Genesee Beer: Never Forget Your Roots

I will never forget my roots.  I moved to Portland in 1996 from Central New York.  Syracuse to be exact. Syracuse was a great place to grow up and it was where I had my first beer.  I couldn’t have been more than 13 or 14 when my friend Dave, who was a few years older than me, introduced me to his father’s stash of Genesee beer.  His dad kept the cans cold in the garage fridge, making it easy for us to snag a few and sneak out the back door.  Our regular beer swilling spot became the State Park up the street. We’d typically frequent the park at night after it was closed.  Cans in hand, we roamed the grounds aimlessly for hours under the light of the stars.  At the time, I recall not liking the taste of beer, but it felt cool to be doing something that we were not supposed to partake in. I felt that way during most of my teenage years and to this day, I still find myself having those moments.

The beer that started it all.

Many beers were consumed here.

Drinking Genny’s became a regular weekend activity for us.  I’m not sure how Dave’s dad never noticed the beers missing from the fridge.  We never took a lot, so maybe that was key, or maybe his father was just letting us be boys.

Since then, many other beers have journeyed into my belly. The 3+ past decades have been quite the barley, water, hops and yeast adventure. Things have certainly changed since the early ‘80s.  Microbreweries have popped up all over the United States and we have a plethora of brands and styles of beer to chose from.  I heart my craft beer, but the beer names that I can easily associate past memories with seem to be the ones that were with me prior to micros; Genesee, Molson, Moosehead, Piels and Rolling Rock.