Beer with no hops, what would it taste like?

My wife HATES the bitterness and taste of hops... she can't even stand the smell of an IPA. Like me, she is intruiged about all the different things you can do with homebrewing, so without wasting a batch (time and money) I'm curious if anyone has ever made a beer with no hops? What did it taste like?

I have read that someone people say you would end up with Malt Liquor? But then some others have said that is wrong...

Also, along those lines, is it possible to brew a malt liquor like Mike's hard lemonade? Or is that just carbinated lemonade and vodka with a fancy name?

Thanks!

Look for Malt Goya at your Grocer and read the Skeeter Pee threads.

Yes you can brew a hard lemonade. Just pick a low IBU recipe, rather than no hops. If it were worthwhile it would be done by some. Try Ed Wort's apfelwein, a cider, etc.

A lemonade: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/good-hard-lemonade-27966/

Stouts and Porters are usually very low in hops.

What 'non hoppy' beers have you two tried?

pnj said:

What 'non hoppy' beers have you two tried?

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This is the key - you need to do some research! Find a beer she likes, and try a recipe in that style.

Scottish and Irish ales are malty and very low on the hops. Some of the Belgians also, you have lots of options if you look for them.

No one has yet to know (or even speculate) what it would taste like... that's what I'm looking for. I'm already in my experimental stages of brewing.

There is a wide spectrum between IPA and no hops. Try some different varieties. What kind of flavors does she like?

it would taste like sweet malt water.

The final flavor would depend on what grains/extract you used and what yeast....

If you tell us what 'non hoppy' beers you have tasted and liked, we could more easily direct you to a recipe that might fit what you are looking for.

if it tastes anything like a starter, then bad. really bad.

do you ever make starters? give the fermented starter a taste and you'll find out that its not very good. Forget about ipa's and try some other beers.

check out the cream ale extract kit on Northern Brewer. Sounds low on the hops and high on the malty side

I posted a Hard Lemonade All-Grain idea on a different thread, let me know what everyone thinks:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/hard-lemonade-recipe-idea-thoughts-210600/

PS: flabyboy, I'm from Dover!

Has she tried a Scottish 60/- ?

nstorm1121 said:

I'm already in my experimental stages of brewing.

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Sounds like a newb.

motobrewer said:

it would taste like sweet malt water.

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It would taste like a malty beer.

KeithMoonsLiver said:

if it tastes anything like a starter, then bad. really bad.

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There you go.

nstorm1121 said:

PS: flabyboy, I'm from Dover!

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Lol. very small world. I'm from Rochester originally.

i am in the early stages of brewing a sour beer. i did primary fermentation with regular "clean" yeast. it is a 1.065 OG brown ale with only 15 IBU's of Saaz hops.

i tasted it at the end of primary, 1.016 FG, and it tasted like wort with alcohol in it. it was very sweet, too sweet for me to drink the 6oz sample quickly. it reminded me of Dogfish Head Raison D'etree. buy some of that stuff for you wife.

It would taste like whatever spice you substituted for hops. It's actually it's own style, called a Gruit. Its category 21A, though not all beers in that category are a Gruit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gruit

You'll find plenty of recipes online. Enjoy.

sounds like a malty nightmare.

You can find your answer here:

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=may-28-2008-base-malt-experiment-ii

Try a Muskoka Craft Lager, its by far the least hoppy beer I have ever had but really nice, they have some fantastic beers! If she don't like that one there is no beer she will like haha.

I was on a no hops kick for a while where I was brewing everything without hops. The beers were more malty sweet than the same beers with hops in them. They also had more pronounced flavors from the other ingredients; grains, fruits, nuts, spices, honey. It's an interesting thing to do. Especially so for stouts, porters and coffee beers. If you want malty sweet, or to taste the other flavors without the hops flavor in the way, go for it. I'm sold on not hopping coffee beers now.

Agree, I was caught up on the monster hop thing for a long time and still love my slap in the face IPAs but there is also nothing like a nice simple low or no hop beer to let you taste the other stuff that make up.... beer! I love the malt notes.

My only unhopped beer I made- Gruit. Tasted like unsweetend lemonade. Light refreshing tart and summary. I bottle conditioned it around 80 but I dont know if that is the reason for its lemonyness or the fact the I used dried yarrow from the Health food store. Hops preserve the beer so my guess is it will turn sour/tart without them? Not shure about that but dont have experience with unhopped beers.