Does specialty beer ruin your taste for commercial beer or is it just an ignorant bias on my part?

[mim]

I find that when you switch to micro brew or specialty beers your tastes do change. It's like growing up on Wonder Bread and trying home made. It's still bread/beer but more than likely you will find one you really like and prefer drinking. Some have higher alcohol content so you don't need as much if it is the buzz you are after. I also find that finer beers are more like good wine. You just don't chug them down. I feel I am saving my liver by consuming less better quality beers that aren't laced with chemicals used in most large commercial beer making facilities. I've also made my own beer and loved it. Screwed up the recipe and it was still better than most beers I have ever had. Cheap to make too.

A personal favorite is Rochefort #8. Dark, smooth, rich. Like a loaf of bread in a bottle. It is like Guinness but not bitter. Three Philosophers is good too. If it's a lighter beer you like with a straight ahead beer flavor, a recommendation is to try Boddingtons or Duval. They are not cheap but one once in a while is a treat.

I grew up on Bud, Miller, Linenkugels etc. but when a bar in my small home town opened with imports on tap, my tastes did not take long to prefer a beer that was not skunky like Heineken is to me or watery like others. The complexities of a good beer can be appreciated in time and definitely worth exploring.

Cheers