【𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬・𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬' 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫】
“𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠’ 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑠?”
“𝑂ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠!”
“𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑!”
𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩 𝘽𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙈𝙮𝙩𝙝𝘽𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 reporting for duty! This week’s topic is: Do “girls’ beers” or “men’s beers” exist?
Answer: Nope! Taste is a matter of personal preference. It is similar to asking whether a person likes spicy food or not - it is a preference rather than a gender-related question (We know a mom whose favorite beer style is an imperial stout!).
Your preference for beer can be affected by a lot of things, such as family traditions, eating habits, and other experiences you’ve had in your upbringing. Taking a person’s preference for spicy food as an example, instead of making assumptions by their genders, you would ask questions like “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you describe your tolerance for spices?“, “How often do you eat spicy food?“, “Do you enjoy numbing spices like Sichuan pepper, or do you prefer the “burning” sensation of ghost peppers?“, etc. It works the same for beers! Some people like sour beers, some prefer hoppier beers, and some prefer malty beers. It has nothing to do with their genders.
Apart from personal preferences, external factors can change a person’s taste for beers. Imagine you’re on a beach with the sun shining bright in the sky and there are two beers in front of you: a 4% abv refreshing lager and a 10% abv bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. Which one would you choose? It’s very likely that you would choose the thirst-quenching lager even though your favorite beer might normally be an imperial stout. In this case, it’s really more about external factors like in the drinking environment rather than personal preferences. It is a complex process on how one establishes their preference for beer, so it’s not too helpful to merely distinguish beers by “girls’ beer” or “men’s beer”.
Here are some questions to help guide you through the thought process on finding a suitable beer or to get the bartenders/bottle shop staff to help you on your beer hunting journey:
⫸What kind of beer do you usually drink? Are there some commercially available examples that you can share?
⫸What color of beer do you prefer? Do you prefer darker ones or lighter color ones?
⫸Do you prefer something stronger or lighter in taste?
⫸Do you have a particular taste in mind? Do you like hoppy beers? Barrel-aged ones? Or beers with fruits added?
⫸What’s the weather like today? Do you prefer a thirst-quenching sour beer, a lager, or even a dry saison on a hot summer day? Do you prefer a stronger beer with higher alcohol level and thicker mouthfeel like an imperial stout on a cold winter’s night?
⫸If you’re at a bar: Is this your first beer? If it is, you might want to pick a lighter beer or something with more acidity to start and work your way up. If not, what was your last beer? Do you prefer something similar or stronger for your next beer?
⫸If you’re at a bottle shop: Are you pairing the beers with food? What kind of food will you be having? Seafood? Red meat? Will there be other beer drinkers at the table to share a bigger bottle?
Next time when you’re at a bar or a bottle shop, remember these questions so the bartender or staff can help you navigate your very own beer world!
【突破盲腸行動組・女仔啤 vs 男人啤】
「有冇啲比女仔飲嘅啤酒㗎？」
「嘩呢隻啤酒比女仔飲就啱！」
「男人老狗點會飲呢隻啤酒㗎！」
又係Brewcraft出嚟幫大家突破盲腸嘅時間啦！究竟世上有冇「女仔啤酒」同「男人啤酒」之分嘅呢？
答案：係冇嘅！就好似食唔食辣一樣，飲咩類型嘅啤酒純粹係個人嘅喜好嚟，係唔關男定女事㗎！（小編識一位媽媽級人士，佢最鍾意就係飲黑啤，味道越濃越鍾意！）
每個人嘅味蕾都唔一樣，而且好多外在因素例如文化、飲食習慣、甚至現場環境都可以影響味覺嘅敏感度。用返食唔食辣做例子，要判斷一個人食唔食得辣，大家唔會問佢係男仔定女仔，反而會問佢平時有冇食開辣嘢，或者平時食米線食開BB辣、小辣定係大辣。飲啤酒亦都係一樣，有人會鍾意飲酸嘢，有人會鍾意飲味道較甘苦嘅啤酒，有人會鍾意麥味重啲、甜身啲嘅啤酒，大家嘅口味完全取決於個人喜好同飲食習慣，同性別唔係真係有好大關係。
除咗個人喜好同背景因素之外，現場環境都可以即時影響到當下味覺嘅敏感度。大熱天時，喺陽光猛烈嘅沙灘上，喺你面前嘅有兩杯啤酒：一杯係味道較淡、口感輕盈乾爽、酒精度4%嘅拉格(Lager)，另一杯係波本酒桶陳釀過、口感豐厚、酒精度10%嘅帝國世濤(Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout)，你會點揀？相信大家就算有幾鍾意帝國世濤都好，熱辣辣嘅天氣底下，點都會揀杯拉格嚟消吓暑、解吓渴嘅！喺呢個情況下，就唔係個人喜好嘅問題，反而真係關天氣同溫度事！
所以話，味覺呢家嘢其實比你想像中複雜，淨係用「女仔啤」或者「男人啤」嚟分辦唔同味道嘅啤酒其實唔係好幫到手！要搵到一隻最啱你飲嘅啤酒，不妨從你嘅個人喜好、飲食習慣、當下環境同情況入手。
咁大家應該點樣問或者講，先幫到酒吧或者舖頭嘅職員更準確介紹最啱你嘅啤酒呢？
⫸你平時飲開邊類型嘅啤酒？有冇啲例子？
⫸你鍾意飲「白啤」多啲定係黑啤多啲？味道想係濃啲定係淡啲？
⫸你有冇啲特別口味非常鍾意？例如有人好喜歡啤酒花嘅甘苦味，亦有人好鍾意飲加咗血橙嘅啤酒，或者有人無過桶啤酒（例如喺波本酒桶、紅酒桶陳釀嘅啤酒）不歡。
⫸今日天氣如何？熱辣辣？可以飲酸啤或者比較乾爽嘅啤酒。凍冰冰？可以飲酒精度高啲、較厚身嘅啤酒。
⫸如喺酒吧：呢杯係唔係你叫嘅第一杯啤酒？如果係嘅可以從較淡或者酸啤開始飲起。如果唔係嘅你上一杯飲咗咩？下一杯想飲啲類似嘅，定係想飲啲濃味啲、或者唔一樣味道嘅啤酒？
⫸如係買返屋企飲：會唔會配嘢食一齊飲？如果會，係配咩嘢食飲？海鮮？紅肉？會唔會有多幾個人可以分享大支啲嘅啤酒？
記得下次買/叫啤酒嘅時候，問一問自己以上嘅問題，咁就唔單止可以幫到職員揀最啱你嘅啤酒，仲可以開坧吓話題，同酒吧、舖頭職員做吓friend子添！
#PowerToTheBeerDrinker
