| Converting Wine Drinkers by Susan Bartlett Hello Bob - I really don't know why most of my female friends don't like beer. They're all basically wine lovers and laugh when I try to tell them about beer. As a female I realize I'm in the minority but I like to believe that's because many ladies think beer means Budweiser and not craft beers. So a while ago I challenged them to let me pick the drinks at our bi-weekly get together. Don't worry, it's on Zoom. I send them a list of drinks a few days before the meeting so we all could taste and discuss the same things. I made it my mission to convert them. It’s a great feeling when you get a wine lover to try a beer and see the look on their face when they are surprised that they actually like it. So to start things off I made the obvious choice, a Flemish Red. I went with Rodenbach. the most famous representative of this style. Everyone had a bottle. I explained that it is a Belgium barrel-aged sour. It's a style that a) looks like wine and b) has a tart acidity that deviates from the normal beer and actually mirrors some wines. Without involving grape must or actually pouring wine into your beer, this is as wine like to me as beer can get. Most of my friends were happily surprise at how much they liked it. The second beer I had them try was Westmalle Tripel, one of the Trappist classics that I knew was fairly available and most could find it at their local liquor shop. It's another great beer. This one, like many Belgian brews, has a lot going on. My wine friends describe wines, nearly always using about four different adjectives which helped them describe this Tripel. The complexity of traditional Belgian yeast spiciness, with the fruity esters of the yeast, along with the clean malt taste, added to the high ABV work together to make this an interesting beer alternative to wine. My friends were beginning to understand. For my next to last choice I went with something sweeter, Lindemans Framboise Lambic.. This raspberry lambic is sweet and sour, effervescent, and just plain fun. I may have used too many Belgium beers in the tasting but honestly they’re just so good. Everyone seemed to agree. These beers were changing minds. My final selection was something a bit more familiar to the group.: Guinness Draught Stout. Yes, I picked a stout! Generally speaking, this beer gets high marks from wine lovers. The style itself lends itself to a more complex beer than people who “don’t like beer” are normally thinking of. The various types of darker/roasted malts put layers of complexity into the taste of this brew. When it’s served on Nitro ( Ihad them get can/bottle with a Nitro widget) you get a more pub-like cask ale experience, which lends a velvety mouthfeel. I saw quite a few raised eyebrows for this one. It’s just not something they were expecting, or expecting to like, but they did! From the feedback I received most of the wine drinkers had changed their thoughts on beer. I hope I made some converts but you never know. Our next meeting is going to be with wine again but when my turn comes around you can be sure it will be about beer. I really enjoy you column Bob. It's always fun and interesting. Hope you think my report is too. Thanks! ------ Thanks Susan for a most enjoyable submission. You did a great job in showing your friends that the world of beer is full of complex, rich, exciting offerings that they can enjoy as much, if not more, than wine.. I'd like to invite everyone to send me their own columns about anything related to beer in any way just as Susan did. I select the best and publish them here. So join in and get writing! Cheers! Bob |
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