MARCH MADNESS - WINES FOR BEER DRINKERS
March is a beer drinker’s month. You’ve got NCAA’s March Madness & Saint Patrick’s Day. Come on.
Confession time. I’m not super into sports. The few baseball and basketball games I went to were usually an excuse for me to be able to enjoy a beer while hanging with friends, passively consuming whatever was going on in front of me. It also allowed me to eat a pretzel and make loud noises. In my humble opinion, any opportunity to do either of those things always sounds like a great time - at least for me, anyway.
But you don’t have to be a sports person to be a beer person. And if you’re a beer person who gravitates to certain types of beer, you may be curious as to what kinds of wine you’d likely enjoy based on your unique personal tastes.
This piece was requested by one of Thurstqueen’s OG supporters, a super cool dude and beer aficionado I went to high school with, Nikhil Khana. Nikhil happens to have his own blog -Two Brown Guys Hunt, which provides subscribers the opportunity to go out on hunting and fishing expeditions and offers recipes for their haul for the day.
He requested I write about wines for beer drinkers a while ago, and I thought the idea was super dope. After plenty of research, that post is finally here. If you are a basketball enthusiast -or any sports enthusiast - and are looking to step outside your comfort zone and switch over to wine, be sure to check out some suggestions below. This equally applies if you’re looking to switch things up while imbibing during St. Patty’s Day.
In order to write this article, I took into consideration the primary aromas of each beer, level of malt, and bitterness units - or IBUs - and compared them to specific types of wine. If you want to learn more about beer in general, I suggest hitting up the Cicerone Certification Program’s website — it’s basically being a Sommelier except for beer. There’s loads of information on this site, so check it out!
So, without further ado, here we go:
If you drink Pale Ales… try Sauvignon Blanc
Pale Ales are known for their medium body, medium level of bitterness units, coupled with distinctive floral, piney and citrusy qualities. The hops are a bit more distinctive in a Pale Ale in comparison to a Lager or a Pilsner.
Because of this, I chose a Sauvignon Blanc. In a glass of good Sauvignon Blanc, you can typically get aromas of Grapefruit and Lime. Sauvignon Blanc is fresh, with loads of grassy aromas that correlate to those piney aromas that are so prevalent in Pale Ales. Like Pale Ales, Sauvignon Blancs are pretty versatile and often go with similar types of food. Pale Ales play well with salads, just like Sauvignon Blancs. Both beverages are loaded with citrus aromas and also stand up to heartier fare as well, like roast chicken.
If you drink stouts and porters… try Syrah
Honestly this one was one of the easiest choices for me. Stouts and Porters are extremely thick beers, loaded with alcohol and roasted coffee/chocolatey flavors. They are quite high on the IBU scale, coming in at a whopping 50-80 units. In terms of a beer, these puppies definitely pack a punch.
I knew whatever wine I ended up picking would have to be a bit of a bruiser in its own right - and there could only be one choice: Syrah. In terms of a wine’s size, Syrah is about as big as most wines go. This wine is loaded with chocolate and espresso aromas in addition to those fabulous black fruit qualities. Syrah has no shortage of tannins, either - but the tannins are well integrated and have less of a bite.
I find this to be true with Stouts and Porters as well. For me personally, they are bitter without a doubt, but they aren’t as harsh and biting as a lot of IPAs tend to be. The IBUs blend in with these types of beer a bit more, and I chose a Syrah because I felt similarly. The tannins are there, but they are complemented by the enormousness of the wine, so they don’t seem as harsh and pronounced. Not only that, but both Syrah, Stouts, and Porters go amazingly well with chocolate cake. This is a pairing you definitely need to try.
If you drink IPAS… try Cabernet Franc
The American IPA is loaded with hops, and because of that there are naturally very high in IBUs - like I’m talking around 50 to 70 units. IPAs tend to have distinctively herbal aromas - like pine and resin in addition to more floral components to them as well. These beers are a bit lighter in terms of body and are definitely not as heavy as a Stout or a Porter.
I wanted to choose a wine that was medium-bodied, higher in tannin and acidity but was also loaded with pyrazines, and my mind immediately went to Cabernet Franc. If you’ve forgotten what pyrazines are, here’s a refresher:
Pyrazines are aromatic compounds that serve as a natural defense mechanism against pests for certain grapes. Pyrazines typically give aromas of green bell pepper, grass, and add an overall green quality to a wine. You can find pyrazines in Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec and Carmenere.
Cabernet Franc’s fruitiness mirrors an IPA’s fruitiness. The higher acidity and tannin, coupled with those pyrazines mimics the bitterness from the hops on an IPA, making it a great alternative.
If you drink Witbiers and Hefeweizen… try White Côtes du Rhône
German Hefeweizens tend to be fruity, with loads of aromas of vanilla and banana. There are also really pleasant baking spice aromas - such as clove and nutmeg. These beers aren’t too heavy-handed in terms of bitter hop aromas. Typically, a Hefeweizen is on the lower end of the bitterness spectrum, at 10-15 IBUs.
My logic made me want to gravitate to a fruity wine that was lower in tannin - which I would consider a comparable quality to IBUs. I also wanted to choose a wine that had a similarly fruity sort of quality with a medium to low acidity. White Côtes du Rhône blends tend to have aromas of peaches and ripe Meyer lemons, in addition to having a bit of a baked pie crust and brioche sort of component to them.
White Côtes du Rhône usually have Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Marsanne and Rousanne grapes in them, and are often pitched as a fruitier, fresher alternative to Chardonnay. I can definitely see that in terms of the creamier, fuller-bodied component to these wines. A Hefeweizen is kind of similar in terms of weight, as these beers tend to have a bit more body to them then say a Pilsner or a Lager.
If you drink Pilsner… try Muscadet Sur Lie
Impossibly refreshing, balanced, easy to drink, with a medium-hoppy punch - Pilsners are iconic. Pilsners taste clean, with pleasantly bread-y and yeasty notes.
If you’re looking for a wine that has a similarly bright, clean and zesty feel - look no further than Muscadet Sur Lie. Muscadet is about as dry as they come. It has the same light body as a Pilsner, and also has a little bit of zest from being aged sur lie. When a wine is aged sur lie it sits on dead yeast cells to add a little bit of body and texture to the wine.
Muscadet is a white wine from the Loire Valley that has aromas of lime and the sea. It’s an incredibly easy-drinking wine, just like Pilsner is an easy drinking sort of beer. Both beverages are also excellent when paired with briny and creamy Oysters.
If you drink Sours… try Piquettes
Hipsters in both the wine and beer world have found their perfect match. Sour beers have a lot of acid from varying types of lactic, acetic or other acids that come from acidified malt in the mash. Bretanomyces - a type of wild yeast many winemakers avoid like the plague - can also give sours their unique flavors.
For those unfamiliar, the Piquette is the darling of the natural wine world. Piquettes are typically “lunch wines,” because they are lower in alcohol. But like sours, Piquettes do have a pucker power of their own, making them a great type of wine to try if you want to branch out from Sour Beers.
PICK OF THE WEEK: UPLAND OAK & ROSE SOUR
This week’s pick is gasp a beer! I know - shocking. But I figured it would be appropriate given the nature of this article.
Upland was a brand I was extremely fortunate enough to work with back in my distributor days. When I repped their beers, they were relatively small production and had a fanatic cult-like following. After tasting their beers, it was pretty easy to see why. They really knew what was up and were at the top of the game in terms of crafting sours.
The Oak and Rosé fruited sour is aged and refermented with Chambourcin grapes. Chambourcin grapes are a French/American hybrid type of grape used to make rosé and give the wine its coloring. If you love the strawberry, red-fruit flavors of a glass of Rosé, the Oak & Rosé fruited sour by Upland Brewing Co will be sure to be the stuff your sour dreams are made of.