tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post2160632674546776..comments2024-03-29T01:30:47.656-04:00Comments on Seen Through a Glass: Beer and womenLew Brysonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084380741402026573noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-79420701026590808332008-01-15T21:53:00.000-05:002008-01-15T21:53:00.000-05:00I like to think that when Lew Bryson talks, beer p...I like to think that when Lew Bryson talks, beer people listen. Let's hope so.<BR/><BR/>I'm a 3?-year old beer drinking girl who's beer drinking career started at age 21 with imports and quickly morphed to micros. I was never interested in the kinds of beer people drank at frat parties and under-age in corn fields, and I'm sure the ads that accompanied those beers contributed to my disdain.<BR/><BR/>I'm a lipstick hophead, and an advocate for Real Ale. I want to open Celebrator and Mid-Atlantic Brew News and see more people like me. <BR/><BR/>I'm lucky to have a small network of beer-drinking girls who share my passion for enjoying specialty beer. Now if I could just get them interested in brewing...<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what to make of the Ladies' Beer Tea at Philly Beer Week. On one hand, I like the marketing toward females. On the other hand, what's up with the hat and gloves?!?!<BR/><BR/>Thanks for speaking out for us. Now, femme propogators, let's get loud!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-15973689550547872062008-01-14T22:57:00.000-05:002008-01-14T22:57:00.000-05:00Lew, thank you for this article. It's something th...Lew, thank you for this article. It's something that's needed to be said for a long time. More women interested in beer (and interested in making beer) would be great for craft brewing and the beer market as a whole.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-27045557595212950552008-01-12T19:47:00.000-05:002008-01-12T19:47:00.000-05:00I am a woman who loves beer. I am 30. My first a...I am a woman who loves beer. I am 30. My first alcoholic drink was a can of Busch at age 14. I hated it but I drank it anyway to feel accepted as most youth do. I pretty much avoided beer until I was 22, that's when my palate started to change. I thought all beer was gonna have that metallic, tin can taste, and chose to drink ciders or mixed drinks.<BR/> <BR/>Then I discovered something called Sierra Nevada. This tasted so dramatically different...I realized I loved the bitter taste, an ale flavored with whole flower hops. Luckily there seemed to be more and more brands to try every month, and when I moved to Philly I really expanded and refined my tastes because the local crafts were everywhere.<BR/><BR/>Some women aren't into the hoppy beers, or prefer lighter beers because full-bodied ales and stouts make them feel too full [like my sister], so maybe for them I think that styles like belgian ales & wits, "dirty ho's" [hoegaarden+frambiose lambic], and maybe a better made pear cider would be good choices to market to towards women. <BR/><BR/>Now I work in the beer industry, and have done many, many, tastings and have found that most women who don't drink a lot of beer/don't know about beer prefer belgian style wits to IPA's in the tastings...but hey I am never one to box people in because palates can change and people can adapt..I'm living proof!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-82148048637415405192008-01-12T16:30:00.000-05:002008-01-12T16:30:00.000-05:00Puffy, I was interviewing Wendy Littlefield, the f...Puffy, <BR/>I was interviewing Wendy Littlefield, the female half of Belgian-beer import firm Vanberg & DeWulf, and she told me about the times she pours her beers -- excellent beers, like Scaldis Prestige -- at wine events. She said women will come right up to her, another woman -- an elegant, well-mannered woman, I'll aver -- and tell her, "Oh, well, I don't really like <I>beer</I>," as if to say that she would of course understand and admit that she was just a spokesmodel and didn't really like beer either. It just pisses her off. I think it's social and hard-wired: I think that <I>generally</I> women have a preference for different beers than men -- female beer writers and enthusiasts have told me this -- although there is plenty of individual overlap. <BR/><BR/>My article did originally talk more about this, but my editor suggested, very wisely, that I hone it to a sharper focus.Lew Brysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04084380741402026573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-74568970345911783022008-01-12T15:06:00.000-05:002008-01-12T15:06:00.000-05:00Lew, your article is wonderful! As a female beer f...Lew, your article is wonderful! As a female beer fan, I find it quite refreshing. But there's something else out there that we need to discover, too. I think that many women are also resistant to beer because society tells them they should be, which your article touches on, in a way. So many of my female friends wrinkle their nose at beers and won't even give them a chance, which is very frustrating. Is it because ads offend them? Is it because they view it as an immature frat-boy drink? Or do chicks literally have different taste buds than guys? I find it perplexing...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com