Brew love

Sally Toms considers how beer can play a part in the search for romance.

I’ve been thinking lately about image. As fairly typical 21st century consumerist slaves, we define ourselves by what we wear, what we drive and, yes, what we drink. And like it or not, first impressions count.

One of the BOTW staff is looking for Mr Right, and on one all-important first date recently her gentleman suitor ordered a double vodka and lime (with a straw) and immediately revealed himself to be Mr Wrong. This was the subject of much amusement in the BOTW offices, but I wonder what would have been better?

Would our man have redeemed himself if he had ordered a pint of the local microbrew which he sniffed at, then immediately stomped back to the bar to declare loudly to the landlord that his lines need cleaning. Gasp! He is unmasked as a bonified socks-and-sandals beer geek, doomed to finish his pint alone – but then he doesn’t mind much because at least he can write a proper tasting note and talk to the landlord about his guest ales (you know who you are).

It’s doubly difficult if you’re a she – in England at least. A pint of beer if you’re a girl makes you look like some kind of ‘booze bird’ (to borrow a phrase from our deprecating national press), or implies that you’re trying to prove a point. It makes my blood boil.

While we were having this discussion in the office, Paul, our art editor, piped up that he’d be surprised if his lady ordered a pint of beer on a first date because he thought it ‘unladylike’! Don’t worry, beer gals, I stapled his head to the desk. But it just goes to show, doesn’t it, how far beer has to go in changing people’s preconceptions (one down, five billion to go).

It has a lot to do with glass sizes of course, which is why countries like Belgium don’t have the same problem.

But it’s not just the size of the glass that is ‘unladylike’, acceptable or unacceptable, it is also the drink itself; Mr or Ms Right does not drink vodka and lime (with a straw). If he or she really wanted to impress, they would do well to choose a winner from our World Beer Awards and demonstrating they had great taste in beer as well as magazines...

Seriously though, the reason we started these awards apart from giving credit to some of the world’s best brews was to try and make things a little easier for Jo(e) Public.

The main difficulty was in defining the styles, primarily because the industry can’t agree them either. And unlike other awards we didn’t want to classify by region (why should an American IPA be judged separately from an English IPA?) because then you end up with about 183 sub-categories. Our aim was to simplify it as much as possible, which is why we came up with four overall winners; World’s Best Ale, Lager, Wheat Beer and Stout. Yes, yes, technically wheat beers and stouts are also ales, but these four categories represent what’s on offer to most people in standard pubs and bars. To the beer novice, these are the different types of beer.

Ultimately, any way we can get more people on to beer and away from vodka and lime (with a straw) has got to be good – especially if we can lend a helping hand to some budding romances at the same time.

By Sally Toms

Section : From the Editor

Page number : 5