Items10The creator’s order
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Wheat beerBelgian witbier
The gentlest first step away from lager. Witbier is a hazy, pale Belgian wheat beer spiced with coriander seed and dried Curaçao orange peel, so the first sip tastes of citrus and soft bread, often with a hint of honey or vanilla, rather than hops. Bitterness sits low and strength…0 - 2
Wheat beerGerman hefeweizen
For anyone who thinks all beer tastes the same, this is the eye-opener: banana and clove, coming from the yeast rather than from any added fruit or spice. Malted wheat makes up at least half the grain, and high carbonation gives a fluffy, mousse-like texture and a dry finish,…0 - 3
Kölsch (beer)The one to try if lager is the only beer you have ever drunk. Kölsch looks almost identical, brilliantly clear and pale, but it is fermented as an ale, which adds a faint fruitiness and a delicate balance where no single flavor shouts. The bitterness is moderate rather than low, so this is a…0 - 4
ShandyRadler
Half beer, half lemon soda, and the easiest yes on this list for anyone who likes a cold lemonade. The citrus covers what lager haters usually object to, and the alcohol drops to roughly half that of the beer, so a radler made with a 6 percent festival beer lands near 3 percent.
The German…0 - 5
Kriek lambicPour this for the friend who orders rosé and swears beer is bitter. Kriek is Belgian lambic blended with sour cherries, and bitterness barely registers: the style allows almost none. What arrives instead is red fruit, tartness and a sparkle closer to a fruit wine than a pint.
Choose the bottle by…0 - 6
Berliner WeisseNapoleon's troops reportedly called it the Champagne of the North, and that is the right frame for a skeptic. Berliner weisse is a very pale, very fizzy wheat beer with a clean lemony sourness in place of hop bitterness, which is close to undetectable. At roughly 3 to 4 percent it suits an…0 - 7
GoseA beer for margarita people. Gose is a tart German wheat beer brewed with a little salt and coriander seed, so it tastes bright, lemony and faintly savory, with no hop flavor at all. The salt should read like a pinch of sea salt on the rim, never like brine.
It began in the Middle Ages in Goslar,…0 - 8
Flanders red aleThe red wine drinker's beer. Flanders red ale is aged in oak until it turns sour and fruity, and the result is often compared to a high-acid Burgundy: cherry, plum and a tang that keeps you sipping slowly. Bitterness stays low because acidity, not hops, does the balancing.
Rodenbach, the West…0 - 9
StoutMilk stout
Dark beer scares a lot of skeptics, and milk stout is the cure. The name comes from lactose, the milk sugar, which the yeast leaves unfermented, so it stays behind as sweetness and a fuller body. The flavor is coffee and chocolate with cream stirred in, more like a sweetened espresso…0 - 10
DubbelFor the person whose objection is that beer tastes thin and fizzy. Belgian dubbel is deep reddish-copper, rich with malt, and full of dark and dried fruit: think raisin, plum and caramel, with only gentle bitterness and a fairly dry finish that keeps it from cloying.
The style grew from the strong…0
