"lite" beer

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reaper79

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hey guys i just finished my first all grain and loved it but my friends all think its to bitter. one even said it tasted like a tree. Is there a recipe for a "lite" beer like a dudweiser or something that i can make just to keep the friends happy?
 
If you really want to make something that tastes like Bud, you need to be able to lager. Even if you can do that, american light lager is a very difficult style to do well. You're better off buying a 30pack of Bud. If you want a good beer that is on the lighter, easier drinking side check out the recipe database for a cream ale or something like this or this
 
Yea, i am gonna have to say screw the friends on this one. I started brewing because i like good and unique beers, not because i was trying to impress my friends.
 
Pick up a can of Cooper's Lager and simply dissolve the syrup in the can with 2 pounds of corn sugar. Sprinkle the dry yeast on top, stir and ferment.

You can make 6 gallons of decent BMC clone in 10 minutes. Why struggle to make a lite beer using all grain? Make fantastic beers using all grain and make a Cooper's kit for the friends. Don't buy any other brand of canned kit. Cooper's is the only canned kit manufacturer that is an actual brewery.

The Cooper's kits turn out well when you need a batch in a hurry to feed your friends so they won't have to "choke down" the most wonderful IPA you have ever tasted.

Forrest
 
When I started brewing, I made IPA's and APA's because that is what I love to drink. My friends all did the BMC train, exclusively. So I tried about 3 batches of really good ale's that were quite light and refreshing, and very delicious, but every time I get the "it almost tastes like Miller Lite... keeping working on it".

So now I am back to APA's and IPA's and I am a MUCH happier brewer because all the beer I make, I (I can't emphasize the "I" anymore) like.
 
So let me get this straight. For the sake of your friends, you are going to attempt to brew crappy beer?

Jeez, don't you have anything better to do with your time than brew crappy beer?

Here I am, wishing I had time to brew all the GOOD beer that I want to brew.. and there you are with time to actually devote to brewing something that you don't even want to drink. Must be nice. Color me jealous.
 
It's cheaper (probably) just to go buy a case of beer.
I'd say it really is not worth the effort to brew uninteresting tasteless beer.

Give them a choice, good HB or poor store bought. You are not the poor uneducated soul.
 
hey guys i just finished my first all grain and loved it but my friends all think its to bitter. one even said it tasted like a tree. Is there a recipe for a "lite" beer like a dudweiser or something that i can make just to keep the friends happy?

What kind of beer was it? It's probably better use of your time and effort to figure out why it was so bitter. Could they be describing astringency? If so, it doesn't matter what kind of beer you brew and brewing a light lager will only make the flaw more apparent and frustrate you.

If it is just hop bitterness, save it for people that'll appreciate it and make some Kölsch for your BMC friends. ;)
 
My standard response to the question,

Can you make something like Bud, Miller or Coors? is.

"Why in God's name would I want to try and make a style of beer that you can go to any supermarket or C-store in America and buy?"
 
75% Eff.

5# Pilsner Malt
5# 2 Row

1 oz cascade at 60 min

No aroma additions

San Fran Lager Yeast WLP810

O.g. 1.055

F.G. 1.017
 
Pick up a can of Cooper's Lager and simply dissolve the syrup in the can with 2 pounds of corn sugar. Sprinkle the dry yeast on top, stir and ferment.

You can make 6 gallons of decent BMC clone in 10 minutes. Why struggle to make a lite beer using all grain? Make fantastic beers using all grain and make a Cooper's kit for the friends. Don't buy any other brand of canned kit. Cooper's is the only canned kit manufacturer that is an actual brewery.

The Cooper's kits turn out well when you need a batch in a hurry to feed your friends so they won't have to "choke down" the most wonderful IPA you have ever tasted.

Forrest

What total snobbery. Just because your friends like BMC macro junk doesn't mean they are hopelessly irredeemable if they turn their nose up at your brutal dry hopped double IIPA. I certainly didn't get into brewing to make lazy, tasteless beer out of cans.

Skip the crappy pre-hopped extract kits altogether and brew a nice, complex, malty session mild, english pale ale, kolsch, stout or any of the hundreds of other accessible, easy to drink styles.

Try EdWort's famous haus pale ale recipe. I have yet to see anyone turn their nose up at it, no matter how uneducated their palates.
 
You've obviously never met my wife.

But then she hates all beer, and most kinds of alcohol.

I think that, while I'm anxiously waiting for 19 days from now when I can crack open my first bottle of Ed's Haus Ale, the 30+ IBUs in there may not make it accessible to someone who doesn't at least have a mild appreciation of hops. I know when I started getting into beer, even a pale ale was too bitter for me. I've since gotten more acclimated to alpha acids :)

I agree that a maltier beer may be the way to go. Do they like Killians, or anything like that? I know some people have a thing against 'dark beer'...
 
What total snobbery. Just because your friends like BMC macro junk doesn't mean they are hopelessly irredeemable if they turn their nose up at your brutal dry hopped double IIPA. I certainly didn't get into brewing to make lazy, tasteless beer out of cans.

Skip the crappy pre-hopped extract kits altogether and brew a nice, complex, malty session mild, english pale ale, kolsch, stout or any of the hundreds of other accessible, easy to drink styles.

Try EdWort's famous haus pale ale recipe. I have yet to see anyone turn their nose up at it, no matter how uneducated their palates.

The O.P. asked for something of a light lager. Not a mild not a kolsch or a stout. Why cant we help him find what hes looking for or not help him at all. IMO Ed Worts Haus is my fav homebrew but he didn't ask for a hoppy Pale ale.
 
One of the newer editions of BYO has a recipe for a beer named "Pours Lite". I don't know if this is a true light beer clone, but it looks like a good crossover beer for BMC drinkers. If interested, PM me and I'll transcribe the recipe (when I get home from work).
 
Brew up a big ol' IPA or something you'll like. Invite your friends over. Hand them cans of bud light in hello kitty koozies. Enjoy your beer.
I love this idea.

Or you could adapt a line from Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrel

"Could a magician kill a man with magic?" "Yes, but a gentleman never would."

"Could you brew something like Budweiser?"
 
You are lucky. My friends are lovers of bad "microbrews", namely Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, Blue Moon etc. I loathe the stuff. I'm making Ed Wort's Bavarian Hefeweizen right now thats going to blow their socks off.
 
Just because the original poster asked for something similar to BMC doesn't mean that he wants to make a pilsner.

I suggest making a Kolsch. Its a "lighter" tasting/cleaner tasting beer.
 
If you really want something that tastes like a Bud heres what you do. Get half a pound DME three pounds dog Sh*t and then poop in the fermenter. Pitch whatever yeast you would like then you have a Busch light clone. On a actual note there are a ton of light beer recipes on this sight ya just have to search a little.
 
Have to say it...

Get better friends.

Yah i probably should, my friends are more into drinking quantity then quality. Also i should have been more specific and said a lite ale since i cant lager sorry for not stating that earlier. As for going and buying a pack of something, id rather just brew it and get the experience. Basically ive come to the understanding with my gal and guy friends if the beer isnt watery, golden, or see through they wont like it. I liked the hello kitty cozy idea though i might have to do that.
 
I've made a cream ale with 7 lbs of 2-row, a pound of corn, and about an ounce of hops I had in the freezer (I think it was 1/2 Saaz and 1/2 Tettnanger). It's SWMBO's favorite, and she's not a huge beer drinker. (Thankfully, she's not a huge anything -- heyoohhhhh!). It's light and crisp, but I think next time I'll replace a pound of grain with a pound of corn to make it even lighter.

The way I see it, your friends love the Light American Lager style for the same reason a lot of us loved it at one point -- that's all we could get our underage hands on, so that's what we started with ... and now that's what they are used to. Lucky for us, by some fortunate series of events, we came to know and love more styles as our palates improved. So hopefully this will turn them on to home-brewed beer in general, and with any luck you'll be able to win at least one or two converts in the process. :)
 
I think that the rude comments... while you might be trying to be funny...is not in the spirit of what I like this forum.

Yeah.. high road on this one...
 
hey guys i just finished my first all grain and loved it but my friends all think its to bitter. one even said it tasted like a tree. I

Ha back in my very very early days as a beer drinker....ok 4 years ago lol.

I use to say Killian's Irish Red taste like dirt. Actually my friend tasted it also and he too said "yep dirt"
 
I brewed a blonde ale for my mother-in-law who is a lite drinker. 8# Pilsner, 1/2 oz of cascades at 60 and 20, WLP 001 at 68. OG 1.040, FG 1.008, ~18 IBU. Aged two months, the hops get mellower with age. You could even try 3 months of conditioning. Anything less and I wouldn't be able to drink it myself. :)
 
Try EdWort's famous haus pale ale recipe. I have yet to see anyone turn their nose up at it, no matter how uneducated their palates.

Yeah, the Haus seems to be a winner, even with my BMC loving friends. I wouldn't even try to replicate an American Light Lager. It's way too hard to get right, and so much cheaper to buy at the store.

In all honesty, I've yet to find the friend that hasn't liked at least one thing I've made. Sometimes it just takes them awhile to open up their minds to something different than what their used too. I also fins that involvong them in the brewing process really peeks their interest.
 
...I'd rather just brew it and get the experience...

You nay sayers should be ashamed. Someone wants to brew a light crisp summer beer and expand the acceptance of homebrew among the BMC crowd and you pshaw the notion?

Someone comes to our community seeking advice and rather than helping...you chastise? Could it be that you simply are not capable of brewing such a beer?

:p :p :p

But seriously...there's nothing quite as satisfying as brewing a beer that people taste and ask in disbelief..."you really brewed this yourself???"

So in answer to your question, the easiest, lightest and most economical beer you can brew to satisfy the chics is a cream ale. Not too hoppy. A good quencher and crystal clear.

This recipe comes in around 3.6% so it's a great all day beer.
clearestbeer.jpg


Cream of Three Crops

Batch Size: 11.50 gal
Boil Size: 14.26 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 2.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 14.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
4.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)
1.00 lb Minute Rice (1.0 SRM)

1.00 oz Williamette [5.20%] (60 min)
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50%] (60 min)

 
You nay sayers should be ashamed. Someone wants to brew a light crisp summer beer and expand the acceptance of homebrew among the BMC crowd and you pshaw the notion?

Someone comes to our community seeking advice and rather than helping...you chastise? Could it be that you simply are not capable of brewing such a beer?

:p :p :p

But seriously...there's nothing quite as satisfying as brewing a beer that people taste and ask in disbelief..."you really brewed this yourself???"

So in answer to your question, the easiest, lightest and most economical beer you can brew to satisfy the chics is a cream ale. Not too hoppy. A good quencher and crystal clear.

This recipe comes in around 3.6% so it's a great all day beer.
View attachment 5894


Cream of Three Crops

Batch Size: 11.50 gal
Boil Size: 14.26 gal
Estimated OG: 1.040 SG
Estimated Color: 2.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 14.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
4.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM)
1.00 lb Minute Rice (1.0 SRM)

1.00 oz Williamette [5.20%] (60 min)
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50%] (60 min)


What yeast do you use, BM? And do you do a cereal mash to get the protein haze out of the rice, or does minute rice not have that problem? How do you mash?
 
You nay sayers should be ashamed. Someone wants to brew a light crisp summer beer and expand the acceptance of homebrew among the BMC crowd and you pshaw the notion?

Someone comes to our community seeking advice and rather than helping...you chastise? Could it be that you simply are not capable of brewing such a beer?

:p :p :p

But seriously...there's nothing quite as satisfying as brewing a beer that people taste and ask in disbelief..."you really brewed this yourself???"

So in answer to your question, the easiest, lightest and most economical beer you can brew to satisfy the chics is a cream ale. Not too hoppy. A good quencher and crystal clear.
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I couldn't agree more. All of us at one time had a limited palate and had some experience that broadened our horizons. Why not take this opportunity to educate your friends and have fun doing it? Go to a microbrewery and try all different kinds of their beer and learn about it. If that is not feasible, assemble a flight of different, yet "approachable" beers and have a tasting. With each beer, have some fun and friendly educational material. As we all know, some of the resistance to "beer snob beers" is a lack of education and experience. We were all there at one time.

My three uncles (who are all about my age, don't ask) were die-hard bud light drinkers. They always criticized the variety of "dark" beers that I enjoyed. One day, we all went to New Belgium and O'dells brewery in Fort Collins. All of them began to slowly appreciate other beers. One of them drinks Trippel and Abby Ale and another loves 90 Schilling now! This is after years of drinking (and enjoying:confused:) Bud Light.

Being a snob about beer will only perpetuate the perceived inaccessibility of beer and prove to be divisive.

As beer lovers, we should strive to include all in the joy that we experience in beer.

Hope I haven't offended anyone.

Eric
 
I like the above posters thoughts. Some accessible beers to pick up for a flight:

Victory Prima Pils
Goose Island 312 Summer Wheat
Maibock/Oktoberfest
Hefeweizen


The way I convert my friends is to ask them these questions:

If you could go through time and visit any place in history, and meet any person in history, who would you want to meet? Where would you want to go?

Now, if you were there, at that time, with that person, and they prepared the greatest feast in your honor, and they had all sorts of amazing foods and you got to talk with this amazing person, but all they had to drink, the only safe beverage was (fill in the name of an inaccessible beer here), what would you think of this beverage under those circumstances?


What I find is that most people, when they hang up their preconceptions and start with the premise that they are out of their comfort zone, they will almost always concede that, well, yeah, the beer isn't that bad and they could certainly drink it without being a puss.

At that point, once they're about halfway done with the glass, drinking with an open mind, they'll get over whatever they "think" a beer should be and actually become pretty receptive to whatever it is that the style offers.
 
But... but it's so much fun to be a snob :( Can't we just make it look like so much fun that others want to join in? Ivory towers are no fun if you put in a damn door.
 
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