Postscript: I forgot to say thanks to Boak and Bailey's UK beer blog for hosting this month.

It all started for me in college. I never liked beer really but all I saw was typical mass produced light American lager. I was in the middle of struggling with German as a foriegn language, I had walked past the foreign study section and noticed language classes in Germany. I had the thought how much easier it would be to learn German studying there. That week I got a postcard from my Father saying he was in Germany and that he thought it would be much easier to learn German if I was there.

So we made it happen.

Fast forward a few months and I am in Tuebingen about to start NAU's Spring Intensive Program. The first night before classes even started our group met for dinner in the Greek Restaurant near the dorms. My Father suggested I try the Dunkleweizen before my departure describing it's dark color and bready character. I had to give it a try. I scanned the menu closely looking for the beer and once I found it I had one of the class tudor confirm I was reading it correctly.

The flavor was wonderful, powerful and lingers in my memory. It hooked me on Hefeweizen as a style and the malty side of beers in general.

It's not to say I didn't in time develop a taste for hoppy beers, I do drink them fairly often, but malt beers will be my first love always. The majority of my homebrew the last 14 or so years has been the malty beer, I only brewed an American Pale Ale for the first time last Fall. For our BJCP class a few weeks ago we had Bock beers and they called to me immediately. So while I may wander to the hoppy side, it was that first taste of malt that hooked me for life.