Gettin your wives to drink a craft brew...what's it take?!

[jdlev]

I've tried everything to get the wife to drink some of my home brew - heck, trying to get her to try beer in general, and have FAILED miserably. I've tried getting her to try everything from a chocolate orange IPA to Sameul Smith's Strawberrry Brew (which to me tastes like Strawberry koolaid) to a mint chocolate stout, and nothing.

However, even after years of trying to find a beer she likes and failing, I am steadfast in my resolve to make a beer that she enjoys! I'm looking for the styles and maybe some recipes of what you guys have made to convert your wives/girlfriends to a craft beer drinker. They can even be commercial versions.

In general...why do you guys think that craft beer is man's game, and women just aren't that interested in craft beer as opposed to say...wine or fruity cocktails? Are they afraid of the calories of craft brew? I know women have many more tastebuds than men, so are the bitterness levels just too high for them to handle? My wife's primary complaint is, "It still has that 'beer' taste."

 

[Yooper]

I wouldn't say that beer is a man's game. Some of the best brewers are women. Some of the best BJCP judges are women.

Some people don't like brussel spouts. Some don't like Scotch. Some don't like beer.

If someone doesn't like beer, so what? They can drink what they like.

 

[Alistechbumb]

My recipe for my wife is this: amaretto, sour, and ice. The other one is Malibu and pineapple.

It comes down to the fact it seems like you have done all you can do, hell you had me at chocolate mint and all the others. I am in the same boat as you, Giggles (my wife) will not drink beer, period. So the best I can do is stock the bar with what she enjoys drinking. If she want an amaretto stone sour, she gets it. If she wants slow gin sour she gets it.

Keep her favorites in stock and all is well. That being said I have met some serious craft brew drinkers that are women. You and I did not land one of those. We did however land women that let us do our brewing and that is something worth keeping them for. Lol.

 

[treacheroustexan]

My apartment consists of craft beer for me, wine for the lady. I'l drink wine but if I have beer in the house (which i always do) you better believe I will drink that over wine. We made a drink with beer she enjoys. We used 24 oz of light beer, a bottle of UV blue raspberry vodka and a can of frozen lemonade. thats as far as i have gotten with her.

 

[insanim8er]

We used 24 oz of light beer, a bottle of UV blue raspberry vodka and a can of frozen lemonade. thats as far as i have gotten with her.

If that's Just one drink, I'd think you would get really far on her

Mine drinks just about anything regardless... She just won't do bitter.

But why don't you make something else for her? Why does it have to be beer?

Even though mine will drink just about anything, she LOVES cider (especially graff) and she loves the hard lemonade I recently made. So I'll keep that stuff on hand for her.

 

[IslandLizard]

Lindeman's Framboise? Wheat beers? Sours? Take her for a few tasting sessions in some good craft bars and find out what she does like. Or buy bottles of different "beer" styles and see what comes out. Better than trying to brew and aim for a taste profile you don't know. Maybe she simply doesn't like beer.

Most sours do not taste like beer, and are closer to champagne in some ways, worth a try.

My wife won't drink any beer darker than an IPA. But she likes wheat beers, a Pilsner or saison now and then, and... her favorite... Framboise!

 

[Flakk]

My fiance practically begged me to take her to the GABF last year, so I cannot say that I have the same problem. Lucky for me her tastes run more Belgian than mine, so I don't have to worry about her drinking all of my IPAs and stouts.

I have also gotten a lot of her female friends started on craft beer. I certainly wouldn't call it a man's game.

 

[krackin]

Do you add the brussels sprouts to the boil or dry hop?

 

[strambo]

My wife started out having a Widmer Hef on occasion eating out. She now loves Porters and Stouts and we jokingly say she "doesn't like IPA's, too bitter", she'll drink the most aggressive West Coast syle IPA or DIPA and like it, just not her favorite style. She likes sours from Cascade and Russian River along with the Lambics.

 

[Snowden]

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat got my wife started (can't argue with something that tastes like Fruit Loops). Now she puts down IPAs with the best of them, and says I have ruined light beers for her (the ole', "tastes like water" syndrome!).


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[ktblunden]

My wife started out with wheat beers and moved into porters, stouts, sours, belgians, etc. She's not a fan of hoppy stuff, but if it's balanced and not just bitter she'll drink it. Her tastes evolved as I exposed her to different things, but if you've tried everything and she doesn't like any of it, she just might not be a beer drinker.

 

[hunter_le five]

SWMBO won't drink any sort of beer whatsoever. I gave up trying a long time ago. It's strictly Malibu and pineapple or margaritas with her. I can't even get her to split a bottle of wine with me.

Some people just like what they like. Oh well.

And I do know plenty of female beer drinkers, including my sister in law, so it's certainly not just a man's drink. I also know plenty of dudes that don't like beer at all, and only drink cocktails. I am sad for them.


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[JonM]

Hey, more good beer for you, and she'll be happy that you won't mooch her favorite wine/cocktail etc. Diff'rent strokes.

 

[dmashl]

My wife is a bud light drinker. So I made her, what turned out to be a Michelob clone. Last night she drank it for the 1st time and she enjoyed it.

5 gallon recipe
5 lbs 2 row
4 lbs 6 row
.5 lb flaked rice
mashed at 150
1 oz Hellertau
1 oz Hersbrucker
US-05 rehydrated yeast

 

[Flboy]

Tell her it is good for her complexion!

 

[Pappers_]

Agreed that its not a gender thing, necessarily. My wife loves IPAs, for example. Our club has a number of outstanding women brewers. The BJCP National judge who administered the last tasting exam I took is a woman.

I wouldn't try to force beer on her, that would just make me dig in my heels. Try making her other things she might like. Cider? Skeeter Pee? Mead? Wine? If you can make beer, you can make any of these.

 

[frozennorth]

I just buy hard cider and Mike's Hard Lemonade for my wife. That is what makes her happy and there is not much better than a happy wife. This leaves more beer for me and which makes a happy husband. No reason to force anyone to have something that they do not want, just go with the flow, or pour as the case may be.

 

[railwalker]

"Women have many more taste buds than men." They do?


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[blueliner21]

On our first date she ordered an Imperial Stout. I knew then I had to marry that woman.

 

[insanim8er]

"Women have many more taste buds than men." They do?

Generally woman do have more tastebuds than men.

There are three categories for "tasters"

Non tasters, Regular tasters and Super tasters

Out of the super tasters, most of them tend to be woman. I believe by about 2/3rds

I watched a Netflix documentary on it

On our first date she ordered an Imperial Stout. I knew then I had to marry that woman.

Not only would mine order that, but she would order several and drink my ass under the table. She's a 5'3" little blonde, but she drinks like a trucker at times.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

My recipe for my wife is this: amaretto, sour, and ice. The other one is Malibu and pineapple.

It comes down to the fact it seems like you have done all you can do, hell you had me at chocolate mint and all the others. I am in the same boat as you, Giggles (my wife) will not drink beer, period. So the best I can do is stock the bar with what she enjoys drinking. If she want an amaretto stone sour, she gets it. If she wants slow gin sour she gets it.

Keep her favorites in stock and all is well. That being said I have met some serious craft brew drinkers that are women. You and I did not land one of those. We did however land women that let us do our brewing and that is something worth keeping them for. Lol.

+1

My wife doesn't touch beer. I made Apfelwein and she told me it tastes like beer. She has it in her head that she'll never like beer, and when she has something in her head like that, I certainly can't change it. So I stopped trying long ago.

One positive: we went to Oregon and to Deschutes, and she drank a cider and liked it. So I bought a bunch of ciders for her... And they've been sitting in the fridge for like 2 months untouched... Oh well.

 

[day_trippr]

I started my wife out on American Wheat with just a hint of orange and she got into it pretty well. Then I made a middling hopped Pale (40 IBU) using C hops and a scoche of Citra and she liked that, too - although she did think it was a bit too bitter for her.

Years later I often see her enjoying some of my hoppiest brews (the house IPA with all home-grown Chinook, Cascade and Centennial hops, on paper over 100 IBUs).

Mission Accomplished!

Cheers!

 

[TallDan]

I got my wife to try craft beer by saying: "here, try this one". It's worked hundreds of times since.

If she's decided she doesn't like beer, nothing you will do will change her mind until she decides that she is at least open to liking it. My mother is like this, she decided decades ago that she doesn't like beer. On occasion, I'll talk her into trying something that I brought over to share with my Dad. Her response is always some variation on "Ugh, it tastes like BEER."

So, if I were you, I'd go on liking beer and sharing it with others. If she ever decides to give beer a fair chance, she knows where to find it.

 

[MindenMan]

March 14th of this year, my wife and celebrated our 4th year anniversary. My rules for a wife were, drinks red wine and dark beer. See, easy, right? I scored on both counts. Not only does she love dark beers, but put a 100 plus IBU IIPA, and she wants another one. It wasn't until recently I would drink "hoppy" beers. My problem with hoppy beers was, I had only had what I considered at that point to be borderline nasty and one dimensional. Eventually, I had very different exposure to well made, balanced, and tasty IPA's, I occasionally order one while out. So this post is more about how my wife changed my opinion of drinking certain beers.

 

[GHBWNY]

My wife doesn't care for the taste of alcohol --- just doesn't. But she is the one who got me into homebrewing! Bought me the equipment as an amazing Christmas present surprise! She totally supports me, and sees how much fun it has been. For some reason, she keeps saying "our life has become beer." That said, I include her in the process when and where I can, which has made homebrewing fun for her as well. Together, we have named our brewery, started a monthly "brewsletter" for friends and family, designed labels and created beer names, and even gone to a tasting at a local craft brew company. She is referred to around here as the CFO - "Controlled Foam Officer". A lot of family and extended family members enjoy beer --- esp. craft beer and have jumped on the homebrew wagon with us. Especially the women, including our three daughters. Beer a "man's game"? Don't bet on it!

Yesterday, my wife and I bottled something for her --- root beer! We carbed with yeast, so right now the plastic 2-liter Coke bottles are turning as hard as a carp! As a safety measure, I've got them in a Coleman cooler with the lid shut and a 5-gal. bucket of drywall compound on top --- "just in case". I'm expecting to hear a resounding WHUMP at any moment. Going to try to let them ferment for at least 3 days, unless they tell me they're done before then. But, we're hoping that after a successful couple weeks of cold crash, we'll have some delicious "beer" for the non-beer members of our family.

 

[WWJPD]

Oh, man, I guess I'm lucky. My wife loves all the beers I do from Heady to my homebrew. I was annoyed she drank the last Enjoy By last weekend when I was out. Right now she's drinking Stone RuniTen and hasn't even offered me any yet.

 

[drainbamage]

My wife didn't drink much beer (and especially not craft beer) until we took a trip to Germany and she had a fresh Franziskaner in Munich. She's been a huge fan of wheat beers since then. She also enjoys brown ales and the occasional porter. I still have her try a sip of almost everything I drink, and occasionally she'll take a liking to something that surprises me.

If you're looking for a HB recipe to start off on, try something light and not overly hoppy, like Centennial Blonde or SWMBO Slayer. If she enjoys that, move on from there.

 

[Skeptidelphian]

My GF is straight up not a beer fan, outside of a witbier or Flemish red. She also has a wheat or gluten issue so she generally avoids beer. She love wine and dry ciders, so I'm planning on expanding onto those areas so she can have something nice on tap.

 

[dadshomebrewing]

I wouldn't say that beer is a man's game. Some of the best brewers are women. Some of the best BJCP judges are women.

Some people don't like brussel spouts. Some don't like Scotch. Some don't like beer.

If someone doesn't like beer, so what? They can drink what they like.

^^^ This ^^^

my wife doesn't like beer, or drink it.

she doesn't like golf, either, so when I go to the links she stays home

why force the issue?

 

[catdaddy66]

My ex hated beer of any kind. My current (& final!) wife will taste everything I ask her to, but doesn't like too much bitterness. She will drink an entire beer if it's my cream ale and steam beer.


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[Hello]

I wouldn't say that beer is a man's game. Some of the best brewers are women. Some of the best BJCP judges are women.

Some people don't like brussel spouts. Some don't like Scotch. Some don't like beer.

If someone doesn't like beer, so what? They can drink what they like.

And end thread.

If my spouse (who would be a dude I suppose) didn't like beer then I would stop forcing him to try it and like it. Who cares? There's little reason to stress over it unless you somehow think a woman needs to drink beer, which is inane. I suppose you could resort to clubbing her over the head and dragging her back to your cave until she likes beer.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

And end thread.

If my spouse (who would be a dude I suppose) didn't like beer then I would stop forcing him to try it and like it. Who cares? There's little reason to stress over it unless you somehow think a woman needs to drink beer, which is inane. I suppose you could resort to clubbing her over the head and dragging her back to your cave until she likes beer.

I guess it's more that OP loves beer so much, he feels his wife is missing out on something great. He wants to share the joy!

 

[Yooper]

I guess it's more that OP loves beer so much, he feels his wife is missing out on something great. He wants to share the joy!

Maybe. I love pilsners, good German pilsners, but my husband doesn't. I can still love him and be married to him, even though he likes different things than I do.

I don't like chocolate, not even a little bit. He loves it. He's encouraged me to try different kinds, and I still don't like any of it. If he kept after me to try to love it and eat it, it would probably piss me off instead of fostering a love of chocolate- just a thought.

 

[KBrew75]

My wife always says "it smells and tastes like beer." I gave up.

 

[govner1]

I just put a glass in front of her- she loves IPAs, stouts, ESB, Pale Ale, you name it!


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[jeffjm]

I've probably told this story before, but when my wife and I were first dating, we were at a family barbecue. Someone handed her a bud light, and at the time, she hadn't had any beer besides mine since college. She took one sip, made a face, and said "That's not what beer tastes like at your house!" I had a clue then that I might have a keeper ;-)

Now, even though she appreciates malty and roasty beers, she prefers wine, mead, and cider. I started making mead because she really likes honey. Try making your wife a cider or mead or wine instead. Use her taste as an opportunity to expand your horizons. Maybe she doesn't like malt, so don't fight it - make something different!

 

[grittanomyces]

You would be surprised at the number of female drinkers that found that they naturally had a palate for IPAs, whereas most male drinkers I know worked their way up to IPAs in stages.

That's not to say that even most of them do, for most people hops are more of an acquired taste of course.

For people who aren't big beer drinkers, I've found that lighter belgians and hefes are great approachable beers, or you can go even more approachable, like fruit-flavored wheat beers, a shandy or cider.

Beer is of course one of those things that most people have to be eased into before their palate adjusts and can get past the heavier and hoppy/bitter flavors.

 

[j1n]

My wife doesn't drink any alcohol. She has never tried any of my homebrew. not even my cider thank i back sweetened and tasted like straight up apple juice. Its ok though, shes my DD.

 

[Zepth]

I haven't had the misfortune of being with anyone who didn't like beer in the first place, but a few friends have those who are picky at best. One in particular, the star of this story didn't care for any beer but would at least try each one to continue the search.

I did it! A gereric yellow canned kit with a pinch of Falconers Flight (hop blend, rather citrusy) near the end of the boil. Nailed it again with a vienna amarillo smash. In this case, the recipe is "Light colour, low bitterness, citrus flavoured hops, high (2.6-2.8) carb, served on the verge of frozen."

 

[glick]

My wife is one who just won't drink beer. She says it makes her feel bloated. Wine is a different story though!