Simple question about SWMBO

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DylansDad

DylansDad

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Location
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Simple question:
If she (unfortunately) only drinks white wine or Bud Light, what would be a good beer to brew for her to get into the home brews?

I would love to make something she would enjoy and something that might get her into this new found love. or do I ignore it and buy white wine for her and continue to make what my friends and I enjoy?

Thanks,
Dave
 
DylansDad said:
Simple question:
If she (unfortunately) only drinks white wine or Bud Light, what would be a good beer to brew for her to get into the home brews?

I would love to make something she would enjoy and something that might get her into this new found love. or do I ignore it and buy white wine for her and continue to make what my friends and I enjoy?

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

Apfelwein and tell her it's dry white wine! :mug:
 
Make her wine!

Or a Kolsch. Maybe a Honey Kolsch.

That Ed Wort feller has a pretty good recipe that'll strip her down pretty quick....Takes 6 weeks or so, but hey...it works. Evan! calls it prisonhoochfelwein.

****Damn you AZ_IPA! I wasn't gonna tell him the name of it. :D
 
First of all, I don't think there is such a thing as a simple question about SWMBO.
I think BeerMunchers SWMBO slayer would be interesting, but a good fast cider, followed up by Ed's wine cider may keep her happy. Note I said maybe.
 
DylansDad said:
I would love to make something she would enjoy and something that might get her into this new found love.
Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

Dear Dave.
Buy her a wine kit.

Let her nurture and care for it.
Let her bottle it.
let her drink it.

she will realize that wine takes a while,
she will be impatient...

then get her a Raspberry Hefeweizen kit.
let her brew it.

see what happens then.

Yorp Al,
Shawn

aka thataintchicken

or for the pervy among us ... tha taint chicken.

buncha freaks I tell ya...
<wanders of to pout in corner>
 
A nice blond ale is a good step up from BMC.

Big factor is to control fermentation temperature so that the yeast stays clean and doesn't throw a lot of esters.
 
Brew her a nice light lager.

However, sneak a little extra taste and body into it.

When that one runs out, make the next one with a little MORE taste and body.

Eventually, you will have her drinking triple chocolate cherry stout.

:D
 
so i was always under the impression that my girlfriend disliked all beers, probably because she was constantly saying how she disliked all beers.

every time i'd make a beer or get a commercial six pack, i'd ask her to try a small taste. told her it was totally ok if she didnt like it, i just wanted her to get a chance to try lots of different styles just in case there was one she didn't mind so much. as expected, she told me she disliked pretty much all of them, but some clearly more so than others. i always told her it was ok if she didn't like any of them (and it was).

after a couple months though, i didn't have to ask her to try them anymore, she'd do it out of curiosity. and every once in awhile she'd say "that one's not so bad." now two years later she's determined that she actually likes stouts and porters, as long as there's not a lot of hop flavor or bitterness. i think it worked because she decided it on her own. i didn't pressure her to drink anything just to humor me because a) i want her to be happy and b) that always backfires.

that strategy might not work for everyone, but it did for me. just in case you're wondering, here's the recipe for our house oatmeal stout which she loves:

9.5 lbs pale malt
1 lb flaked oats
.5 lb roasted barley
.5 lb chocolate malt

1 oz 4.5% willamette 60 min
.5 oz willamette 20 min

us 05 dry yeast
 
I would start a batch of apfelwein, then brew a blonde ale making sure you keep the fermentation temps at the low end of the range for whatever yeast you use.

IMHO, apfelwein is not to be consumed before at least 6 months, it really doesn't do it justice before then and should be aged longer... many don't do that, but I really don't think it is a passable beverage before then.
 
I've found that many women, including my own, do not like overly bitter beers. So start her off with something that doesn't have a huge hop profile as strange as it may sound a good porter or stout may be a good place to start. My wife started on stouts and lightly hopped pale ales and still does not like most IPAs because of the bitterness.
 
First has she tried any other types of beer? I would suggest going to some brew festivals or locations that you can try samples first. I don't think dropping $25-$35 and taking 3 weeks of time to see if she is going to like something is a very efficient way to go about it. See if through sampling brews you can find something she enjoys and then brew her some.
 
I would say, brew an english style light bitter, just pale malt, no other grains, mash at 67 - 68 deg c, and boil for 90 minutes, use only cascade hops, about 3 oz per 5 gallons, added in stages. Serve at 14 to 15 deg c, no cooler.
 
Many years ago, I proved to my SWMBO that Guiness was a "diet beer" and she came to like the taste. From there, she progressed to "non-diet beers" like Ambers and berry-flavored wheats. And very recently she has come to appreciate some aromatic hops (Two Hearted, Sierra Nevada, and Mad Hatter to name a few). It can be done.
 
DylansDad said:
Simple question:
If she (unfortunately) only drinks white wine or Bud Light, what would be a good beer to brew for her to get into the home brews?

I would love to make something she would enjoy and something that might get her into this new found love. or do I ignore it and buy white wine for her and continue to make what my friends and I enjoy?

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

"If she (unfortunately)"??????

you wish she was a dude???? :p

try my cream ale with less malty flavor:

4 lbs pilsner
4 lbs 6-row malt
2 lbs flaked corn
0.5 lbs vienna malt

fuggle for bittering and saaz for flavor.

WLP080 Cream Ale yeast blend, ferment 60-65°F.

it's a winner. nice and light...the BMC drinkers love it.

you can do partial mash, too:

2 lbs 6-row
2 lbs flaked corn
0.5 lbs vienna malt
3.5 lbs Pilsner DME
 
mmb said:
A nice blond ale is a good step up from BMC.

Big factor is to control fermentation temperature so that the yeast stays clean and doesn't throw a lot of esters.
Click to expand...

I always keep a blonde and/or cream ale on tap. I have the Austin Homebrew Session Blonde on tap right now, I fermented it at 62*F (Kolsch yeast) and it tastes a lot like a light lager but with more hop flavor and bitterness.
 
Thanks again. I think I might be busy this weekend with brewing stuff for customers at work who have expressed interest and then making her beer. It'll be fun!



DeathBrewer said:
"If she (unfortunately)"??????

you wish she was a dude???? :p
Click to expand...

Uh no. Good point though!
 
Another good idea would be to go to a bar with a reasonable selection of draft and have her go through a bit of a sampler. Just make sure she's in the mood for it, and keeps an open mind. Taste with her, and discuss each one. Probably wouldn't hurt to bring a friend. One of hers, I mean. Or another couple. Just to keep it fun. I feel like this is going down a dirty road, but I'm not turning around.
 
john from dc said:
so i was always under the impression that my girlfriend disliked all beers, probably because she was constantly saying how she disliked all beers.

every time i'd make a beer or get a commercial six pack, i'd ask her to try a small taste. told her it was totally ok if she didnt like it, i just wanted her to get a chance to try lots of different styles just in case there was one she didn't mind so much. as expected, she told me she disliked pretty much all of them, but some clearly more so than others. i always told her it was ok if she didn't like any of them (and it was).

after a couple months though, i didn't have to ask her to try them anymore, she'd do it out of curiosity. and every once in awhile she'd say "that one's not so bad." now two years later she's determined that she actually likes stouts and porters, as long as there's not a lot of hop flavor or bitterness. i think it worked because she decided it on her own. i didn't pressure her to drink anything just to humor me because a) i want her to be happy and b) that always backfires.

that strategy might not work for everyone, but it did for me. just in case you're wondering, here's the recipe for our house oatmeal stout which she loves:

9.5 lbs pale malt
1 lb flaked oats
.5 lb roasted barley
.5 lb chocolate malt

1 oz 4.5% willamette 60 min
.5 oz willamette 20 min

us 05 dry yeast
Click to expand...

this exactly proves my theory, ive had lots of women tell me they "dont like beer" and everytime somebody tells me that i tell them "well if you dont like beer then you just havent had enough of it" the taste of beer is really something that you learn to love, ill be completely honest, the first time i tried beer (i was really young) i didnt care for it much but it wasnt terrible, and now ive grown into a fanatic, trying to sample as many different kinds of beers as i can and i love it!
 
lol i was in the same spot you were. I told my SWMBO that its a apple wine that taste delicious like her kitty cat! she dug it so now i have 2 more brewing to keep her happy so she doesnt yell at me from the yummy wort smell thru the apartment
 
Why are you wanting to change her? This is like her asking her friends how can I get my man to come to the scrapbooking parties? If she is not into it, then she's not into it.

Just have her choke down a couple of IPAs. She'll be so wasted and her tastebuds will be so numb, that any other beer will be Bud Lite to her in no time... Trial by fire!
 
farmbrewernw said:
I've found that many women, including my own, do not like overly bitter beers. So start her off with something that doesn't have a huge hop profile as strange as it may sound a good porter or stout may be a good place to start. My wife started on stouts and lightly hopped pale ales and still does not like most IPAs because of the bitterness.
Click to expand...

I don't know what that is- but it does seem like many women don't like bitter. The funny thing is my best friend's favorite beer is Corona Light. But she LOVES my DFH IPA clone. It's because she doesn't think it's bitter- to her it's citrusy and fruity. She'll usually enjoy a kolsch, or my Dead Guy clone, and the IPA. She doesn't like porters, stouts, or bitter beers.

In my case, I used to prefer malty beers myself. Now, I'm a total hophead and am all about the hops. I think our preferences change over time.
 
You can make a lot of white wine , and in my opinion, it is easier to make than beer. However, it will obviously take much longer with a few more rackings and aging that can be necessary.

You can make 5 gallons of white wine from Welchs concentrate... that's roughly 25 bottles worth. Cheap and straightforward. I just started my grocery store juice wine two weeks ago though, so I can't vouch for the taste yet...
 
YooperBrew said:
I don't know what that is- but it does seem like many women don't like bitter. The funny thing is my best friend's favorite beer is Corona Light. But she LOVES my DFH IPA clone. It's because she doesn't think it's bitter- to her it's citrusy and fruity. She'll usually enjoy a kolsch, or my Dead Guy clone, and the IPA. She doesn't like porters, stouts, or bitter beers.

In my case, I used to prefer malty beers myself. Now, I'm a total hophead and am all about the hops. I think our preferences change over time.
Click to expand...

My wife doesn't like bitter beers, but she got PISSED OFF when the proprietor of this dinky little micro we visited gave her a raspberry wheat and said "here's something you might like" (without having even talked to her...)
 
Milds, goldens and wheats are good bets. You can always add fruit to a wheat. I've had wheats that used Jasmine and Lavender (there's an annual Lavender Festival up here).
 
Its my experience that lots of women like bitter and IPAs. I love IPAs. I have to go to the pub no earlier than 9.30pm so I don't drink gallons of the stuff. It is about getting a taste for it.

Lavender, surely that cant be right? I live on a lavender farm and have been asked several times when am I going to make a lavender beer. It seems so wrong. I've cooked with lavender but beer????? Send me a recipe if you truly think its a worth a go and I shall try and be more open minded.
 
the_bird said:
My wife doesn't like bitter beers, but she got PISSED OFF when the proprietor of this dinky little micro we visited gave her a raspberry wheat and said "here's something you might like" (without having even talked to her...)
Click to expand...

Well, that's because it's patronizing! Because I'm a girl, you want to give me a girly beer? WTF is that? I didn't pour you a stout because you are.

I HATE wheat beer, and I HATE fruit beer, but some proprietor always seems to want to give me a beer with both of those horrid ingredients. I have to say, "excuse me, do you have any beers with HOPS?" The great thing was at Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, during a tour I was looking for their (fantastic and new) IPA. One of the employees took me out of the tour group and found me a huge mug of the IPA. He was hot, besides.

I guess it's not expected that a skinny middle aged woman will want to be smacked in the face with hops, but, baby, give it to me!
 
I'm interested in this thread in a dull academic way (nothing can be dull when there is real ale).

I'm female, big fan of hops, and I've just set up a hobby microbrewery but I want to sell my beer one day. Women don't drink anywhere near as much real ale as men in UK. But what are the barriers? Is there anything marketing or recipes can do to make real ale more appealing to women?

It is just image, cultural programming, isn't it? What would an 'entry level' beer look like? low BU, low alcohol, a really complex and strong flavour that you could drink in half pints. (personally I want a pint)/ not just knocking the alcohol back.

no NO lavender or raspberries,

contemporary label?

I do think my gender is missing out. I'd like to see some of my females friends drink more beer.
 
YooperBrew said:
Well, that's because it's patronizing! Because I'm a girl, you want to give me a girly beer? WTF is that? I didn't pour you a stout because you are.

I HATE wheat beer, and I HATE fruit beer, but some proprietor always seems to want to give me a beer with both of those horrid ingredients. I have to say, "excuse me, do you have any beers with HOPS?" The great thing was at Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee, during a tour I was looking for their (fantastic and new) IPA. One of the employees took me out of the tour group and found me a huge mug of the IPA. He was hot, besides.

I guess it's not expected that a skinny middle aged woman will want to be smacked in the face with hops, but, baby, give it to me!
Click to expand...

My SWMBO would be pissed off if someone offered here a fruit beer just because she is a woman, she doesn't like fruit beers at all.
 
TimothyTaylorslLandlady said:
I'm interested in this thread in a dull academic way (nothing can be dull when there is real ale).

I'm female, big fan of hops, and I've just set up a hobby microbrewery but I want to sell my beer one day. Women don't drink anywhere near as much real ale as men in UK. But what are the barriers? Is there anything marketing or recipes can do to make real ale more appealing to women?

It is just image, cultural programming, isn't it? What would an 'entry level' beer look like? low BU, low alcohol, a really complex and strong flavour that you could drink in half pints. (personally I want a pint)/ not just knocking the alcohol back.

no NO lavender or raspberries,

contemporary label?

I do think my gender is missing out. I'd like to see some of my females friends drink more beer.
Click to expand...

You know I think it has a lot to do with past marketing. Here in Oregon a lot of micobreweries have went out of their way to appeal to woman, such as having women only tasting dinners and such. The big macros are just now starting to realize that there is another 50% of the pop that could be marketed to but I think in all honesty they will have a hard time because in a lot of ways I think womens tasting abilities are more sophisticated than us men. It's hard to get a woman to suck back BMC when it doesn't taste all that good, might as well just drink water. Yoops is an exception to the rule, along with a few other woman I know, but like my SWMBO bitterness of highly hopped beers seems to be too much so I would think beers with low bitterness additions and higher flavor and aroma additions would do the trick. I have made some IPAs that have a reduced bittering addition and higher flavor/aroma additions that my SWMBO has loved.
 
Umm, so much to think about when making and drinking beer, cant just go to the pub anymore and drink I have to have half of each of the beers and understand how they got that way, I shall persue this female thing until I understand it better and can make femalekind appreciate real ale better. My female friends are very very smart, highly sensitive and open minded and sensible, so why why why dont they all get proper tasty beer? I shall endeavour to get to the bottom of this.

Are you really the Stig? I didn't realise that he got as far as Oregon. If you are the Stig then thats big news in the pub tonight.
 

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