"other Half" Recipes

[doglet]

I have been introducing my fiance to different beers and developing her knowledge of beer in general over the last couple of years. My partner is very supportive of my hobby/obsession and I would like to be able to make some brews that she would be happy to drink a glass or two of especially during the spring/summer months. Dark beers don't go down too well (I'm convinced it's psychological) so it has to be light in colour and alcohol. It seems cascadey/citrusy type hops and even hallertau are winners. We tried Boag's St. George and she enjoyed that. As I write this a 3-4% APA springs to mind. This would also be good for me as a session beer.

Long winded intro but I am wondering if others do the same thing and what recipes are usually winners?

 

[warrenlw63]

I've always found that Hefeweizens and Belgian Wits have very big "chick" appeal. :beerbang:

Warren -

 

[Weizguy]

True, Warren!

My Dragon always seems to enjoy a hefeweizen, but has been known to scull a stubbie of Cali Common after mowing.
She also doesn't mind the Bo-pils and has nearly polished off a glass of my fave beer before I could halt the draining with a loud "Whoa"!

Seth

 

[sluggerdog]

I'd say keep it simple.

For a Pale Ale
Go for a simple base recipe and keep the hops to a minimum such as 60 min addition only. OR include around 15 grams at the 20 min mark.

I do a lager for a similar reason and it is basically:

85-90% Pilsner Malt
5% Carapils
5-10% Munich Malt

60 Min Hopping of Halleratu or Saaz (or both) for a total IBU of around 26.
Also make it around 4% in strength.

 

[Mercs Own]

My wife loves her beer and enjoys a range of styles. Loves a chimay red, enjoys a Kriek Lambic and certainly enjoys the Belgian and Italian pilsners.

Lately I have been brewing Kolsch which she has really been enjoying. It is light in colour (4srm) fairly light in body and has a good fruity fresh palate. It is not very bitter - 21ibu normally. They are a fairly straight forward beer to brew which I would recommend you have a go at. I aim for about a 5% alc mark but have had a couple come in at 4.7 - 4.8. Dont know what they would be like at 4% (dont know why you would bother) Once I made one that came out at 6.5% - screwed up on my measurements on brew day but boy it was a damn fine drop! Wife loved that one too!

 

[Boozy the clown]

Mine is happy to 'sample' as she puts it - just about all beer. Has seriously damaged my stock of liquorice stout. Attacks my wheats, pinches my honey lager!

But thats ok, the financial controller does help with funding.

 

[doglet]

Ah yes - Kolsch. We went to Cologne last year and she really enjoyed that. She didn't like the Alt though up the road in Dusseldorf - too bitter. Wheat beers will be brewed when it warms up and I'm sure thy'll be enjoyed.

 

[PostModern]

Mrs PoMo doesn't go in for strong stouts or anything with IBU:OG > 1:2 but there are exceptions to that. She likes wiezen, amber ale, some bitters... not my favourite: Porter. She has put in a request for a batch of doppelbock... I might just have to oblige before the weather warms up some more.

 

[bindi]

Gave up trying to make a beer, any beer for my wife, so I have been making her wine for two years now.

 

[petesbrew]

Brewed a raspberry beer for her a few months back, with the plan to let it age till she pops out the first bub, and can drink again. She's not really happy there's only 7 longnecks left...

The "I had to make sure it's drinkable!" excuse didn't work as planned! :chug:

 

[Jerry]

My wife really enjoys the darker beers. Brewed a brown ale a couple of months ago for her and as that didn't last long I thought I better make her another one. In the meantime it appears she now has some sort of yeast intolerance.
Oh well, looks like I'II have to finish it off.

 

[DrewCarey82]

I've given up trying to make beers my missus can drink - though she didnt mind the wheat I had on the w/end from the xmas case(not the gusher the other one) so might have to try that.

In the mean time Ginger beer and Cider is the go for her needs.

 

[tangent]

Women (in a general sense) are sugar junkies, make an APA and 1/2 your bittering hops.
It'll be out of balance to you but perfect to her.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

My partner likes Pale Ales, but not to bitter. She also likes a mild wheat beer as well. And the odd Stout, but as she is pregnant again h34r: her taste buds might change

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

My partner likes Pale Ales, but not to bitter. She also likes a mild wheat beer as well. And the odd Stout, but as she is pregnant again h34r: her taste buds might change

 

[big d]

Just wondering if any of the micros in Adelaide have those paddle sampler trays so as you can try there wares.Other thought is a trip to the Wheatie at Thebarton as i no they have a great selection of beers to try and a few very knowledgable female bar staff that im sure would point your wife in the right direction so as you can emulate/try to brew a similar beer.

Cheers
Big D

 

[Airgead]

I'll put in a vote for the fruit beers. The only beer of mine my wife will drink is a rasberry wit. Its similar to the Bele Vue Framboise but not being a proper lambic, not as sour.

I don't think its that women like sweet things, I think its more that they are extra sensitive to bitter things. The comment I get is always "too bitter for me" not "its not sweet enough". I don't know why this is. Ity could be a real diference between men and women or it could just be an exposure thing. Men are more likely to have been given sips of dads beer from a young age. The scientist in me is thinking of a study with a panel of men and women... a set of samples with known bitterness and a comparison between the percieved bitterness given by each sex...

The lazy ******* in me is thinking "I'll just have another beer"

Edit: Just dug this up on the web -

Taste worlds of humans vary because of taste blindness to phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and its chemical relative, 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). Bartoshuk reviewed early PTC studies and applied modern statistical analyses, showing that a higher frequency of women tasted PTC crystals, and were tasters (threshold classification).

In Bartoshuks laboratory, sensory scaling of PROP bitterness identified a subset of tasters ("supertasters") who rate PROP as intensely bitter. Supertasters also perceive stronger tastes from a variety of bitter and sweet substances, and perceive more burn from oral irritants (alcohol and capsaicin). The density of taste receptors on the anterior tongue (fungiform papillae, taste buds) correlate significantly with perceived bitterness of PROP and support the supertaster concept. Psychophysical data from Bartoshuks lab also show a sex effect: women are supertasters more frequently than men are. The anatomical data also support the sex difference: women have more fungiform papillae and more taste buds.

Cheers
Dave

 

[neonmeate]

all that scientific gobbledegook is well and good but it can never explain people's brains. taste doesn't just vary because of the receptors on your tongue! the "scientific" reasons that women don't like bitter beer are much less important than the cultural reasons.
ie taste varies more because of what you THINK you should like.

for example: here in australia at least, dark beers get seen as "serious" beer. like all those people that say that guinness is like a "meal" even though it's only 4% with an FG of 1005 or whatever. everything about the way it's presented says "serious men's beer - don't mess with me". so women get scared by the black colour because they think it's men's beer.
whereas in czech republic for instance it's the other way round - women will drink the dark beer and men drink the pale lagers.

you can like anything if you decide to like it cause it fits your identity. I remember when I decided when I was 20 that I should like stout. I liked the idea of it but I hated the taste. After working my way up to it via tooheys old and dogbolter etc I got the taste of it and then I felt like a stoutdrinker goddammit.

 

[Barry]

Good Day

A version of JS Golden Ale seems to be liked by most people in my experience.

 

[Stuster]

We can all give advice on what our women like to drink, but it may be wide of the mark because it's really not that all women like particular beers (do all men like particular beers for that matter?)

My wife hates any kind of wheat beer and did not like a raspberry wheat beer I'd made hoping she'd like it. She does like hoppy APAs and fruity belgians. The one beer she specifically asked me to make again was a robust porter. So maybe it's best to get a selection of beers from the bottle shop and see what SHE likes.