In the 70s (meaning coming of drinking age) my group of friends thought a good beer was Michelob and a really good beer was Heineken. I've always been about drinking good beer, whatever that meant at the time.

One afternoon while checking into a hotel in Baltimore before a conference I wandered into the hotel bar. Asking for a beer, the barkeep asked if I was interested in something really good. Of course, and he handed my a Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale. And right then my journey and knowledge of beer was changed forever because I now knew there existed a whole new world of beer I wasn't aware of.

And, as they say, the rest is history.