What was the first beer that made a big impression on you? Probably a dark cloudy homebrew from Great Uncle Ernie’s garage stash in Zepherhills, FL circa 1979. He cornered my 15 year old brother (I was like 11) and made him drink an entire mug. The image still is in my head like it was yesterday, and I’m certain it forged my career path. The next even bigger influence came from Summit Brewing when they were on University in St. Paul, MN.  A beer named Great Northern Porter, still one of my favs!