Well, sour beer has reached new heights with Marthastewart.com jumping in with their article yesterday: http://www.marthastewart.com/1086810/sour-beer-get-know-about-brew-wine-and-cocktail-drinkers-love From the article written by Anne Becerra: "Sour beer styles are difficult to make, produced in small batches, and often expensive. Their flavor complexity is making them more and more popular, not only to craft beer lovers, but wine drinkers and cocktail enthusiasts as well. Women, in particular, are sparking to craft beers in general, and sour beers specifically, according to Kim Jordan, co-founder of New Belgium, the fourth largest craft brewery in the country. Jordan told USA Today: "Some particular styles, sour being among them ... are really appealing to (women) because they are sophisticated and flavorful and not crazy (alcohol) bombs." Some good suggestions and pretty good overall rundown of sour beers for the non beer geek.
Pretty cool. Wouldn't expect stuff about craft beer from there. And if a man would have said that I bet there's people that would label them as sexist. Just sayin. Lol
That's pretty much exactly what a girl friend of mine said. She seemed to think the sour beers I let her try reminded her of wine and warheads.
Funny I can't get my wife over the hump with sours even though we both are reformed winos. Nice to see that the article was written by a certified cicerone. I agree with a lot of what she wrote, though it has been my experience that women like my wife enjoy a big bold chocolate coffee BA bombs.
They appeal to women, because a lot of them are very similar to wine and champagne. And most women prefer wine/champagne over beer.
I wish that I could get my girlfriend to like more beer. She didn't like wine until I made her try others than grocery store brands, so maybe if I keep on her, she'll come around. She's fond of Raspberry Tart and Strawberry Rhubarb, but nothing too tart. It's hilarious to watch her take a sip of a sour beer. It would be nice to drink with more woman and get their take on the beer while at a bar. I'm happy to have the 2 I currently share with.
Why are women always drawn to the most expensive things? Sour beer styles are difficult to make, produced in small batches, and often expensive. Their flavor complexity is making them more and more popular, not only to craft beer lovers, but wine drinkers and cocktail enthusiasts as well. Women, in particular, are sparking to craft beers in general, and sour beers specifically,
As main stream exposure like this continues I only see many beers getting more expensive and harder to get. Could be good or bad depending how you look at it
Even though this is pretty major exposure, I don't see a huge influx of people that formerly weren't into craft beer getting into just sours. First, the flavor profile of many of them (particularly enamel-destroying American wilds and the musty attic filled with cheesecloth and horseblankets of the more intense Belgians) is not very accessible; even wine drinkers might not come right over to them since the flavors of Brett, Lacto, Pedio, etc. are widely considered off-flavors in the world of wine. Secondly, the price of admission is insane to many people, even craft beer drinkers. I know that I thought $30 for a bottle of Cantillon was insane when I saw it on the shelf almost three years ago; now I'd gladly go back and buy all of them at that price. This is still pretty cool, regardless of what implications it has.
When I met my girlfriend she used to be the type to mostly drink wheats for craft beer but would also not be opposed to BMC either and I was the one pushing her to try other choices. Once she tried Rodenbach Grand Cru a couple years ago, it was all over. She says it reminds her of red wines which she really likes. Now she will only drink sours or lambics if she has the choice. I myself for the life of me cannot stand sours.
