# Beer for a non-beer drinker **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [May 24, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986 "2011-05-24T05:33:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/21 "2011-05-24T15:28:34Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > [Anchor Steam.](http://www.anchorbrewing.com/beers/) > The definitive example of the only beer style indigenous to the US. > > Also known as California common as Anchor has trademarked “Steam”. Anchor Steam is another great middle-of-the-road beer, one of my favorites. However, California common is not the only indigenous American beer style. There’s at least one more, [Kentucky common](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Common_Beer), which is a slightly soured ale. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/22 "2011-05-24T15:34:42Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Anchor Steam is another great middle-of-the-road beer, one of my favorites. However, California common is not the only indigenous American beer style. There’s at least one more, [Kentucky common](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Common_Beer), which is a slightly soured ale. Never heard of it, thanks. _makes note_ ETA: And Anchor Steam is my always-in-the-fridge beer. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/23 "2011-05-24T15:46:03Z")
> [@Wheeljack](#): > > I don’t like beer either. Have you considered apple cider? It’s good for when you hate beer but you want to kick back with a cold bottle of something and get your drink on. Definitely! I don’t like beer, but when visiting friends in England, we all went down to the pub and I tried one of their ciders. Excellent! Very tasty. Just don’t make the mistake of an American apple cider, which is usually made by beer companies and is apparently made with beer yeast, and has a nasty beer flavor to it. Stick to UK brands of cider. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/24 "2011-05-24T15:48:36Z")
From a total non beer drinker to another (these recommendations seem to come from beer drinkers themselves) I like [Lindeman’s Framboise](http://www.lindemans.be/start/framboise/en) and a few hard ciders. For some reason that Framboise link is saying it’s in raspberry only but there are a variety of flavors. [Strongbow](http://www.strongbowcider.com/home.html) is a little drier but [Woodchuck](http://www.woodchuck.com/) is sure to be found in a wide variety of bars. Woodchuck is what I have when I’m “out” and want something inexpensive. If either Strongbow or Woodchuck are on tap, get that over something in a bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/25 "2011-05-24T15:51:27Z")
Bud lite only tastes like pee when you’ve honed a taste as an aficionado. For someone who has NOT acquired a taste, this is a good choice. If you haven’t already gotten a taste for the good/expensive stuff, I strongly advise you not to go that route. Because once you’ve acquired a taste for expensive beer, you’re stuck with it, there’s no turning back. Other beers - other than other expensive beers - will not only not be tasty, you won’t be able to stand them. So if you haven’t already spoiled your taste buds, keep it cheap. Drink Old Milwaukees Best or something like that. Plus it’ll be a great conversation piece. All the beer snobs `~insert gratuitous silenus heckle~ from miles around will razz you for it. And then you can lay into them with how smart you are because you’re saving money, etc. Inform them kindly but none too gently that they’re snobs. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/26 "2011-05-24T16:03:38Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > For some reason that Framboise link is saying it’s in raspberry only but there are a variety of flavors. Framboise _means_ raspberry. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/27 "2011-05-24T16:10:03Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > For some reason that Framboise link is saying it’s in raspberry only but there are a variety of flavors. > [@kayaker](#): > > Framboise _means_ raspberry. [Lambic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic) is the style of beer. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/28 "2011-05-24T16:11:34Z")
Adding my voice to those saying wheat beer. I can’t take more than a few mouthfuls of most beer, but I can knock back a full glass of hefeweizen pretty easily. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/29 "2011-05-24T16:13:35Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > For some reason that Framboise link is saying it’s in raspberry only but there are a variety of flavors. Framboise means “raspberry” in French, so, yes, “framboise” is raspberry-only. 😉 The general term you’re looking for for these styles of beers is lambic, or, more specifically, fruit-flavored lambic. Belgium has a wild array of beer styles, and this is yet another one of them. Let me explain what they are: A lambic is the sourdough of beers. It is made in a certain area of Belgium where the wild yeasts in the air and in the breweries is just right for that particular style of beer. Like sourdough bread, it is a sour-tasting beer (although the more aggressively fruit flavored versions cover up much of this sourness.) It is “spontaneously fermented,” meaning no additional yeast is added to the beer when it’s being brewed (at least no yeast is _supposed_ to be added.) The yeasts already present on the grains themselves and in the environment will eventually cause the mash to ferment on its own. These beers are also very very lightly hopped, using stale hops which do not have strong hop flavor or aroma, but still retain their preservative characteristics. Lambics come in many varieties and flavors. They range from smooth almost alco-pop-type ales (like the Lindemann’s fruit lambics) to very funky, sour, barnyardy drinks (like Hanssens Oude Gueuze.) Quick French primer for identifying the different fruit lambics (although it’s usually pretty obvious looking at the bottle): framboise = raspberry; kriek = cherry (this one comes from Dutch, actually); peche = peach; pomme = apple; cassis = black currant. Krieks are generally the least sweet of this bunch (and, traditionally, are supposed to be dry and fairly sour.) When it comes to the lambics, you can’t go wrong with anything by Cantillon or 3 Fonteinen. Lindemann’s has a decent and widely available range of lambics and I like it fine, but aficionados will take issue with some of their brewing methods (like I discovered here on the Dope that their framboise actually has artificial sweeteners added to it). If you venture outside the fruit lambics, the two most common styles you’ll find are “gueuze” or “geuze,” which is a mix of unflavored old (2-3 years+) and new (1 year) lambics and “faro,” which is more-or-less a sweetened version of gueuze. You might be able to find just straight “lambic,” but that’s generally hard to get outside of Belgium. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/30 "2011-05-24T16:14:56Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > From a total non beer drinker to another (these recommendations seem to come from beer drinkers themselves)… Exactly. The beer drinkers like the taste of beer, and thus can’t really get what those of us who don’t object to. In my case, it is the bitter flavor apparently imparted by the yeast they make beer with. I asked some folks who had made both beer and cider, and they told me that the British used a different yeast to make their ciders than their beers, and that US beer makers tended to make their ciders with the same yeast as their beers. By “bitter”, I don’t mean the “tart”. Some ciders have a sharp flavor, but that is different than the bitter beerish aftertaste of most US ciders. > [@](#): > > If either Strongbow or Woodchuck are on tap, get that over something in a bottle. Sounds great, but most of the bars I’ve been to don’t sell enough cider to make it worth having on tap. Note: I checked Woodchuck’s site, and apparently they use champagne yeast. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/31 "2011-05-24T16:21:12Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > Bud lite only tastes like pee when you’ve honed a taste as an aficionado. This is not necessarily true; as I said above, I became a beer drinker when I discovered Sam Adams. It was exactly stuff like Bud Lite and Busch Lite at high school and college parties that drove me to drinking hard alcohol instead. I didn’t understand how people liked this stuff, and there was certainly no snobeery about it. How could there be? The funny thing is, now that I do drink a wide range of beers, I actually like keeping a case of Old Style or some other “lawnmower” beer around the house. ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/32 "2011-05-24T16:23:36Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Stick to UK brands of cider. Some of the Swedish ones are good too. In any case, I’d second cider as a pretty good (and increasingly common I think) beer substitute. In terms of beer though, your best bet would be something Belgian and/or some form of wheat beer I think. My wife’s not a beer drinker, but she tried a few in Belgium that she really enjoyed. (speaking of which, heading off to a pub serving Belgian beers right now) ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/33 "2011-05-24T16:27:19Z")
Sounds like you’ve already got all my recommendations: Hard Cider - love both Strongbow and Woodchuck Belgian brew: Lindemann’s: makes Kriek (Cherry), Framboise (Raspberry) and Peche (Peach). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/34 "2011-05-24T16:37:50Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Exactly. The beer drinkers like the taste of beer, and thus can’t really get what those of us who don’t object to. In my case, it is the bitter flavor apparently imparted by the yeast they make beer with. I asked some folks who had made both beer and cider, and they told me that the British used a different yeast to make their ciders than their beers, and that US beer makers tended to make their ciders with the same yeast as their beers. > > By “bitter”, I don’t mean the “tart”. Some ciders have a sharp flavor, but that is different than the bitter beerish aftertaste of most US ciders. > Sounds great, but most of the bars I’ve been to don’t sell enough cider to make it worth having on tap. > > Note: I checked Woodchuck’s site, and apparently they use champagne yeast. There’s a bit I need to pick out of there. The bitterness in beer is the hops (although you can also get some astringency from the water and the grain). Yeast adds little, if any, discernible bitterness. Yeast can add fruitiness, it can add funkiness, it can add sourness (in the case of wild yeasts and bacterias), but I can’t think of any yeast that lends a bitter flavor to a brew. Apple cider is traditionally fermented spontaneously. The natural yeasts on the fruit should let the fermentation process take off. However, this process may be somewhat unpredictable, so brewers may want to control it with a specific strain of yeast. I don’t know what each cidermaker does in England, but it is my understanding that ale yeasts are not uncommon to use for cidering, although I suspect most professional set-ups are going to have their own yeast bred for the characteristics desirable in a cider. Ale yeasts tend to be good because they leave behind some residual fruitiness, while champagne yeasts tend to eat through a lot of that flavor in my experience. (A few years ago I made 40 gallons of cider, using several different types of yeasts. Best results were from the spontaneously fermented batch; second best from a variety of ale yeasts; worst group were the wine and champagne yeasts.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/35 "2011-05-24T16:50:51Z")
Ack, forgot. As for hard cider recommendations, my absolute favorite cider styles come from Normandy. If you can find anything by Etienne DuPont, the [Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouché Brut de Normandie](https://thewineryonline.com/store/index.php?c=web1.19&product=b-+cider) is the most likely one you’ll find at a good liquor store, go for it. It is awesome. Also, Basque ciders are quite interesting. Flat with a noticeable bit of funk and lambic-like overtones to it. Worth picking up if you can find it and want something a little bit different. There’s also good American ciders, but they tend to be a bit more difficult to find. Flag Hill and Sutliff have solid ciders, but tend not to be widely distributed. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/36 "2011-05-24T16:58:39Z")
Bud Light. The OP _isn’t_ a beer drinker. Therefore, I would recommend that they not drink beer, and drink Bud Light instead. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/37 "2011-05-24T16:59:19Z")
I hate beer but I was recently introduced to Young’s Double Chocolate Stout which I found quite drinkable. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/38 "2011-05-24T18:02:12Z")
my two cents: lambic anything - they’re all pretty tasty, woodchuck cider (not the granny smith version! it’s awful), strongbow, indy blonde (if you have a ram restaurant in your area) and, last but not, least blue moon. instead of a wedge of orange, i pour in a jigger or so of OJ to every glass of beer. no rind, no pulp, just orangy goodness with your belgian wheat. not every restaurant has OJ, but i always ask first. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/39 "2011-05-24T18:37:05Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > Bud lite only tastes like pee when you’ve honed a taste as an aficionado. For someone who has NOT acquired a taste, this is a good choice. If you haven’t already gotten a taste for the good/expensive stuff, I strongly advise you not to go that route. Because once you’ve acquired a taste for expensive beer, you’re stuck with it, there’s no turning back. Other beers - other than other expensive beers - will not only not be tasty, you won’t be able to stand them. I assume you’re joking a bit, but just in case: I don’t really agree with this. Sure, the _very_ lowest-end beers won’t really be enjoyable once you know what a good beer is - I can’t recall the last time I ordered a bud light, for example. But Guinness holds up just fine, and I wouldn’t call that a particularly expensive or novel beer. Yuengling, too, holds up perfectly well, though it can be hard to find outside the East Coast or north of New York. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986/40 "2011-05-24T18:55:32Z")
I’m a former beer hater and I’m still slowly working my way into more “hard-core” brews. I actively dislike hops, which means that all IPAs and most pale ales are out of the question. My preferred beers are pilsners, although oddly enough I do not like Pilsner Urquell. My favorites are Scrimshaw by North Coast Brewing Co. (Fort Bragg, CA), which is probably not available much outside of northern California, and Trumer Pilsner. I’m also a fan of amber ales, such as Fat Tire, Red Seal, and Boont Amber. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-for-a-non-beer-drinker/582986.md?page=3)