Beer without hops?

Hello,

We have found out recently that my husband is allergic to hops. I know there are some Old World techniques that do not use hops in the brew, and am wondering if anyone has tried to brew without hops and what the results of this "hopless" beer was?

Thanks in advance.

I know I'm not contributing much but I have seen other threads on here about brewing with out hops. Also I think flying dog has a non hopped brew they sell. Maybe you could call them up and get a recipe.

I think some Norwegian beers are brewed with juniper branches/berries instead of hops.

I've read online that you can brew with Wormwood. They act as a great bittering hop. I'm assuming without something to balance the maltness you would end up with an overpowering sweetness.

Look for Gruit recipes. They are traditional beers made without hops.

malc said:

Look for Gruit recipes. They are traditional beers made without hops.

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I may put up with the potential side effects of all of the drugs shown in commercials combined to be able to consume hops.

What happens to him, sinus and nasal congestion?

Xpertskir said:

I may put up with the potential side effects of all of the drugs shown in commercials combined to be able to consume hops.

What happens to him, sinus and nasal congestion?

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Uh, projectile vomiting the next day. Along with headache and severe hangover symptoms. It's no good. And we ruled out many things including bad taps by switching to bottles, etc. It's the hops for sure. He can tolerate every other kind of alcohol, and I even gave him a few stout/darker brews and brews with low hops and he had a less profound effect like a slight headache and sinus pressure the next day.

malc said:

Look for Gruit recipes. They are traditional beers made without hops.

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OOh great suggestion, thank you!

A micro brewery in Cooperstown, NY by the name of Butternut Brewery is an all malt brewery. Not bad for no hops!

gypster said:

Uh, projectile vomiting the next day. Along with headache and severe hangover symptoms. It's no good. And we ruled out many things including bad taps by switching to bottles, etc. It's the hops for sure. He can tolerate every other kind of alcohol, and I even gave him a few stout/darker brews and brews with low hops and he had a less profound effect like a slight headache and sinus pressure the next day.

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That sounds like a hangover.

Are you sure it's not a yeast or wheat allergy?

I believe it only takes a simple blood test to determine if he is suffering from celiac disease (causes problems with gluten). Might be worth a shot.

Dandelions?? Walnut leaves?

If you can find it at your local bottle shop, try Fraoch Scottish ale. It's a commercial gruit, brewed with heather if I remember correctly, and it's pretty tasty. No hops means no skunkiness so that's a bonus.

shoggoth said:

I believe it only takes a simple blood test to determine if he is suffering from celiac disease (causes problems with gluten). Might be worth a shot.

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He can eat bread, Vital Wheat Gluten (we're vegetarian and that's a staple of ours) and have ciders of all sorts with yeast in it, so we can only think that it's the hops, because the process of elimination ... well eliminate the hops and there's no symptoms.

Someone said that it's a hangover, well from three to four beers? lol I don't think so

GRUIT is what you're looking for. You'll want to start with checking out www.gruitale.com. It's a really good site, lots of info, some recipes. Google is your best friend when it comes to finding the various herbs, but here are a few starting points: Penzy's, Wild Weeds, Thyme Garden Herb Co., and Wilderness Family Naturals.

I just did a beer for my girlfriend Heather with heather tips. It came out great. Quite floral and beautiful smelling and tasting. Give it a try. If you want the recipe I used, let me know.

MedicMang said:

I just did a beer for my girlfriend Heather with heather tips. It came out great. Quite floral and beautiful smelling and tasting. Give it a try. If you want the recipe I used, let me know.

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I would be interested in taking a look at this recipe if you don't mind.
I have been mildly interested in alternatives to hops, not for any particular reason moreso for the ability to have options available.

Agreed... Your looking for Gruit. You use herbs such as; Bog Myrtle, Heather, Wormswood, Labrador, Rosemary, Mugwort, and Yarrow to name a few. And on that note I'll just put out there... Bog Myrtle and Elderberries pair really damn well. Just be very careful how much herbs you use. Many of them are very powerful with psychotropic effects if used in large enough quantities.

There are piles of recipes without hops floating around. My wife got me the book Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers. The recipes are pretty gross and there are some dubious claims about the healing properties of the herbs involved - but the background on historical herbal use in beers is really great. Most of the beers in the book are based around molasses - which is pretty traditional for early american brewing. Substituting a "real" beer recipe for that portion and using the herbal parts of the recipes might be really good.

Recipes please....psychotropic isn't all that bad in moderation

Heather Ale

10 lbs. 2-row
1 lb. 2 oz. Crystal 40
14 oz. Brown Malt

Mashed at 154 for 60 min.
Boil for 60 min.
3 oz dried heather flower (60 min boil)
5 oz dried heather flower (5 min)

I fermented with Safale 05 to bring out the heather flavor. Everything turned out great, for being a complete experiment. Very prominent heather flavor. Very floral smell. Turned out to be a great way to celebrate my lady's birthday. We also played putt putt, raced go-carts, and played laser tag.

2BeerSpeer said:

Recipes please....psychotropic isn't all that bad in moderation

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I'll dig a few out this afternoon while I'm making a porter. You see a lot of heather (the psychotropics in that are the fungus that grows on it) and juniper.

Ive made this before and it was very well received by my homebrew club but my recipe also uses hops. So Im giving you my recipe minus the hops.

Witch Doctor Pale Ale...gruit in your case.

Mash @ 150 for 60 min. Ferment @ 65 for 17-21 days.

SafeAle US-05
6.5# 2row
4.5# Golden Promise
1# Clear Candi Sugar (added @ 30 min left in boil)
10 oz Pure Grade B Maple syrup (added 2nd day of active fermentation)
2 grams Bog Myrtle (add as your "bittering hop" addition)
8 oz dried elderberries (added with 15 min left in boil)

I have not brewed it yet... but I bought some dan shen from the chinese market to bitter an asian themed gruit.

If you're not aging your beer I think any bittering agent should work just fine.

You can also experiment with green springtime conifer growth... lots of commercial beers use spruce at least as an additive, and there's a local microbrewery which produces a very respectably beer-tasting porter "hopped" just with redwood tips.

I hear if you pick 'em young and light green, you get almost-citrusy notes without an overwhelming amount of pineyness... I'm looking forward to experimenting with this next spring.

gypster said:

Uh, projectile vomiting the next day. Along with headache and severe hangover symptoms. It's no good. And we ruled out many things including bad taps by switching to bottles, etc. It's the hops for sure. He can tolerate every other kind of alcohol, and I even gave him a few stout/darker brews and brews with low hops and he had a less profound effect like a slight headache and sinus pressure the next day.

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If you're looking for confirmation google Mediator Release Test 120. It tests for food sensitivities including hops.

feinbera said:

You can also experiment with green springtime conifer growth... lots of commercial beers use spruce at least as an additive, and there's a local microbrewery which produces a very respectably beer-tasting porter "hopped" just with redwood tips.

I hear if you pick 'em young and light green, you get almost-citrusy notes without an overwhelming amount of pineyness... I'm looking forward to experimenting with this next spring.

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A guy in my homebrew club made a spruce-tip beer and yeah, tons of nice citrus flavor and aroma. He said you have to pick them just when they push out of their little shells, before the sap gets in them because the sap is very bitter.

I'm thinking of doing a milk thistle gruit next year.. researching which ones arnt poisonous so I don't kill myself
I've got a heather and a sage in primary but find add a small amount of hops to those.. did a dandelion bitter at the end of spring from the homebrewers garden book..

Try to find some "Sahti" recipes. It's a Finnish beer made without hops. The BrewingTV Sahti episode is one of my favorites and I always wanted to try it.

[ame]http://vimeo.com/17090829[/ame]

I have some rosemary growing outside and some wormwood in my cabinet I shall try both, in different batches. So do you think the sub for hops is 1:1 with these or should I try different amounts?

One of the guys at work used wormwood. I think he said it was super bitter. I'll have to ask how much he'd use in place of hops. I think 1 to 1 might be to strong.

malc said:

Look for Gruit recipes. They are traditional beers made without hops.

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+1 check out themadfermentationist.com he has an article about brewing Gruit and even provides the recipe they used.

Just got back from Portland. At "Hair of the Dog" brewery they had a wonderful beer made from squash and pilsner malt. No hops. I'm a hop guy but really enjoyed this fine drink. Very fresh and crisp. Call and explain your plight and they might crack loose with the recipe. Worth a try.
Pat

Many recipes suggest doing a tea or tincture then adding that. Since you don't have actual measurements of the amount of flavor in herbs and spices you're somewhat shooting in the dark.

I brewed a gruit ale a couple years ago. I had read gruitale.com and Randy Mosher's "Radical Brewing" to get some ideas. I threw the recipe together based on information from both of those sources. Despite a lengthy primary fermentation, it came out incredible. There were some herbal notes when it was young but they weren't overpowering at all. Now that it's been in the bottle for almost two years, it is pretty amazing. I submitted it to the NM Enchanted Brewing Challenge competition in May and it ended up taking BOS. It's very similar to a strong scotch ale in flavor.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f78/yule-gruit-213381/

gypster said:

I have some rosemary growing outside and some wormwood in my cabinet I shall try both, in different batches. So do you think the sub for hops is 1:1 with these or should I try different amounts?

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Talked to the homebrewer at work who used wormwood. He said 'the ratio of hops to wormwood for bitterness really depends on the AA of the hops and how they hops are used' Meaning if you use the hops for a 60 min boil instead of a 10 min. He also said that if you used 10 oz of high AA hops for a long boil then 1 oz of wormwood might be the right amount, or even less.
'10 or even 100 hops to 1 of wormwood for the bitterness'

He recommended a taste test - take some water and a known mass of hops and make a tea out of it to taste. Do the same with the wormwood (After the hops because it will kill your ablity to taste anything else for a while).

As for the rosemary, I've got no clue.

I have wormwood in my back yard. It is massively bitter; makes hops look like candy. Heather tips also work well, as does bog myrtle. maybe tayberry if you can get it. Old scot beers didn't use hops because they don't grow up in the far north frozen lands. So they got creative and used whatever they could find. Short answer, yeah...you can make hopless beer.

If you use wormwood right go very easy on it, man it will just overpower the brew otherwise. So far I've found yarrow to be a pretty powerful 'enhancer' in the brew. I've got some other batches going with the other gruit herbs but they aren't ready yet.

Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers is an interesting book; his basic claim about hops is that it wasn't traditionally used in beer at all, that gruit herbs were much more common, but they tended to make people, um, excitable apparently. So he thinks the church led the way to using hops which had a more sedative effect.

porcupine73 said:

If you use wormwood right go very easy on it, man it will just overpower the brew otherwise. So far I've found yarrow to be a pretty powerful 'enhancer' in the brew. I've got some other batches going with the other gruit herbs but they aren't ready yet.

Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers is an interesting book; his basic claim about hops is that it wasn't traditionally used in beer at all, that gruit herbs were much more common, but they tended to make people, um, excitable apparently. So he thinks the church led the way to using hops which had a more sedative effect.

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A friend in my HBC has that book and let me read it. Great source and tons of history for making gruit. Seriously though, most of these herbs or spices need to be used in very small quantities, like a gram or two. Most are extremely powerful and should be used very carefully.

mrrshotshot said:

If you're looking for confirmation google Mediator Release Test 120. It tests for food sensitivities including hops.

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Ohh thank you and thanks to everyone else!!