me realize how much I love darker beers especially brown ales. I could never get enough of the smooth,creamy, rich, nuttiness to this beer. This beer opened up a whole world (literally) of beers to try. I started drinking a lot more imported and darker beers because of this beer. Even though I love Porters and Indian Pale Ales a lot, my favorite style of beer will always be Brown Ales. Even though I have come across Brown Ales that I like better than New Castle, it will always be a favorite and I will always come back to it.

After going to the Vermon Beer Fest in Burlington for the first time a while back, this is when my passion for beer took another direction and went into hyperdrive. I have never even heard of Brooklyn Brewery at this point and I decided to stop by their tent and try something completely out there. I got a sample of Brooklyn Brewery's Local 1. An "american strong ale" completely 100% bottle fermented in a champagne-style bottle with the appropriate cork. This beer has almost 10% alcohol. However, it is nice and light and bubbly like champagne, some citrus, and very drinkable. I was immediately hooked. This spun me in a whole new direction, willing to try extreme beers and all about the bottle fermentation which was something I knew little about at the time. Luckily, I was able to find this at local stores so makes it even better. I continue to buy this beer for special occasions, to impress friends, or whenever I am craving it. It will always be a favorite and remembered as a major break out beer.

Whatever the beer might be, I think its pretty neat as beer drinkers to talk about what Beers broke you out of a pattern and changed your tastes forever.

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