Wheat beers have a nice, smooth mouthfeel and taste that doesn’t mimic the crisp, bubbly UberPils taste and feel of most American beers. Sam Adams Cherry Wheat is a good one.
“It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather
My social status is just great and I don’t drink very often.
I don’t drink hard liquor at all (I can’t find one that I like the taste of). I don’t like “regular” beer (bud, coors, etc). When I’m in the mood to drink I will drink Guinness Extra Stout or a red wine (preferably cabernet or merlot) - that’s it. I am a wine snob - but I really have to be in the mood to drink. When I do drink, it’s usually just one then I switch to cola or coffee or water.
There’s nothing wrong with not drinking for whatever reason. Don’t let ANYONE ever tell you otherwise.
You know, I enjoy a wide variety of beers, several variety of wines, and two or three varieties of hard alcohol.
That said, I can’t think of any reason to encourage a non-drinker to drink. (This is connected to the OP’s question. Those who have provided suggestions are simply responding the to OP and I am not condemning that, at all.)
rastahomie, if you really, really, want to “learn” to drink alcohol, I would suggest wine-tastings or beer-tastings. (Your local paper should list them more or less frequently in the entertainment section.) At these you can sample a less-than-inebriating quantity of several varieties to see if there is one you like.
On the other hand, I am not aware of any social stigma (outside Animal House) with Teetotalling. If you are concerned about the 7-Up (sody-pop) image, try ordering iced tea, hot tea, or coffee. Fewer headaches, less expense, and no chance of a DUI.
Tom~
Yeah, it’s no biggie to not drink. If you feel really out of place you can throw a lime in your 7UP and say it’s a gin and tonic or something. Or say something like “Oh rats, I’m on a new medication and I can’t drink for two weeks.” etc. Or pat your tummy coyly and say “None for me, I’m expecting!” Hehehehe.
"There’s a snake in my boot!
I should have been a little more clear in my OP.
I do drink, not because of peer pressure or any social considerations. I just enjoy the taste and relaxation associated with a nice SWEET drink, such as a fuzzy navel.
Thing is, I feel as if I’m missing a whole culinary experience because when I eat my food, even when I splurge for an extra-nice meal (translation: Red Lobster), I wash it down with Pepsi. I’m just wondering if there’s a sort of “starter kit” for getting into wine.
The only kind of beer I am able to drink without gagging on the first sip is Rolling Rock, preferably with a twist of lime. Hard cider too, if you wanna call that beer.
Wine just plain sucks. (although I did have some fun in high school with $2.50 bottles of Boone’s Strawberry Hil)
I don’t drink, I have only extremely very occasionally even sipped any alcohol at all, and I certainly have never been drunk. And I never want to be either.
So I say don’t try, it’s not important, who cares if you drink Pepsi with your Lobster? In fact, Cola tastes great with seafood in my opinion, so don’t knock it.
Honestly, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Alcohol is one of those contentious things where you may end up regretting your increased consumption.
-PIGEONMAN-
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Anyone who appears to appreciate that “truly great food is made better by truly good libations,” shouldn’t need much convincing. By contrast, anyone who truly thinks beer is a delicacy is simply full of shit. Beer is a terrific grease-cutter, and therefore the perfect beverage to go with certain foods, such as pizza, ribs, and Mexican. When made right, it is also a good damn good thirst-quencher–much like cold water, but less boring. The subsiding microbrewery fad (surely most reasonably sensible people have outgrown such silliness by now, right?) is the result too many people having too much money to give to too many other people who came up with the same stupid but all-too-easy way of making too much money in the 1990s. (Of course, when beer is not made correctly, it acquires what morons call “character,” a property that, when manifested in beer, requires a cold water chaser to eradicate.) Beer is also the perfect fad for people who lack the patience to learn anything serious: since “gourmet beer” is all gimmick, you can become a beer “snob” without knowing jack. (A beer snob is someone who ridicules Coors and Budweiser because they lack “character.”)
Wine, on the other hand, is art. It is also a pretty good religion, as religions go; at the very least it holds up a good deal better than, say, Dianetics or anything processed at a brewery. (How do you think a '93 Sam Adams would taste right now, no matter how cold you’ve been keeping it?)
Pro Christo da mihi vino
Oh, yes. Muuuuch better to be a wine snob like you.
It is too clear, and so it is hard to see.
I wasn’t going to get personal Zen, but since you did, aren’t you the wizard who said, “Have you tried Zima. I tried it once, and it wasn’t too bad.” Try wine, and you won’t have to worry about gradations of “badness.” And, oh yes, crawling out of your rut in this way won’t make you a snob. Now be nice, and I won’t have to get huffy.
Of course. No such thing as bad wine… It’s ALL better than beer.
Yeah, I tried Zima once. Because I’m not a snob. Something wrong with trying it? I’ve tried wine too, and like some of it, but I still prefer a good beer.
[quote]
anyone who truly thinks beer is a delicacy is simply full of shit[/quite]
But you’re not a snob…
But you’re not a snob…
But you’re not a snob…
Nope, you’re definitely not a snob.
It is too clear, and so it is hard to see.
:::deep breath::: Aaaaaanyway…
If you like sweet stuff, I would recommend Killian’s Red for beer. I’m not a beer drinker at all and that’s the only stuff I’ve ever been able to drink more than half a bottle of. As far as wine goes, a good place to start is Riunite Lambrusco. It’s totally white-trash (though not as much so as, say, Boone’s Farm ::snicker: :), but it’s cheap, sweet and doesn’t taste that bad to the untrained tongue.
For a tad more sophistication, though, you might try a pinot grigio. It’s a white wine, kind of fruity and light. ::shrug:: I like it.
“…all the prettiest girls live in Des Moines…”
–Jack Kerouac, On the Road
At first I thought I was witnessing some pretty decent schtick. Now I realize I’m dealing with someone whose sense of subtlety approaches the infantile. Lemme get everyone a drink. And a cab. Get it? A “cab”? Oh never mind. It’ll just start another fight.
It doesn’t matter too much about ordering beer or wine at Red Lobster. They are probably going to have three wines (red, white, blush) and five beers (National Brand 1, National Brand 1 Lite, National Brand 1 Premium (maybe), Regional Brand 2, Regional Brand 2 Lite).
Try each beer with one fried entree and the white or blush wine with a broiled entree (I’m assuming a separate visit for each of these try-outs) and see what you prefer. If you like it, drink it.
In general (lots of exceptions) white wines go with white meats (fish, poultry, roast pork) and red wines go with beef and ostrich.
Lighter beers (most “standard” American brands, lagers, pilseners, pale ales) go better with saltier foods. Darker beers (porters, stouts, most ales) go with richer foods.
Rmat’s dismissal of beers is either silliness or trolling. When beer drinkers attempt to mimic the stupidity of wine snobs, they look as silly as wine snobs. That much is true. There are genuine differences between various wines and various beers that it is good to know (hence my earlier suggestion of a wine- or beer-tasting). Knowing what general wine or beer is best with certain seasonings can enhance a meal. Knowing that a particular vintner had a really good vintage in a specific year can also be fun. Believing that there is $30 difference in taste between two bottles of wine is generally an indication of too much money. (Believing that there is $5 dollars difference between two bottles of already over-priced beer is stupid.) Rmat did have a good analogy: I would say that most wine snobs are generally the fundies of the eating business. They find a bible and believe it no matter how little sense it makes.
If you ignore the snob factor, either a good beer or a good wine can enhance the flavors of a meal. The importance is matching the varieties (tastes) between the foods and the beverages. Since there are more varieties of wine, Rmat gets a small nod that it is probably easier to find more wines than beers that match specific food tastes.
If you step up your dining habits a little bit, (and I have enjoyed meals at Red Lobster; let’s not get into the whole food snobbery issue), you will often find that the server can provide suggestions of beverages to match the meals. If you skip a few outings and save up for a really classy place, they will even have a sommolier/wine steward to help you make the correct choice. (If the sommolier is condescending, it is over-priced, not classy.) You can also find books on the subject both at the local bookstore and at most wine or liquor shops.
Slightly different take:
If you like really sweet drinks, try ordering a chablis before dinner, then order, oh, a riesling with the dinner. Most rieslings are dry, but they are flavorful, so you can ease away from your sweet preferences while seeing how the taste of the food differs with different wines.
(Riesling is not the best choice to truly enhance all meals. I use it because it is a flavorful wine that rarely hurts the flavor of anything and will provide a bridge to try other varieties. Going directly to a sauvignon blanc with no “education” of your palate (that just means conditioning your expectations), will probably leave you thinking that “fancy wine” is simply tasteless, which it is not.
For beers, remember a very general rule that the darker it is, the less it should be chilled. If your waiter brings a porter or stout that is as cold as a Bud, let it stand awhile until it warms a bit. Very cold dark beers taste bitter. Warmed slightly they taste sweet. (The old wrangling fight between Brits and Yanks about British room-temperature beer is silly. Yeah, the Brits serve it at room temperature, but since they don’t allow central heating, over there, 
the beer is still fairly chill–it simply isn’t the ice-cold stuff that we often serve. The Brits serve lager and pilsener at about the same temperature that we do; it is the heavier stuff that is served at warmer (not warm) temperatures.
Tom~
Chill everybody.
I didn’t “dismiss” beer; I gave it its due. In fact, I had one tonight in a Mexican restaurant after finishing some Christmas shopping. (Included among my earlier purchases were several good, highly affordable, and most unsnobby wines, but only Zen and Tom get a taste.)
I’ll readily admit to silliness. So, let the word go forth to friend and foe alike: Tom, God bless him, has actually “enjoyed meals at Red Lobster,” lest anyone feel the temptation to jump to the conclusion that he might be ever so slightly a snob just because he professes to know what is “true,” pronounces “general rule[s],” and otherwise graces us with information that “is good to know” Condescending? Pompous? Pretentious? You betcha. But a snob? No. Not him. Never.
Thanks for the “small nod,” Tom. Anything “bigger” would appear to be beyond your abilities. Say, you’re not really the insufferable pain in the ass you appear to be, are you? OK, prove it.
Rmat, I’m a much bigger pain in the ass than I appear to be, but I am in no way insufferable.
Since the only “truth” I avowed was that beer snobs appear to be as stupid as wine snobs, I don’t believe that I have asserted that I “know what is ‘true’.” Since the “pronouncements” at which you appear to have taken umbrage are rather broadly accepted generalizations (with no claim to expertise) and actually addressed the OP’s question, I am quite comfortable in my role as condescending, pompous, pundit.
(I can not, unfortunately, accept your epithet of “pretentious” in that nothing I have said indicates that I have more knowledge than I actually possess–thanks for the potential alliteration, however.)
Tom~
Dear Tom,
I dared you to prove it, and you certainly did.
Too right!
Tom, to what are you more oblivious: humor or ambiguity?
Frannie, I was under the impression that all of the above silliness was facetious on the part of all the participants. I can’t imagine actually thinking ill of someone because of their drinking habits or preferences. If someone wants to insult me in the midst of a bit of fluff, they’re welcome to it. I would generally say that I am oblivious to scorn or insult in trivial matters.
Tom~