BEER V WINE

ALE DRINKER’S GUIDE TO GRAPES

Fancy a pale ale when everyone around you is sipping rose? Feeling left out as your mates are now hanging out in wine bars when you still really like your local pub’s frothie?

You know your lager from your porter, don’t you? But what is all this blah about riesling versus chardonnay? Shiraz or cabernet. Surely that grape juice stuff comes in white or red and that’s all you need to know.

Well brace yourself, because there are encyclopedias on the fine details about the who, what, where and when of drinking wine. But leave that to the experts for now.

We’re going back to the starting gate for a first lesson in what wines a dedicated beer drinker might like depending on their taste in brews, from a sundowning lager to heavier hopped ales, wheat beers to dark porters.

(There’s even a place here for cider drinkers and bourbon and Coke fans.)

And if you’re a wine sipper but want a reverse road map to the ever-expanding world of beer styles, craft and commercial, this handy guide will work for you as well.

Our comparo tips are based on the basic smells, flavours, weight and textures of various beer types and wine varieties.

You can find a lot of similarities, especially flavour wise, in certain beers and wines, says senior McWilliams winemaker Russell Cody.

The weight and power of particular beers and wines mirror each other as well.

Stout drinkers will tend to be big red drinkers. Lighter white wine fans will likely prefer similarly styled beers such as lagers and pilsners. “It’s also got to do with what you feel like at the time,” Russell says.

“Sometimes I feel like a crisp and light Asahi lager. Then there’ll be days when I feel like a Guinness.

“The same goes with wines. There’ll be times when you feel like a nice crisp riesling or semillon, then other times you want a big Barossa shiraz.”

Our drinking habits have changed to be more connected to the food we eat as well, so we’re seeing more how comparative wines and beers go well with varying food styles.

The trend towards lighter drinks has not just been a wine thing, with more craft beer drinkers these days looking for something else for a Saturday afternoon barbecue, Little Bang Brewing’s Ryan Davidson says.

Ryan and craft brewing partner Fil Kemp make 30 different Little Bang beers exploring what they see as every colour of the brewing rainbow.

The big and bold Indian pale ales and British and American pale ales have been a strong force, but often these are now just a single-bottle drinks, Ryan says.

“If they want to drink craft beers all the time, they’re wanting something easier on the palate, more mid-strength, and a bit more refreshing and balanced,” he says.

“It’s the next frontier for craft brewers. It’s not turning up the volumes to 11, but about achieving balance and exploring the nuances and putting out all kinds of beers that are more accessible.”

So let’s start with a light and refreshing lager. Bottoms up!

BEER LAGER Light and easy beers, clearest in appearance, dry palate, refreshing to down, and delicate, some might argue often a little inconsequential flavour-wise, not too hop-bitter, not overly sweet. WINE White wines that have subtle, sometimes almost invisible aromas and flavours, though evenly balanced with a non-scary layer of crunchy grape acidity and with light to medium body weight. Try a pinot grigio (aka pinot gris), or the Italian varieties now grown here like vermentino or fiano. BEER PILSNER Still in the crisper and lighter side of the beer spectrum, but with a touch more bitterness from more hop use, which also leaves an impression of fruitier kitchen herbs and spice flavours (like chimichurri but not chilli heat). A drier finish as well. WINE Again go for a white wine but perhaps with a bit more of a grassier/herbal sense, and dry finishing. Think here about a dry riesling, a newseason semillon, or classic white semillon-sauvignon blanc blend. BEER PALE ALE We’re putting the foot down now, a bit more oomph, a touch more hop bitterness, though balanced mostly with a little malt sweetness, enhancing an earthiness, sometimes a woodiness, and a touch of fruitiness. And you might find the alcohol and weight on the up as well compared with the lighter beers. WINE The woody/grassy/ earthy feel with an element of lighter to medium-bodied structure and mid-rich, redder fruits, suggests you’ll like a more mellow style of red wine like pinot noir, though there might be further pleasure with the Spanish variety tempranillo now grown and finding popularity here. BEER INDIA PALE ALE Stepping up the hop content now, so two things happen. Your beer is going to have a pronounced aroma, be bolder in its bitterness, and have a pretty intense flavour as you drink, and depending on the hop variety used, you may also get a citrus-like element as well. WINE This points to sauvignon blanc, with its unmistakeable herbal/citrus/ tropical aromas and intense flavour profile that continues to reflect those impressions as you sip. Both IPA and a crisp savvy also relate well to similar Asian-inspired foods. BEER WHEAT BEER It’s called wheat beer because a decent percentage of the flavour comes from that grain rather than malted barley. They offer mostly a lighter and brighter approach, often smooth and without great hop bitterness, and flavour suggestions of fruit and spice, from apple and orange to banana and apricot, and even a bubblegum-like note. Clove, coriander, pepper and vanilla are the commonly recognised spice notes. WINE The spice flavours (not chilli heat) point to wines like viognier, marsanne and roussanne, and also chardonnay, which exhibit complexities beyond straight fruit lines, have a smoother feel but don’t necessarily shock the palate with zinging acidity. BEER AMBER/RED ALE Known for a richer, maltier, and therefore a touch of sweetness in the drinking, even perhaps a note of toast, toffee or caramel balancing out what can be a wide range of hop bitterness, this genre is the lighter to medium-bodied first step into darker beers. WINE Look for older-school, darker and sweeter rose to start with, and try a mediumbodied style of the red variety grenache, which can have a seam of fruit sweetness through its palate yet still presents with balance and a decent power-toweight ratio. A softer merlot, too, is a good way to move into the red wine world. BEER We’re stepping into medium to fuller-weighted beers now, with the balance increasingly tense as a more fruit and spice sweetness comes into play. You might start to see mid-dark fruit notes with a spice rack ranging from aromatic pepper and coriander all the way through to richer spices like anise. WINE Darker and richer fruits, spices like anise and pepper — you could almost be writing a tasting note for shiraz, which is taking us further into fullerbodied red wine territory with a touch more alcohol and, therefore, a bit more inherent sweetness. BEER PORTER OR STOUT We are now in full-bodied, rich, dark beer territory, robust yet tempered by their well-roasted dark chocolate, toffee, coffee, mocha, caramel and associated characters. Some styles are even creamy, and give a sense of roasted, toasted sweetness. And just in case you’re tempted, they’re a great match for a chocolate dessert dish. WINE Full-bodied, darker fruit and toasty characters, secondary or background sweetness, from fruit and oak components — you’re talking big traditional shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, and blends of both of those major red varieties. And given we’re in such rich, dark surrounds, classic dark beer fans will also love a tawny port, which has similar power and in-built sweetness.