In my latest Beer 101 (which you can read here), I give away some of my trade secrets. Okay, they aren’t secrets, per se, but they still do qualify as tips into how I do my job. I am not talking about writing (which, frankly, just takes years of working at it) or drinking beer (a task at which many of you are just as accomplished as I). I am talking about when I run beer education sessions or beer tastings. Most people at a beer tasting are fairly new to the exploration of beer. This is particularly true at my monthly Sugar Bowl tastings, which are unannounced and thus get whomever happens to be in the restaurant at the time (I particularly like that aspect of this arrangement).
What that means is that talking about the latest double IPA or that crazy bacon-and-eggs infused beer just released is simply not going to work. Neither is spending 10 minutes ragging on [insert corporate beer name here]. My job in those moments is not to impart my so-called beer wisdom, but instead to connect with them as a consumer. I need to learn where they come from, what they like in alcoholic beverages and then work with that. In beer tastings I spend as much time asking questions and listening as I do talking. That is because if we are going to open the world of beer to more people, we need to understand what makes them, as an individual, tick.
It is what bugs me about beer marketers. They cluster and pigeon-hole different “segments” of the market and try to apply mass marketing techniques to them. The result is lime beer or pink beer. The reality is that every person has a different palate and you need to respect that.
And key in this whole process is the first beer they try. Everyone has drank one of the big boys’ beer, and that colours their impression of what beer “is”. And, if they are not a beer drinker, that colour is not pleasant for them. So, my first task is to find a beer that can erase their preconceived notions about what beer tastes like. Sure a Russian Imperial Stout will do that for anyone, but if they hate that next attempt, we could lose them for life.
Therefore my approach is to find out as much as I can about what they LIKE in an alcoholic beverage, and what they think they dislike about beer, and find a first entry that matches that preference. My theory is that if they find a beer they like, they will have more than one of it and then, eventually, try something in the category next door. Before they know it – they are a beer person. Of course, this process would go much smoother if I could become their “personal beer assistant” and follow them through their beer drinking adventures, but alas, no one has yet been prepared to pay me enough to perform that task. But even without me, the essential step is the first one – getting them to open their personal palate door to beer possibilities.
The Beer 101 article walks through some of the myriad options possible when you open up a conversation about entry beer. I discuss some of the more common responses I have gotten over the years and what I offer up as possibilities for a beer to try. One suggestion I don’t mention – but has been more effective than I would have expected – is for those who completely disavow any kind of beer, but say they like lemonade and other tart drinks. For them I go bold and suggest a Cantillon lambic – it is so unusual for beer that this group of people are more open to it than one might expect (it is beer people who are less receptive to the unique tartness that is lambic).
My suggestions are just that – possible ideas. The goal was to create a larger body of people able to gently guide beer newcomers into examples that might open their world to beer. And, really, can there be any pursuit more noble?
February 24, 2012 at 9:29 PM
I am one of those people that are new to the the exploration of beer drinking and just wanted to say how much I appreciate your articles and insight into the the beer world and particularly local brewery news. I buy the beer that you review or describe to see if it might be a beer style I would enjoy and has made me try many different types of beer that i would normally never try. Thanks for all the hard work opening peoples minds and tastebuds to great tasting beer.
Jeremy
February 27, 2012 at 2:02 PM
Jeremy, thanks for the kind words. It makes me blush. Keep exploring new beer as that is the best way to expand your knowledge of beer. And thanks for reading.
February 25, 2012 at 7:28 PM
The big brewers do a big disservice by masquerading their generic offerings as something else. Alexander Keith’s “IPA” being the best example, but even brewers such as Big Rock don’t escape this criticism. The idea is showing that there are actually different styles. Just as a wine drinker might like red wines but not like white wines (never mind more specific differences such as liking a merlot but not liking a shiraz), the same goes for ales vs. lagers (never mind more specifically a brown ale vs. a pale ale). “Beerducation” is even more important to combat the idea that “all beer tastes the same” when Labatt tries to tell the average consumer that an IPA tastes the same as a lager.