The first beer that let me know there was more to the world that the standard lagers and a few stouts was Edelweiss wheat beer from Austria. It had a banana flavor that just intrigued me. (It also made me feel really tipsy after 2 bottles but I found out later that some wheat beers do that to me.) After that I started looking for that taste again and in the process found a world of different flavors.
What beer did that to you?
Sou
I had been dissatisfied with the basic beer selection for quite some time, but never had the courage to try much else. Was stuck on honey browns and Guiness for a while. Then my brother gave me a bottle of Koeningshoven Dubbel. Changed my entire perception of beer right then and there.
Bell’s Amber Ale soon after it hit the market. Had drunk more NAILs than I care to remember before then. Soon after, I discovered hoppy IPAs and the rest is history… ;D
Paulaner Hefe-wiezen. Before that I was a Busch light drinker.
Other than my obvious one (1969-70 ish, Ballantine India Pale), I’d say the other real eye opener for me… maybe even a bigger eye opener…came a number of years later.
It was my first taste of Traquair House ale in the early 80’s. After 12+ years of focusing on hoppier brews (both commercial and homebrewed), tasting the Traquair with its incredibly hefty malt character (and surprisingly subdued sweetness despite that massive malty goodness) was nothing short of a revelation.
For me it was more like the Year that opened my eyes, 1991; McMennamin’s Terminator Stout, Sheaf Stout, Sierra Nevada Pale, Porter & Stout, Widmer Hefeweizen, Bridgeport Blue Heron & Coho Pales, Portland Ale…
Before that it was mosty Henry’s, Blitz & Rainier
Blitz still has some of the funniest commercials ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iigxaFBTAZ4
I honestly can’t remember. I think it was more like I found homebrewing and then started looking around for good beer.
Mr. Beer.
Seems so middle of the road now, but my “gateway” beer was Fat Tire in 96-97. I remember being amazed by how much flavor it had. Sierra Pale Ale came next. Then the quest for hops began!
Yep, same here.
I don’t remember either. I used to get together with some friends in college, we would get a case of something not-crappy (you could only buy by the case in PA) and kill it while we wrote down comments about the beer. It was my earliest beer judging experience, if commenting on how foiled necks feel on your lips counts as beer judging. 
We would do it at least once a month, we tried a lot of good beers (and some not-so-good ones). it was a far cry from the Old Mil and Beast we used to get by the keg.
Saranac IPA. Had one after I did my second extract batch. Until that time, I hated IPA’s. One swig of this, I was sold on Brewing, IPA’s, and brewing the perfect IPA.
Probably Pete’s Wicked Ale, it’s the first craft beer I remember drinking.
A Stout at the now defunct Greenshields in Raleigh. It was an Oatmeal Stout and was chewy and excellent. That had to be about 24 years ago…
Dinkle Acker dark. And I was sixteen years old. Not that I didn’t have my fling with macro lagers. For years I was a miller light drinker and a big fan of MGD. But I always liked local PA beers as well like yuengling and rolling rock. My dad always kept a case of Gennessee cream ale in the basement.
I also like Petes Wicked and after I moved to Alabama that was one of the few craft type beers I could get my hands on along with Sam Adams and imports. That’s what got me into brewing - not being able to get my hands on beers I wanted. I also owe a huge debt to Charlie Papazian.
For me it was Henry Weinhard Private Reserve in 1978. The grocery store had a sale on Tuborg Gold but had run out, so they substituted Private Reserve for it. I fell in love with it and bought about 5 cases right away. Then in 1981 on our honeymoon visit to my inlaws in France my FIL introduced me to Belgian beers like Grimbergen, La Trappe and St. Bernardus. I have a BIL who was a truck driver and he brought me beer from Germany and Austria. I was addicted and have never been able to kick the habit.
I enjoyed Sam Adams and Pete’s Wicked Ale, but my holy sh!t moment was when I tasted an espresso stout when I was at school in Montana back in 94. I beleive it was from a brewery in Washington.
It was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and the Bert Grant beers from the early 90’s.
For me it wasn’t a specific beer, but a place. Venice alehouse in Venice beach, I was amazed by the beer in there. After that I started reading about beer styles, and found out about craft beer and home brewing. I still don’t remember what beers I had in there, I just kept telling the waitress to surprise me and they were all so good. The waitress was hot too.
Guiness Irish Stout initially (which I almost never drink anymore), and several years later I drank Chimay Grande Reserve at a Portland, OR beer festival. The Chimay rocked my world (unto these eyes beer took on spiritual significance!). Really don’t drink much Chimay anymore either, but I still think it’s a pretty darn good BDS. It’s interesting how some of those initial “eye openers” (though arguably still good beers) fade into the backdrop of the enormous quantity of great beer that the world has to offer.