VB drinkers are probably the last people that you would expect to like Craft Beer, but guess what? Some of them actually like it !
Meet Craig Windred. He is a genuine Aussie Bloke who is a factory work and hails from the Central Coast in NSW . Up until about 8 months ago Craig was a VB drinker, but then one of our members Daniel Pankhurst introduced him to Craft Beer.
I meet Craig at one of our recent Meetups in Sydney for Craft Beer Week and we got talking. Out of the 20 or so people that were there, most of them were Craft Beer “nuts” like myself and whilst I really enjoy talking about beer with these people, I just loved listening to Craig talk about his (short) beer journey.
I asked him about some of the beers he had tried and he said ” I tried that Hop Hog, that’s not bad and the Nail Stout was pretty good”. He went on to mention an amazing range of beers which spanned across a surprisingly wide range of styles. He must have rattled of about 20 of my favourite beers from great Aussie brewers like the Bridge Road Pale Ale, Big Shed F-Yeah, Pirate Life IIPA, Riverside 777, Feral Karma Citra and even some from new comer berwers like Akasha. What was even better, was that he had also started sharing them with his dad, who had also been a VB drinker most of his life, and his dad had taken a liking to them as well.
Quite apart from this great range of beers that he had been trying, he had gathered some great knowledge about beer along the way, often dropping casual remarks like “That stout was good, but it got better as it warmed up.” He could identify flavours that he liked in beers like “coffee and chocolate” or “citrusy tastes” in hop heavy beers. Now to most of us Craft Beer lovers, this is all common knowledge but to hear this guy talking about craft beer like a pro, was amazing considering his short journey and where he had come from.
It was really exciting to hear his enthusiasm and I wanted to video him, but I probably would have spent a lot of time editing out all the F Bombs and other banter we were having. The best part of it was it reminded me why I started this group and it wasn’t just to talk to other “beer nerds” like myself. It was to help other people discover that there is something better out there than what they are drinking and to help educate them about Craft Beer. As we all know, it’s a journey and that journey has to start with an introduction, and as Craft Beer lovers we all should be trying to introduce new people to the journey.
Of course we don’t want to go to far and become the Craft Beer Wanker that won’t shut up about it and tells everyone he meets, that VB is shit, or Corona is “cats piss” (even if it is). You need to take a more subtle approach and introduce them to it gradually. Don’t start them of with a RIS, get them to try a Gateway Beer like a Pale Ale or Wheat Beer and let them work up to it from there. If they don’t like strong hops flavours, give them a Lager or a Malty Brown, or if they are a coffee lover maybe give them a Porter to try after dinner. The main thing here is we need to remember to keep encouraging them to experiment, because they aren’t going to like every beer they try.
As you know there are plenty of Beer Festivals on around the country and these are great places to take newbies, because they can try a wide variety of beers, in smaller quantities, which make sense especially if you don’t like them. One such festival is the Bitter and Twisted festival in Maitland and in the lead up to this, The Commercial Hotel pub manager Matt Dickman, conducted an experiment with 2 other VB loving larrikins at the Morpeth Brewery. So what happened? Well watch and see, but all I can say is that I hope these guys are talking like Craig in 8 months too. Hopefully we can convert all the VB drinkers to Craft, one lost soul at a time.
Cheers in Beer !