November 20, 2014Neal (The Wine Wankers)

10 Reasons Wine is better than Beer

beer wine wanker
Craft beer – for those that have not seen it 🙂

Over at the Wine Wanker’s head office we are very committed to promoting the virtues of wine, but we don’t often criticise the alternatives. This blog therefore corrects this glaring omission from our line-up of posts, and demonstrates the superiority of wine over it’s poorer cousin beer. Why beer? Well in Australia anyway (Downunder for our American friends), it is the most consumed alcoholic beverage, and as such some ground needs to be made up by the wine fraternity to correct this travesty.

We have a craft beer revolution going on here at present and it has been interesting watching beer swillers becoming refined craft beer nerds. Conrad and Neal recently went to a craft beer brewery that has sprung up in Enmore and it was hilarious watching this cultural shift. Deadset there were beer wankers everywhere. Good idea for a blog name; Beer Wankers.

A disclaimer is probably important here. We love beer. We do. It’s just that we love wine more 🙂

Righto 10 reasons Wine is better than Beer;

1. Wine is good for you. It contains good gear like resveratrol that is supposedly good for your heart.
2. Wine does not make you fat, beer does. Wine makes you lean, against tables, against walls, against random strangers.
3. Wine (good wine anyway) is made in beautiful wooden barrels, beer is made in ugly steel tanks.
4. Drinking wine is a refined elegant pastime, drinking beer is a cultural cringe. We must concede here we do sound a little like wankers.
5. Wine improves with age, beer deteriorates much more quickly. Ever drank a 40 year old beer? Nope.
6. Wine has more alcohol in it so you get a better buzz by drinking less (drink responsibly peeps).
7. Wine is associated with a celebration, beer is associated with commiserations.
8. Beer stinks, wine smells glorious. Now what we are getting at is the aftermath, ever been in a pub with beer soaked carpet first thing in the morning, yuk.
9. Wine can be grown on crap land, often the more harsh the land the better the wine. Beer production uses valuable farming land that could otherwise be used to feed the world (that’s our social conscience point ticked off).
10. Wine is an investment, it has secondary value if it is any good. There is not much of a secondary beer market.

Now we do appreciate that there are those beer bellied folk out there that espouse the virtue of beer and will hitherto be offended by the comparisons made. With that in mind we encourage you to comment on the points made, and raise valid arguments to support your position. In addition if you think we missed anything in favour of our wine v beer discussion please help our cause.

Cheers

Author: Neal (The Wine Wankers)

94 comments

  9. I disagree, but I like the way you make your point with tongue firmly in cheek. I am tempted to respond to all of your points and may do so tomorrow evening, with a glass of good beer to hand…

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  11. Ummmmm… certified Beer Wanker here, and I’ve gotta correct you just a bit. Not all beer is created equally just as not all wine is created equally.

    “3. Wine (good wine anyway) is made in beautiful wooden barrels, beer is made in ugly steel tanks.”

    http://www.kentuckyale.com/kentucky-bourbon-barrel-ale

    Award winning Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale® is a unique sipping beer with the distinctive nose of a well-crafted bourbon. Our Kentucky Ale is aged for at least six weeks in freshly decanted bourbon barrels from some of Kentucky’s finest distilleries.

    Subtle yet familiar flavors of vanilla and oak are imparted to this special ale as it rests in the charred barrels. Pleasantly smooth and robust, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale may also be served as an aperitif or after dinner drink.

    ABV: 8.2%

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  14. You may have missed one…if I have 2 glasses of wine, I’m anyone’s…if I have 3 glasses of wine…I’m everyone’s 🙂
    Can’t do that with beer, I’m too ill 🙂 By the way, that habit disappeared when I gave up drinking. Maybe I did the wrong thing, some habits are good 😀

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  16. Beer bottles have a 10c / bottle deposit in SA/NT, wine does not. Therefore you don’t have to go to a cesspitt in the boondocks of Darwin or Adelaide to get your 💵 back surrounded by a bunch of hobos

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  17. Sounds like Australia and the Czech Republic have similar goings on in the beer departments these days; craft beer revolution. I personally welcome it because you can only drink so much lager and more than 90% of Czech beers are still lagers.

    Thankfully, I live right around the Czech wine country, so I have all manner of local grape connected alternatives available to me. That my girlfriend’s uncle makes wine is also a huge plus.

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  20. Well, just a personal addition – I cannot drink a lot of beer, I just don’t seem to have enough room in my body -however I can consume vast quantities of wine (but obviously I don’t often do that… 🙂 )

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  21. I think that you missed one very, very important reason, although no 4 was close:
    For intellectual activities, such as talking, writing and making love: wine.
    For watching other people doing sweaty sporty things: beer.

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  26. Only two points. I have had a fantastic 30 year old beer under the name of Thomas Hardy’s Ale as well as many aged beers that actually improve over time, read Vintage Beers by Patrick Dawson. Next, there are plenty of beers pushing the upper limits on alcohol by volume. Look at Belgian Quads or Belgian beers in general as well as strong ales and old ales. Samuel Adams Worldwide Stout often ranking in the upper teens in ABV. An addendum, I like beer and wine and I feel as if they both are elegant pastimes since they both have been shown to come around about the same time in world history.
    Just some information I wanted to share! Great post by the way!
    Cheers

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  29. Love your list! Like you, I enjoy a beer now and then, but aahhh…. wine. I’m not above telling you that I’ve commiserated with wine, but usually it’s a celebratory time (well, ok, you can start off commiserating, but after a glass or so it becomes celebratory). Keep those fab posts coming! Enjoy the weekend!

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  35. I work at a winery in South Africa and have always been a wino first and foremost. However things are a changing for me and I am becoming more and more enamoured with beer. I have an answer for all ten points!

    1. Wine is good for you. It contains good gear like resveratrol that is supposedly good for your heart.

    Beer also contains good stuff: dietary fibre, lots of water ((£%), calcium, magnesium, phosphorous. It apparently helps prevent Alzheimers and is low in sugar.

    2. Wine does not make you fat, beer does. Wine makes you lean, against tables, against walls, against random strangers.

    This is very person dependent. Since I’ve been drinking more beer than wine, I have not noticed any change in my weight. In fact, beer makes me eat less because it fills me up. Looking at several brewers down here in the Cape, none of them sports a beer belly.

    3. Wine (good wine anyway) is made in beautiful wooden barrels, beer is made in ugly steel tanks.

    Winemaker Ken Forrester, and others, are brewing beer in barrels in which they have made wine.

    4. Drinking wine is a refined elegant pastime, drinking beer is a cultural cringe. We must concede here we do sound a little like wankers.

    I went to a food and beer pairing the other day and it was sublime and very civilised, without any of the pompous wine vibes. Craft beer culture is making beer drinking more edified.

    5. Wine improves with age, beer deteriorates much more quickly. Ever drank a 40 year old beer? Nope.

    This is true, but not all wines improve with age. Beer can then be seen as a limited edition commodity, rather like Beaujolais Nouveau – out fast, but not for long. Anyway, alcohol is there to be drunk. We may all die by tomorrow 😉

    6. Wine has more alcohol in it so you get a better buzz by drinking less (drink responsibly peeps).

    But we want to drink more!! For someone with a low tolerance to alcohol, a lower abv in a drink is a good thing. You can get more sips (i.e. enjoyment) but less alcohol.

    7. Wine is associated with a celebration, beer is associated with commiserations.

    Possibly…. I am willing to bet that wine has been there through many a heartbreak for many out there!

    8. Beer stinks, wine smells glorious. Now what we are getting at is the aftermath, ever been in a pub with beer soaked carpet first thing in the morning, yuk.

    But you can’t beat that sweet, malty smell that comes wafting out of breweries…

    9. Wine can be grown on crap land, often the more harsh the land the better the wine. Beer production uses valuable farming land that could otherwise be used to feed the world (that’s our social conscience point ticked off).

    You are probably right on this one.

    10. Wine is an investment, it has secondary value if it is any good. There is not much of a secondary beer market.

    See my answer to question 5 😉

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  36. Love your site and the ideas behind it. We used to drink wine every day until my husband became diabetic. The nutritionist said drinking a glass of wine is like drinking a glass of fat, so we’ve eased off from our daily intake. So sad! Thank you for your follow!

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  37. We at theDoctor’sCouch.org wanted to thank you for passing by our blog. We would love to connect some more as we too love wine 🙂 Maybe as we continue to develop our project on Infinito, we should drink some of your recommendations. Be well.

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  39. you’re cracking me up–don’t agree, but you have an excellent sense of humor 😀 Re: #4: A good beer can be every bit as refined as a good glass of wine. I’d like to see your list for wine vs bourbon now 😉

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  40. 1. beer is good for you too – it has brewer’s yeast and other good things (just like wine) 2. beer has 0 fat, and ounce for ounce has less calories than wine 3. HA – wine is made in SS tanks too (and then some of it ages in barrels, but then some beer also ages in barrels) 4. true, You are a wanker 5. true again most beer is best consumed young, but so are many other things, like Brie & meat & fruit and …. (plus the last 40 YO wine I had sucked), 6. more alcohol = more calories and more falling down (sad face here), 7. what ? – that’s just retarded – ever been to Oktoberfest – the biggest celebration on earth, 8. yeah but it washes out easier & it won’t stain your white dress like a red wine will, 9. I see, so Valleys in Cali all have crappy land ? 10. Well, you have us there, beer is for drinking and enjoying (and that is the best investment we can think of) and hoarding wine seems …. well draw your own conclusions about that

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  42. Ha ha. Well done.
    I love them both. Well I really enjoy a nice craft beer. It has to be a hot day and the beer has to taste really great. Best one I ever tasted can only be bought in Kuranda unfortunately. Cockatoo Pale Ale. Really hit the spot on a warm day. 🙂
    What can I say? I’m an equal opportunity appreciater! 😀

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  43. Thanks for liking my post – wait that doesn’t sound right, well let’s bring it back to the fence comment above – and I shall enjoy exploring your blog. A ta sante!

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