Recipe Help Needed, Enquire Within

[Spartan 117]

Hey Guy's,

Not posted on here with a question in some time but hopefully you will be as helpfull as always.

Here's the story, I have a friend who doesn't like beer.... shock horror I know, some may even call it blasphamy. Anyway he wants to try and get into drinking it more and says the reason he doesn't drink it is because of the bitterness that hops give the beer.

So I've decided to get out my gear and brew him something that's more malty than hoppy. I was thinking along the lines of an Old Englis Ale or Golden Ale, but adjust the hop ammounts and addition times a little so as to reduce there bitterness.

Anyone have any suggestions other than to get new friends ??

Cheers

Aaron

 

[scott_penno]

You could try a lightly hopped wheat beer. I've made a wheat beer with half wheat malt, half pilsner or ale malt and hopped with a single addition somewhere around 60/45 mins to 12-15IBU's. Tends to go down quite well with those that aren't really that into beer. YMMV.

sap.

 

[Adamt]

I'm not sure what I'm to enquire about... but give you some ideas:

Are you kit brewing? Mashing? Some good, low bitterness styles are scottish ales, weizens, belgian styles (wit, strong ales)... You may find your friend likes english bitters as well... although they can be quite bitter they can also be very malty which offsets it considerably.

 

[manticle]

Hey Guy's,

Not posted on here with a question in some time but hopefully you will be as helpfull as always.

Here's the story, I have a friend who doesn't like beer.... shock horror I know, some may even call it blasphamy. Anyway he wants to try and get into drinking it more and says the reason he doesn't drink it is because of the bitterness that hops give the beer.

So I've decided to get out my gear and brew him something that's more malty than hoppy. I was thinking along the lines of an Old Englis Ale or Golden Ale, but adjust the hop ammounts and addition times a little so as to reduce there bitterness.

Anyone have any suggestions other than to get new friends ??

Cheers

Aaron

Loads of different types of beers around that aren't high in IBU. Anything below 30 should be OK but even between 15 - 25 with a good malt profile. Something darker and sweeter might give you what you want (or really what he wants).

Try a brown ale, porter or milk stout or maybe a Belgian Dubbel.

Best thing to do is to find out what beers he's tried (that he doesn't like) and make a style at the other end of the spectrum. I know a few who claim not to like beer and close questioning usually reveals they stopped after trying only a couple. Beer is possibly the most diverse alcoholic beverage available so I reckon saying 'I don't like beer' is akin to saying 'I don't like music'. There's beer and there's.......you get my drift.

 

[Spartan 117]

I'm not sure what I'm to enquire about... but give you some ideas:

Are you kit brewing? Mashing? Some good, low bitterness styles are scottish ales, weizens, belgian styles (wit, strong ales)... You may find your friend likes english bitters as well... although they can be quite bitter they can also be very malty which offsets it considerably.

all grain mate. so i can start from scratch pretty much

Aaron

 

[Spartan 117]

I reckon saying 'I don't like beer' is akin to saying 'I don't like music'. There's beer and there's.......you get my drift.

lol love that quote. It's a real shame he's trying really hard to like beer but just can't find one he likes.... poor guy.

Aaron

 

[buttersd70]

Dark Mild. The perfic choice.

golden promise 91%
caraaroma 6%
carafa special T1 3%

Mash @69C 60min
OG 1036

fuggle 60min
styrian golding 0.5g/L 15min

18IBU

Ferment with 1469, 1275, or ringwood (edit: slightly warm to push the esters, 20-21C)
mmmm.

Most important point is to a/ mash hot, and b / check preboil grav, and readjust 60min hopping if required for a 0.5 BU:GU.

If he likes that, he can then graduate to it's big brother, the bitter....drop the carafa to 1.5%, up the OG to 1040-1042, mash @ 67C, and increase the 60min addition to give BU:GU of 0.65.

 

[Spartan 117]

Cheers Butters, I'll have to give that a go.

Aaron

 

[bum]

A mate of mine is exactly the same. You're fighting an uphill battle. When he goes to Bali he'll drink a bit of Bintang. And he'll have maybe 3 Sols a year here. He'll suck the hell out of a bottle bourbon though. If he doesn't like beer and must change change his mind do it with commercial beer. You don't want a batch worth of training-wheel beer.

 

[Spartan 117]

A mate of mine is exactly the same. You're fighting an uphill battle. When he goes to Bali he'll drink a bit of Bintang. And he'll have maybe 3 Sols a year here. He'll suck the hell out of a bottle bourbon though. If he doesn't like beer and must change change his mind do it with commercial beer. You don't want a batch worth of training-wheel beer.

Any suggestions? I reckon something like a james squire golden ale (which I'm loving at the moement) might do the trick.

Aaron

 

[bum]

I'm a fan too but I wouldn't bother wasting it on my mate. Not yet anyway. I feel bad doing this but I'd really start him on anything with "blonde" in the name if I was you.

 

[Thommo]

I had a mate who didn't like beer for years. Then he finally found one he could stomach...Budweiser. After a year of us taking the p1ss out of him for buying that yank crap, he finally found an Aussie beer he could stomach. Carlton Cold.

With that in mind, I'd lean towards a standard American Lager. Or the Mild or wheat beer suggester earlier.

 

[Spartan 117]

I'm a fan too but I wouldn't bother wasting it on my mate. Not yet anyway. I feel bad doing this but I'd really start him on anything with "blonde" in the name if I was you.

Hummmmm not sure that would be his thing but it's worth a shot, might go out one day just buy a load of different beers see how that goes, if he doesn't drink them I will, waste nto want not.

Aaron

 

[buttersd70]

go to Dans, and get him a can of Tetleys ....if he says that's too bitter, then he's a lost cause. :lol:

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I reckon Butters is on the money. Have a tasting session with him. Go to Dan's and buy a selection.

Get him a Tetlys, a Weheinstephan kristal weizen (dont want to scare him off with cloudy beer) and a few others - I'd steer clear of the golden ales and things like that, they are all still quite bitter. If you do go with something hoppy.. make sure its got a nice balancing sugar to it.

Basically... girls beers. I have found that as a rampant generalization, girls don't like beer because they don't much like bitter things. And all the beers they have ever tasted were harshly bitter mega beers. Hand em a wheat beer with some Nelson Sauvin to 15IBUs ... and suddenly its "this doesn't taste like beer.. its nice, fruity and a bit like a sav blanc"

Your mate might not be into Sav Blanc - but apart from that, same thing. Go for low bitterness and smoothness. Not too much finish.

TB

 

[Hop Me]

go to Dans, and get him a can of Tetleys ....if he says that's too bitter, then he's a lost cause. :lol:

Hahahah! I don't know if someone can really be "taught" to love beer. I think you have to look at what might be their motivations. Boddington's would be another, though, if the issue needs to be pushed.

 

[QldKev]

what about a Vienna, I think that would be a nice easy drinking beer to start on.

QldKev

 

[Spartan 117]

go to Dans, and get him a can of Tetleys ....if he says that's too bitter, then he's a lost cause. :lol:

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! might just do that. Seen a 6 pack of all these different beers in my local bottle shop the other day, might grab on eof those aswell

Aaron

 

[benno1973]

what about a Vienna, I think that would be a nice easy drinking beer to start on.

QldKev

+1. A nice easy drinking Vienna, or possibly a Helles. Pretty tame on the hop front, nice and malty, easy to drink.

Or Horlicks is a nice malty, low hopped beverage?

 

[manticle]

Basically... girls beers. I have found that as a rampant generalization, girls don't like beer because they don't much like bitter things. And all the beers they have ever tasted were harshly bitter mega beers. Hand em a wheat beer with some Nelson Sauvin to 15IBUs ... and suddenly its "this doesn't taste like beer.. its nice, fruity and a bit like a sav blanc"



TB

Funny: my GF prefers beers with a bitter finish. She's not a big fan of yeasty beers (I love trappists and similar malty, yeasty types) but prefers something hoppier. She's also a fan of a good, dry stout.

What non-beer beverages does your mate like? That may give some clues (highly alcoholic, sweet, peaty, fruity etc etc)?