Early mistakes in beer

When someone starts developing a taste for beer, they generally do it in stages. The less adventurous among us find a local brand they find palatable, and stick with it. Others are dissatisfied with the beers everyone else drinks and try to seek out something a bit different.

The amusing part of this is the kind of "aw, bless" stage (and I've gone through it myself) where you realise that the mass market beer all around you are bland and uninteresting. You look around for alternatives, and you find ... the bland, uninteresting mass market beers of another country.

"I used to drink Miller and Coors, until I realised they were shit! Now I drink Guinness and Newcastle Brown Ale!"

"I used to drink John Smiths and Newcastle Brown Ale, until I realised they were shit! Now I drink Hoegaarden and Leffe!"

"I used to drink Becks and Warsteiner, until I realised they were shit! Now I drink Corona!"

In my teens I had a strange predeliction for Michelob and Warsteiner. And the first time I tried Pilsner Urquell, I thought it was awful. Apart from that, I don't think I made too many serious errors of judgement. At least not in questions of beer.