supportive wife?

[adam62cb]

Over the summer I made ten gallons of Berliner Weiss. I don't have much experience with anything sour, so I was pretty excited. My wife commented about how gross the Carboy looked, and after hearing the concept, refused to try it, ever. She has always been a trooper and humored my conversations about mashing strategies or fermentation schedules, so her refusal to try his was disappointing.

Last weekend, for a friends birthday, a group of us went to Iron Hill, a local microbrewery pub. Surprisingly, they had Berliner Weiss on tap. She didn't connect the dots and absolutely loved the version with rasberry syrup. after her second, I explained that it was the same thing she refused to drink at home, hoping for a gushing apology and acceptance, instead, she said, "really, but this isn't gross" So, does anyone want to venture a guess whether or not she tries it at home or not?

 

[bioguy]

hoping for a gushing apology and acceptance,

How long have you been married? After 19 years of marriage, I'm just happy if I get grudging acknowledgement that I might possibly have a point

Buy some beer from the store that is the same style as your brew. Drink a couple yourself. Bottle some of your own in the same bottle. Serve her some from the bottle. After she agrees that it is tasty, tell her you brewed that one.

She probably has images of floating yeast and trub in her head and just can't disconnect that from your beer - mentally.

You might also take her on a brewery tour, but they usually show only the pretty stuff.

Good luck.

 

[Ryush806]

Buy some beer from the store that is the same style as your brew. Drink a couple yourself. Bottle some of your own in the same bottle. Serve her some from the bottle. After she agrees that it is tasty, tell her you brewed that one.

Tricking the wife and then telling her you tricked her? Sounds risky...

Just do what I do and keep the carboys locked up in the other room that she never ventures into (not sure how I got that lucky).

I bet she tries it eventually.

 

[aiptasia]

Show her this:

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Haha.. one of my girlfriends got involuntarily and unexpectedly invited to a sour beer tasting. She HATES beers... but really loved sours. When I told her that I inadvertently made a sour by letting wort sit on my stovetop for 4 days without boiling after being called in to work consecutive double-shifts, she became rather excited.

She knows what fermentation and souring looks like now, but isn't afraid of it. Krausen, pellicles.. it's just part of the process. She's also very (multi)-cultured (meaning non-americanized), so she is very open minded. As long as it pours clear from the keg, or there's a reason for the cloudiness, and I tell her it went as expected, she'll give it a try.

Some people though, just need a complete mind-f*** to get them off their high horse and to trust people who know better than they do. I've known many people like that. Deception is a great approach. Heh. In fact, that's why I now have so many friends who enjoy lengua tacos. lol "Oh yeah.. uh huh.. it's cow... you know... beef" I say.

Although, once I got in a bit of trouble. I don't speak spanish, but I took a date to an authentic mexican fast food place and asked for "ocho tacos de lengua." And the confused girl at the counter laughed Hahaha and said, "senor... you want tongue tacos?" That was the one time I got called out on it. But since then, I've practiced my accent. Now people actually believe I can speak spanish, I don't have much vocabulary, but they now take my order without flinching.

 

[ktblunden]

My wife was freaked out a little when I told her about the sour mash I was doing on a saison I made. It is her favorite beer I've made. She got into sours big time, but she hates when I call it "using bugs."

 

[jerrodm]

Just don't tell her the regular beer you make is essentially yeast sh*t...then again, if she's grossed out, you get to drink more. Just a thought.

 

[dfess1]

I lucked out. My wife wants to brew a Berliner Weiss on her own. I like sours (have two going now), but am not a big fan of this style. We both run a homebrew club, so finding nasty stuff in a carboy is not problem.

 

[Jayhem]

I have no idea what you are talking about.

My wife grew up on a beef farm and is a nurse. She has helped me field dress deer with her bare hands so the word "gross" is not in her vocabulary. She loves my homebrews.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Show her the pellicle thread in the wild beers and then show her the prices on lambics.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Get a bucket fermenter. Fermentation is not pretty. That's why there are no blockbuster movies featuring 4 hours of fermentation.

 

[TheZymurgist]

She's also very (multi)-cultured (meaning non-americanized), so she is very open minded.

I'm "Americanized" as you call it, yet I'm open to trying new things. As are many Americans. This notion that even a majority of Americans aren't "open-minded" is such crap.

 

[WoodHokie4]

Haha....my wife gets grossed out by the weirdest stuff too. I won't say it's a woman thing, because I have plenty of guy friends who get uneasy with trying stuff they've never heard of before. I've even been compared to the buffalo wild wings commercial guy. The wife likes trying my homebrews, but only tends to have a sip or two of mine, so more for me!

Also, if you like Iron Hill, try out Argilla's on Kirkwood Highway....I love their stuff.

 

[jerrodm]

Get a bucket fermenter. Fermentation is not pretty. That's why there are no blockbuster movies featuring 4 hours of fermentation.

Oh I beg to differ--my kids saw a lava lamp at Target a couple months back and immediately turned to me and said, "Dad, your fermenter is way cooler than that thing." Of course, a pellicule is a different matter altogether.

 

[Yooper]

I won't say it's a woman thing, because I have plenty of guy friends who get uneasy with trying stuff they've never heard of before.

good! because it's not a a "woman" thing. I hunt with a bow and a rifle, fish, render tallow for soap, and eat all kinds of unusual foreign foods. I eat far more raw oysters and sushi than my husband will. He's got sort of an "ewwww" thing about some foods, but I've traveled far more than he has. You don't know good until you order a conch salad and the owner of the roadside stand wades off into the ocean to get a conch first. (It was still moving after she cut it up and put the tomato and green pepper on it- grossed him out something fierce, but I ate the whole thing).

Being willing to try something new isn't a "woman" or a "man" thing at all.

I think "beer" is hard for many people to open up to, as most people who say they don't like beer haven't had more than a couple of kinds. An IPA and a lambic are nothing at all like an American light lager so it's amazing when people try them how much they can like both! If someone tries something and then doesn't like it, I can respect of course.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

My kids refuse to use any toilet outside the home. They are both boys, and not young.

 

[jerrodm]

Now that's just sad. As my Dad still says, "Enjoy being a man son--the world is your toilet!"

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

The only support I ever see from my wife, is her underwire.

And, frankly, folding her underwear is getting old.

 

[malweth]

The only support I ever see from my wife, is her underwire.

And, frankly, folding her underwear is getting old.

Does her underwire support you or just your beer?

 

[jrodskreet]

Haha.. one of my girlfriends

wait! What? Seriously? You put up with more than one?

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Now that's just sad. As my Dad still says, "Enjoy being a man son--the world is your toilet!"

Haha. I always tell people, "The world is your urinal."

 

[JohnnySardonic]

Just don't tell her the regular beer you make is essentially yeast sh*t...then again, if she's grossed out, you get to drink more. Just a thought.

Haha, I had this conversation with my gf today. She brews with me, understands how the grain and hops work, but always just assumed the yeast created alcohol and flavors out of thin air. When I told her that it's essentially yeast poop, she freaked out for a couple minutes. Then I reminded her that we both change gnarly diapers on a daily basis, and yeast poop is a lot smaller and better smelling, she proceeded to drink my beer again. Women....