Now Beer This: Beers for Your Wine-Drinking Friends

We all have them. We might not admit it, but they are in our lives. They lurk at your get-togethers, Solo cup in hand, doing their best to fit in with the normal people. For all intents and purposes they look like normal people, but if you look past the friendly facade and into the solo cup, you’ll see horror: they are drinking… wine! *cue the “Psycho” shower scene music*

I jest, I jest. Wine lovers are fine. They just are into a different beverage, that’s all. No big. Kinda.

I LOVE to try to convert them, though. 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, if you were so inclined, what would you recommend to your wine friends?

The obvious choice, if one is near at hand, is a Flemish Red. Rodenbach, if you can find it, is the most famous rep of this style. This bad boy from Belgium is a barrel-aged sour style that a) looks like wine and b) has a tart acidity that deviates from the normal beer MO and mirrors some wines. Without involving grape must or actually pouring wine into your beer, this is as wine-y as beer can get.

Westmalle Tripel, one of the Trappist classics that happens to be fairly available, is another great option. This one, like many Belgian beers, has A LOT going on. Imagine how your wine friends describe wines, nearly always using about four different adjectives… this is necessary with this Tripel. The complexity of traditional Belgian yeast spiciness, with the fruity (banana for some) esters of this particular house yeast, along with the clean Pils malt taste, added to the banging ABV work together to make this an interesting beer alternative to wine.

For your friends who can get down with a sweeter option, Lindemans Framboise Lambic is a must-try. This raspberry lambic is sweet AND sour, effervescent, and just plain fun. I’ll never forget the first time I had this in Tyler’s Taproom back around 2003. I was absolutely floored that this was a beer product and in many ways it opened my eyes to what beer could be. I think it will do the same for your wino friends.

I’ve given Belgium way too much traction in this piece, but dammit they’re just good at this. Still, I’ll round out the list with something just slightly closer to home: Guinness Draught Stout. What!?! A stout? For wine lovers? Yes, hear me out. 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 (or in a can/bottle with a Nitro widget) you get a more pub-like cask ale experience, which lends a velvety mouthfeel to this beer that wine lovers almost always raise an eyebrow to. It’s just not something they are expecting, or expecting to like, but they do! Also, what you might not know is that Guinness actually sets aside beer to go a little sour and mixes a tiny bit of that in with the fresher batch to make their world-famous stout, resulting in a subtle tartness that you might not notice but you actually love.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to go out, get these beers, and bring your wino friends over. You might get some converts. Good luck!

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