Some people might think it odd to have a beer review in a magazine focussing on women and women’s issues. Personally I find this sad. Why do so many people perceive that beer is a drink for men and not for women? Is it simply a matter of the stereotypical beer drinker, or is it simply a matter of a genuine difference in taste preferences?

Girls are known for their sweet teeth, and perhaps the general bitterness present in many beers does put a lot of them off. Personally I love the taste of bitterness. I once exclaimed (somewhat truthfully) to my flatmate that “I like my women like I like my beer – bitter.” His (somewhat truthful for him) reply was “I like my women like I like my food – bland.” But I digress. Whilst my personal preference in taste tends toward the bitter, I’m well aware of the fact that many people are more drawn toward the sweet. Fortunately, when it comes to beer, there’s actually a wide range of flavours available and thus a suitable beer can be chosen for those who prefer sugar and spice and all things nice.

One fantastic example of a sweeter style of beer is that of the Lambic fruit beers of Belgium. Lambic beer is interesting in many ways; the use of wilderyeast rather than specific cultivars, the blending of young and aged beer to get the right flavour, but for today my focus is on the addition of fruit to the brew. For the Kriek, cherries are added to the beer so that they can impart their flavour and sweetness. I obtained a bottle of Kriek Boon from the Mt Eden Foodtown to sample for this review. It had a beautifully fruity aroma, as one might expect, and the cherries really did add a lot to the flavour. It was sweeter than your average beer, but retained a complexity of the flavour that immencely enjoyable. The sweetness was balanced by a slight acidic flavour, helping to prevent the beer from being overpowered by one sensation.

So if you aren’t normally a beer drinker, maybe this would be a good place to start. From there you can try new things, and discover different tastes that you enjoy. I know that my interest in beer began with Belgian beer and my preferences developed from there. Maybe one day you’ll even love beer as much as me.