I’m telling you that you like beer. Even if you think you don’t, you’re wrong. You do. You just haven’t tasted the right beer for you.
Too many times I hear people say “I don’t like beer,” only to discover that the only beers they’ve tried are Tui, Export, Heineken and the like.
I don’t blame people for disliking shit beers like those—I don’t like them either. But judging all beer from a few watery lagers is like having a $6 bottle of Chardon and shunning all wines based on the cheapest thing around. Although this may seem ridiculous, there are almost as many varieties of beer available as there are wines.
This week, I will suggest a better beer equivalent for the other common forms of alcohol. Beer can be very versatile with its flavour. Brewers can make beer using just about anything, which means it can taste like just about anything.
For the fruity RTD drinker, I’d suggest a Lambic fruit beer. I’ve put some of my lady friends onto Timmermans Framboise (4%), and they just loved it—probably because it is sweet, easy to drink and tastes like liquidised fresh raspberries. It’s almost like an incredibly fruity raspberry cocktail.
If you’re a fan of bourbon/whiskey & cola, I’ve got the beer for you. Renaissance Stonecutter Scotch Ale (7%) has the strength and boldness of flavour that bourbon and whiskey have, and adds to it. This one has a whole lot of whiskey character to it—the sweetness and strength of flavour are there, but it adds a smokiness which sets everything else off.
If you’re a white wine drinker, I’d recommend you try a Geuze Lambic. The latest Geuze I sampled was Oude Beersel Oude Geuze and it reminded me very much of a dry white wine. This Geuze has the fruitiness and dryness of a white wine, but adds a sourness—achieved by blending old and young beers. It has even been touted as the sparkling white wine of the ale world.
There are even more insane flavours that can be achieved in beer, like smoked bacon or spicy chilli—but I’ll leave those for another week. My point is—don’t say you don’t like beer, because you are wrong. You don’t like shit beer, and neither do I.