It kind of goes without saying that I haven’t always been into beer. Firstly there’s that small matter of drinking age, which both my family and myself perhaps treated more rigorously than others as I was growing up. Even after I turned 18 however, it was still a couple of years before I discovered that I really enjoyed beer. Prior to that my preferred alcoholic beverage had been wine, and before that I of course drank the various soft drinks available.

It’s interesting to note the way my tastes changed over the years, even just in terms of soft drink. When I was quite young Fanta was a favourite (which if you know Fanta’s history, is amusing given the blond blue eyed Aryan kid that I was). Later I made the move to the more generic and widely marketed choice of Coke, as my taste for sweetness (slightly) diminished and my palate extended. There was a time where I was able to drink an entire 2.25 L Coke in an afternoon, although this thought now sickens me and I’m glad to report that it only happened a couple of times.

As a teenager my taste for sweetness further diminished, and I became quite a fan of ginger beer, Bundaberg in particular. It may be that even at that tender age some name association with the word beer shaped that preference, but that dryer, slightly more astringent taste quickly became my favourite as far as fizz was concerned.

In my first year of uni, for a combination of health, money and (most importantly) taste concerns I gave up soft drink. The only exceptions to this were ginger beer and lemon, lime and bitters. I’m well and truly over the taste of cola beverages now, even the smell is distasteful to me. It’s interesting the way that your sense of taste matures. Appreciation of some flavours is definitely learnt (and this is a factor when people start drinking beer), but other changes in taste are simply a function of getting older. I guess what I’m saying is to keep trying new things (or beers), even if you’ve not liked them in the past. You might be pleasantly surprised.