Craft beer for wine lovers

I know someone who loves wine and is literally afraid of beer. She is starting to try things that are not lagers, IPA's, Stouts. And those beers happen to be Sours and Meads. Turns out she loves them.

 

Maybe it is given the fact they almost immediate moved the Sixty-One in to their regular year round rotation almost right away. Perhaps there are a lot of folks who enjoy non-dry reds who didn't know they do until Sixty-One. :-)

http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/year-round-brews/sixty-one.htm

 

I find that wine lovers almost always gravitate towards Belgian styles. Complexity and low hop profile.

 

I was similar and agree. Always drank both, but was passionate about wine a long time (still am). I disagree with the notion of sours, as those flavors are indicative of poorly made, tainted wine. Those are exactly the kinds of flavors wine makers must avoid and sometimes do not. I feel similarly about Belgian beers and German beers where the flavor or smell attributes come from yeast phenols, those are off-putting to ,many wine drinkers.

I think wine drinkers are looking for cleanly made beers, with a little complexity. That can be just about any style. Barrel aged beers would certainly appeal for obvious reasons.

 

Could add DFH's 61 Minute to that list

 

yes, many others too

 

Really surprised no one said belgians. A quad or tripel, even some dubbels, are very wine like. Maybe a wheatwine too

 

The beer style that is most reminiscent of wine to me is the Saison style. I would guess that folks who like dry white wines would enjoy drinking a beer like Saison Dupont, Goose Island Sofie, etc.

For those wine drinkers that are a bit more adventurous, perhaps a Saison that was also brewed with some Brett?

Cheers!

 

Yeah. If one popped a wine bottle and it smelled or tasted like a sour beer it would immediately be dumped down the drain. Why people think wine drinkers would gravitate to this always boggles my mind.

I think drtth nailed it...

Beer offers taste experiences wine cannot and can stand on it's own merits.

 

"Loons", generally. Also, Trappist Dubbels, Oud Bruin, Gueuze, and Flemish Red from Belgium. "Biere de Champagne", Triple, Quad/Strong Dark, Doppelbock, and Baltic Porter for those who have a sweet tooth. Bier de Garde also gets a nod from me.

A few responses have already mentioned just how much profile and palate variety there is to be found in wine styles, and how those who enjoy wine will already enjoy beer for different purposes, and different food pairings, so it can be difficult to recommend beer style to wine lovers if you yourself do not already have a good understanding of basic wine styles*.

Likewise, while Belgian styles are almost an automatic go-to, there are also a great many exceptional beers in the market nowadays which draw upon Belgian sour and and "Berliner" influences, so they have the 'wild' yeast + barrel / microorganism character, maybe with fruit additions. It makes as much sense to recommend that they track these down, too.

*Beer geeks take not: "Wine Classes" at the local community college are a solid investment of time and money.

 

DFH Red and White for Sure!

 

My experience with my "serious" (vacation at vineyards, have a cellar, etc.) wine drinking friends are all over. One is into Stella or Heineken, period. Another is into IPAs and wheats, and a third is all about barleywines and stouts. With the one exception, the others try anything I set in front of them.

I can't give personal opinion where I'm a rookie wine fan, but they have also opened my eyes and attitude about wine. And man, the really good wines are something special.

 

My mother will not drink beer because she says she hates the aftertaste. Since she loves coffee (and red wines), I've convinced her to try a few Stouts, but the only one she's actually approved of is Tallgrass' Buffalo Sweat.

 

DFH Black and Blue with about 2 years on it. Any more will be too sour

 

Some saisons definitely finish dry like champaign or a dry white.

 

Perhaps the more 'vulgar' beers such as those heavily flavoured with New World hops should be avoided. A nice light lager or mild might do the trick, or perhaps something delicate or sophisticated, most definitely not a super strong stout, which might taste like a child's milkshake to them...

 

I have tried to get my parents into craft beer, they both work in the Wine industry and have for a while. A lot of people have suggested sours, but from my experience my parents despise wild ales especially any beer with brett in it. From what I understand my parents have spent a long time learning that brett is bad.

 

I started my beer journey as a wine enthusiast, that got me hired at a bottle shop, which led me to "having" to taste new beers. Now I am probably as much, if not more so into beer. I agree with the above posts saying that sours are NOT a good starting point for wine lovers. Vinegar flavors in wine are a major flaw. Knowing the varietals the wine lover likes is key. I remember a novice beer drinker trying DFH Festina Peche for the first time, and saying it tasted like a white wine. New Zealand Sauvingnon Blancs are very grapefruit forward, like ipas

 

Deschutes Not The Stoic