I’m really interested in hearing some of your stories about sharing good beer and helping others have epiphanies. So far, it’s not been a bad year at all. For instance, my father-in-law frequently states that I’ve ruined him for life. He was formally a Coors Light drinker and now doesn’t drink anything less than Sam Adams. Personally, I find it exciting when I hear this from him. Actually, my brother-in-law is in the same boat. Knowing that I was a small part of the conversions is humbling…but it also lights a fire under me to share more.
Honestly, passion is simply contagious. Those of us who are enthusiastic are being ourselves and loving beer…people notice. I’ve never forced homebrew or craft beer upon anyone, they just become curious as to why I’m so excited; then they find out. I have a friend who I’ve just introduced to German hefes and a homebrewed lambic. He’s gaga over the newly found discoveries and I’m teaching him to brew a week from Saturday. Occurrences like the above really reawaken, in me, an even higher passion than before. Anyone feel the same?
Actually Mike, just yesterday Jim and I got into it on the blog. See he said you should make whiskey into some sort of snow cone to learn how to drink it, and I found myself passionately trying to disuade people from believing him, and that they should just add a couple of cubes and some water until they are comfortable with the flavor profile, you know…the right way. I was surprised at the passion I had when I wrote those comments, it was really getting to me the needling he was doing. But I am happy to report that I think I got a couple of converts to try whiskey, and I think even Scott from the Brew Club might be one of them! Pretty soon all these sites will be blogs about beer and whiskey!
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I’m glad to hear that. It’s amazing how the more familiar you get with something, the more you love it. Funny you say that about whiskey. Shortly after we started writing, I thought about adding some whiskey reviews on here but never really did it. The only reason I don’t now is that we know you guys and I don’t want to seem like I’m copying or even taking traffic in any way. On the other hand, we have some overlap in beers, so I might put up a review here or there. By the way, don’t think I’ve forgotten about the Stagg review. In fact, I have notes but am working up the nerve to add the “splash”.
Thanks for the feedback. I love the people who leave comments add something substantial.
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Thanks to that post I am thinking of trying it out this weekend. Perhaps a new passion will be born!
I could tell that you were getting a little mad, and I could almost hear you furiously typing away “TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP” trying to keep the info from spreading to too many minds!
I think it would be like the argument of drinking craft beer right from the bottle. Sure you can, but…
Regarding the post – I personally don’t think I know enough to teach anyone anything about beer yet so my passion is really just reading, trying and learning from sites like this (or even B&WB)
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Nate | THFB. Nate | THFB said: Please share your stories of converting friends/loved ones/strangers to better beer: http://wp.me/pjMtA-1jy [...]
You know enough to share and appreciate a good beer. Plus, you are able to describe much of what you are tasting. What I’ve learned from two years ago until now is an astounding amount but I wrote and promoted anyway. It’s all about the love of the brews where you are at.
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My dad – who up until recently didn’t know about my craft beer obsession – once got really excited about a beer. “I just found a new beer and its GREAT!” he said. I was pleasantly surprised at first, since he’s been a dedicated Bud Light drinker for many years, and I was excited that he’d moved on to a real beer. But my excitement was quickly dashed when he told me the name of the beer. “Bud Light *Lime*” he said and smiled. I should mention that this is on Christmas eve – and he had a fridge full of limey Bud light in the fridge. In December. This is also when Bud Light Lime billboards were saying “Seasons Change, Tastes Don’t!” which also made my head hurt.
So, I snuck out later that afternoon and went around the corner and got some Bud American Ale (I figured that would be a friendly brand for my dad) and Harpoon Winter Warmer (a seasonal ale that has some nice winter spices in it). I had him try the American Ale and he liked it, and I started drinking the Harpoon. He got curious about what I was drinking, had a sip, and the next beer that he pulled out of the fridge was a craft beer! I considered that a victory, and kind of a sneaky way to get someone to drink good beer – start with something that they can understand, something familiar to tastes they know, and then ease them out of one world into another.
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Beer Babe,
Absolutely agreed. I don’t publicize it often but Michelob was my gateway. I’ve long since passed that threshold and don’t drink it but it is a step in the right direction. Too often, we lack the hindsight to see where we were at, say, 10 years ago. The tendency is to look down or denigrate while forgetting that we didn’t always love a Flanders style sour or pure lambic.
No matter how furtively we have to do it, we can get people well on their way. Thanks for sharing…I really enjoy hearing stuff like this because we are seeing one person at a time and that smacks against the whole macro mentality.
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Nate,
I haven’t had the chance to share beer with the “uninformed” yet, as I am recently a convert to the universe of craft beer.
8 months ago, I had no clue as to what a Lambic, Bock or a trappist was and have acquired a decent amount of knowledge on the history and brewing process itself.
At one time I swore Bud, Miller and Coors were the best beers around.
Sure..I’ve also had my share of cheap skunky imports over the years and even drank my first Sam adams years ago.However, I now appreciate what goes into a great beer and I actually enjoy it instead of guzzzling.
I don’t even give the macros a second thought anymore and can hopefully share my passion with others.
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Gil,
You can only start at the start. I’m glad your passion has grown. It’s truly eye opening to start tasting your beer. You just want to show the world out there how great it can be. It’s even a process just to get to that point.
I’m glad to hear from a recent convert and your comments just raise my joy. This is why we write.
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Thanks Micheal, and you’re right. If I think back to only a couple years ago I’ve indeed learned quite a bit, but I still have a loooong way to go. Its a great trip though!
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It is a fun process.
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I have a friend that really is in to cocktails… sweet ones. Until recently, he never really liked beer. Until he met me and the other homebrewers I hang out with. He’s still selective, but not too long ago we had him raving and raving about an Imperial IPA. It always makes me smile when he says, “Ray, you guys make good beer. I like your beer. Y’all have broadened my horizons.” Woot!
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@Big Tex, I hope I can do that someday! Still, I like to think one or two people have been enriched or tried something new as a result of reading something on The Brew Club. Who knows, I might have turned all my visitors into wine cooler drinkers!
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Tex,
Isn’t that one of brewing’s greatest rewards?
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Thanks, fellas. Many of my college friends, when meeting my parents, have indicated that most everything they know about beer, they learned from me. Maybe I’m a bit obsessive, but beer is worth it.
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beer_scientist Reply:
May 15th, 2010 at 11:57 am
I know what you mean about the friends learning from you. I still have buddies text me and asking what about this or that beer. Had a guy call the other day asking about IBUs and the meaning. It is obsessive but some things are worth it.
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Thanks..Great blog BTW!
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My Dad, he is really into wine and i have been trying to get him to see their is good beer out their. Two years ago i bought him a bottle of La Fin Dumond which he still has in his cellar. Last year i visited him in the fall and left a couple bottles of Founders Red Rye in his fridge. Several weeks later he called me up because he had drank them and loved it, he asked if i had any more reccomendations and he has been drinking craft since. Which is good because he lives in MI so i have a hookup now for when i need to score some limited release beers from up their.
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Thank you, Gil. We hope to see you back often. We strive to have a good blog with nice amounts of variety.
Scott,
I miss being able to get some of those Michigan beers. I think it might be the most underrated brew state. It’s really nice to hear stories like the one you are sharing. Personally, I think this is the best way to change the beer culture…one person at a time. I think we are shaping a generation. When I have kids, they may never taste a macro as adults. Craft beer has a great future.
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