MolsonCoors is set to launch (again) a clear beer in August; apparently to woo women drinkers to imbibe their, ahem, delicious products. Or more likely to try and capture some of the market share that the big three brewing corps lost in 2009…

They have launched a business unit called “Bittersweet Partnership” which in charge of the push to land more female beer drinkers. I checked out their website,and almost puked into my morning coffee; it’s really everything I hate about gender specific marketing. First of all, it’s pink. Secondly there a big love heart on the landing page. I wish I knew how to write my groan of utter disdain; I guess I need Mags to come and be a guest blogger in order to have that happen, she is after all the Queen of Scorn (or the Tsarina of Disparagement, if you will).

Their “About Us” page sounds great; if they were actually going to use the site to educate women about good beer.

BitterSweet is many things. It’s about sharing. Sharing a love of beer. Talking to each other, finding out why and how women like to drink beer. It’s also about helping women discover great tasting beer that they like and will want to tell their friends about

Unfortunately for MolsonCoors, they don’t make great tasting beer. I’m not sure what they think women will be telling their friends that helps their cause? “That beer tastes like swill” is probably not the marketing line they’re going for.

After entering your birthdate, you are asked if you “fancy being a beer goddess, or are you one already?” ugh. Then to really nab those girly girls; beer cocktail recipes, and then my personal favourite “Beer and Chocolate: The perfect partnership”, oy vey. Now while I agree that there is a beer match for every type of food out there, I am highly suspicious that any beer made by MolsonCoors would pair with any kind of chocolate. Oh, seems I’m right! They have some froufy dessert recipes that use beer IN them, not pairing with. Of course.

There is a great dialogue about this over on Drink with the Wench; a girl after my own heart. I read her post while searching for some real info on this fabulous clear beer idea; i understand the issues that she has being taken seriously as a girl that likes beer. It took a good few months of proving myself for the guys at the local homebrew shop to realize I know what I’m doing and what I’m talking about (well, for the most part anyway!); now i’m part of the gang

Bottom line is this; women do not need beer companies to condescend them. They need to be educated that craft beer is every bit as interesting as wine, and just as complex. There is a beer out there for everyone, women (and a lot of men too!) just need someone knowledgable to find out what they like and point them in the right direction; please don’t flood the market with anymore lacklustre, tasteless beer, please!