My "gateway beer" was this one:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1103/3409/. It changed me. I suggest something like that with nice malt character, and around 6% ABV.
FWIW, straight from the bottle, craft beer only tastes "different" to the untrained palate. It will seem more bitter, and they will only perceive floral hops when/if they burp. If you want to fast track someone, you need to expose them to aroma, and take a moment to teach them.
Pour beers into pint glasses. Their Pisswässer will smell like practically nothing, so it will taste exactly as flavorless as it does when drank straight from the can. After being able smell a quality ale, their taste buds will explode from the complex character.
Have them finish the whole pale ale, then have them taste their Pisswässer again. See what they have to say. Soon, the higher, clean alcohol content will hug them in the most beautiful way, and they will admire the beverage that much more. If they're converted, introduce them to IPAs and/or stouts a couple weeks later.
If they still don't get it, more power to 'em. They'll save some money at the convenience store for the rest of their lives. In my experience, my Pisswässer-drinking friends love my beer, and I only make heavy beers - black IPA's, hoppy ambers, etc. One of them offered to pay me to bring a keg of it on a camping trip. You can't make them drink more expensive beer when you're not around, though. If they don't want to spend the money, or they don't really care about flavor, it shouldn't matter to you. You do you, boo. We brew because we are literally
obsessed. It isn't realistic to believe everyone shares this obsession. We're like professional photographers trying to tell college chicks to stop taking selfies with their phones. Not gonna happen, duder. They're gonna keep snapping away while we're whining, "B- but, the
lighting!! The lenses!!!" They don't give a $#!t. If they're just trying to pack on a buzz, the flavor of their poison may prove impossible to even get on their radar. That's okay. If you can convert them, cool. If not, doesn't matter. There's room for us all.