You must be an OLD dog! Just kidding. Seriously though when did AHA form? The first time I ever brewed anything was in 1979 and I won't lie it was NASTY but a small glass or two would take you where no 12 pack could. Maybe if there would have been some literature available and/or publicity about homebrewing back then I would have stuck with it.
=) There are days I feel not just older than dirt, but old enough to remember the rocks from which came the dirt.
I brewed my 1st batch in July, 1974: Blue Ribbon malt syrup, cane sugar, bread yeast...all to the Prohibition era recipe that "Lena" included on the backside of the can label. My fermenter was a 5-gal frosting bucket from Dunkin Donuts. The beer, was, awful!
I got better, because soon after I found a copies of "Guide to Better Wine and Beer Making for Beginners" by SM Tritton (Dover Books edition of 1969) and "The Art of Making Beer" by Stanley F Anderson and Raymond Hull (Hawthorn Books edition of 1971). My brewing/vintning bookshelf is about 12 running feet in length now.
Hops, boiling, better sanitation...who da thunk it?