A Style Everyone can Enjoy??

Hello all,

Looking for a little advice.. I am going to be making a brew for our family's Annual Labor Day End of Summer Bash.
I am really new to brewing and sofar have only 1 beer under my belt.. the question is.. Most my family drinks BMC type beers tho a few will Drink Sam Adams Summer Ale.
I am looking for a style or even a recipie that has the best chance of being enjoyed by the family.. I have some Ideas but thought I would default to the best resource for beer that I have... You guys!

SpamDog

I'd go with a simple pale ale recipe

My first brew was one that everyone liked. Even the BMC drinkers. It was pretty simple and was easy to make. all you need is:
1 can Cooper's Drought liquid extract.
3 pounds light dried malt extract.
The Cooper's is hopped and when the beer is complete you end up with a nice beer that isn't over powering with malt or hop bitterness. It was definitely better than Bud!

Another vote for a pale ale.

Or maybe a hefeweizen. Most of the "sophisticated" BMC drinkers I know actually really love hefeweizens. It's different enough from BMC so that they don't do an apples-to-apples comparison, but it's still got a very smooth easy-drinking character that is familiar to BMC drinkers. They just have to get over the cloudiness.

Otherwise, pale ale or an ESB is the way to go. ESB is cool because it's a historic style. You get to tell a story as you serve it. A good story always makes beer taste better.....


An Extra Special Bitter isn't necessarily a very bitter beer. "Bitter" is just the british way of differentiating kiddy-beer from grown up beer. Back in the day in merry old London when the water was unsafe to drink, everybody drank beer. Generally though, it wasn't a good idea to send the kiddies off to school after a pint of high-proof beer, so the kids got beers designated as "Milds" which were somewhere around 2.5% to 3.5%ABV.

Then for the adults, there were "Bitters". They weren't necessarily bitter, but they were for grown ups. My imagination tells me that they called them "Bitters" mostly to discourage the kids from wanting them. LOL. So anyway, bitters weren't terribly bitter and they still aren't. The thing that makes a bitter a bitter is the alcohol content, generally between 3.0% and 3.7%. Remember, that the world wasn't interconnected back then like it is today, so there is some overlap and regional variation in these styles... Anyway, if the grownups wanted a stronger drink, they would order a Best Bitter or a Special Bitter which was generally between 4.1 and 4.8% abv. Then there were the "Strong Bitters" or Extra Special Bitters which were as high as 5.8% ABV, or as low as 4.8%.

Nowadays, "Extra Special Bitters" are about the strength of beer that most people expect when they crack open a cold one....

I gave up on this long ago and just take a case of Miller lite/Coors light or whatever the request at that time is. Everyone else is happy and I didn't bother wasting my time and efforts

the two commercial pale ales I tried were way too hoppy for 'uneducated' palettes if you ask me.

since its end o summer, I too would suggest a wheat beer, like a hef or even a wit.

I have had good luck with a Heffe. Seems that most BMC drinkers do like them. I think that most don't like to admit it and hide in the closet when consuming.

I agree about a wheat beer--maybe more like an American Wheat so people won't freak about the cloudiness.

In general, it's very hard to get dedicated BMC drinkers to drink anything else, if it were me, I'd weant to think long and hard about why I'd even want to try it. I'd make something you like that is a good summer beer and not worry too much about iof everyone will like it.

Try a Mild and keep the ABV around 3.5%. Or an Ordinary Bitter (but don't call it a Bitter).

I'd make an American wheat. That's a slam dunk.

another vote for wheat beer. last party i kegged a hefe, it was very popular.

Wheat for teh win!

The APA is a fairly good suggestion, but not everyone will dig the hop strength (albeit not that strong for Hopheads, keep in mind that first taste of a hop-centric beer you had). Then again, I know of several people that shy away from Hefe's in particular because of the high-er carbonation.

I'm going to have to vote for the wheat beer also. However I like the Belgian Wit that BierMuncher has posted Blue Balls Wit.

Where most of us consider APAs to be mildly bitter a BMC fan will find them over the top. Other lite home brew beers will get the comparison to their favorite. Wheat beers are mild enough to appeal to many, including many non beer drinkers and different enough to not get the comparison to BMC. And I don't mind drinking the Wit posted above but find even most micro Blondes to be uninteresting.

Craig

I LOVE APA, but if I am brewing for a large group, American Wheat all the way!!! If you really want, hit it up with some apricot at kegging time. My wife made a batch not too long ago, and I think it was the shortest lived keg we have ever had in the house!

Mash 155
6# Pils
6# Light Wheat
1# Rice Hulls
2 oz Haller 60
1 tsp Moss 15
1 oz Haller 5

1 small bottle apricot extract @ kegging

Just as I expected.. lots of good idea.. and as a bonus.. there seems to be a concensus. I like APA's but I think you could be right that it might be too bitter.. and a wheat does sound good right about now...
So any tips/ideas/thoughts on your favorite American Wheat beer recipe??

SpamDog

Brew Dude's Boulevard Wheat Clone. I can't say enough about how much people have liked this beer from my go at it. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6366&highlight=boulevard+wheat

david_42 said:

Try a Mild and keep the ABV around 3.5%. Or an Ordinary Bitter (but don't call it a Bitter).

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Good point. MyRedhook ESB is spot on and very mild. But drop the term "bitters" and watch out for the sour looks.

Dude, you're correct. I'm brewing a Blvd Wheat and it tastes very good...very bland....but very good.

david_42 said:

Try a Mild and keep the ABV around 3.5%. Or an Ordinary Bitter (but don't call it a Bitter).

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I did a Mild and a Wit and had both available for my family to try out. Couldn't even get most of them to try the Mild but most of the BMC and non-beer drinkers liked the Wit. I thought the Mild was a great beer and was very refreshing. Maybe it was because it was a brown mild and not pale like the Wit?
Oh well I guess I'll have to drink the Mild which I prefer anyways.
Craig

I brew a Belgian Golden sort of beer that tends to go over well with those that prefer a hoppy beer (it isn't really hoppy) and those that really don't care for hoppy beers.
It has honey and corriander. It takes a couple weeks in the primary and a couple months in the secondary. The honey takes for ever to ferment.

It has a slight honey flavor (without thhe sweetnes) and the corriander is just enough to add that undefinable flavor that keeps people intrigued. The hop nose is almost undistinguishable for the untrained nose, but ballances everything out.

Altho it may be tough with time constraints or impatience because it will be a bit sweet if you have it early, but it's a nice beer.

CBBaron said:

...most of the BMC and non-beer drinkers liked the Wit. I thought the Mild was a great beer and was very refreshing. Maybe it was because it was a brown mild and not pale like the Wit?
...

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Good point. What the eye sees, the stomach anticipates. No matter how much a beer may taste light, crisp and...BMC-like...if it's black in color, forget about any favorable reviews.

Make your own recipe! Try for a light color, but maybe a touch of belgian aromatic and some light crystal for a bit of sweetness in your grain bill. Then go for about 25 IBU or so, an OG around 1.050, and use plenty of flavoring hops - not exclusively Cascades, either. Open their minds to the thought that a great beer can be light and FULL of wonderful flavor -- and that HOPs are not always super BITTER like in an IPA.

OPEN THEIR MINDS with your effort! Yeah, everybody likes wheat -- but are you swaying anyone about craft beer if you brew up a generic wheat beer?

Food for thought....

Making your own recipe is definatly the best way to go. But since this is one of your first beers I'll give you my super simple hefe recipe and you can fee free to do what you like to it. I have found that people really like this beer and it tends to be the quickest one to go from my stocks.

6 lbs. Muntons DME wheat extract
1 lbs. Crystal 20 'L
1-2 Oz. Hallertaur 60 min.
American Hefe yeast/German Hefe yeast (I usually use White labs)

This makes a very smooth refreshing beer. The German yeast tends to have a little more of that fruity hefe quality but both will make excellent beer. Another great thing about this hefe is that it tastes great right after carbonation but has enough alcohol to age for a few months. Don't let it go too long however because I find that the beer looses its fruity quality after longer storage.

Good luck and good drinkin!