Beer without hops?

One of the benefits of me being the boss is that I brew beers for my team. I take requests and brew up some for our Friday happy hours.
(I am a nice boss... I know )

So one of our employees is allergic to hops (she gets headaches), but she loves beer. I would love to brew something that does not have the hops. What are my options?

I've never tried brewing any but there are recipes for pine bittered beers, mugwort bittererd and other more exotic biterring agents. I've had a pine bittered beer and it was VERY good.

Wine.

LakewoodBrew said:

I've never tried brewing any but there are recipes for pine bittered beers, mugwort bittererd and other more exotic biterring agents. I've had a pine bittered beer and it was VERY good.

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+1.... spruce tips are verry good.. they even make an extract but be warned a little goes a long way..

Check out "Homebrewer's Garden". It's a great book that has a bunch of recipes that you can brew by subbing out the hops. It also has a few recipes that don't involve hops. The book is obviously geared toward those of us who are growing hops, but it also goes into details about other flowers/herbs/spices that can be used to preserve the beer and add a different flavor.

I haven't tried any of them yet...but it's on my list.

Brew a gruit!

Or try a hop extract; maybe she is intolerant to the vegetal compoments of the hops and not the actual bittering compounds.

agurkas said:

One of the benefits of me being the boss is that I brew beers for my team. I take requests and brew up some for our Friday happy hours.
(I am a nice boss... I know )

So one of our employees is allergic to hops (she gets headaches), but she loves beer. I would love to brew something that does not have the hops. What are my options?

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How does she know she's allergic to hops? How can you be allergic to hops and love beer?

Beer is hopped by definition. Most people have never had a beer with no hops (except maybe keystone light). Gruit is what you call a beer which isn't hopped.

nut bown ale?

-=Jason=-

Scandinavians bittered their beers with juniper berries, I believe, before adding hops became standard.

Instead of Hops I would use " Endive Extract " .

Hector

You cannot have beer without hops. You could make a Gruit

One of my friends who has a hop allergy mostly substitutes in yarrow. It's not horrible but it's not great either

I recently had a beer made with Heather Flower rather than hops. It tasted pretty good and if you weren't trying, you really couldn't taste much of a difference.

I just brewed a beer with no hops for the wife. Not that she doesn't like hops, she just liked this one particular beer. The LHBS had it on tap when we went in. They called it 'Helles'.

Basic extract kit.

6lb Light Malt Extract
.25lb Cara-Pils
.125lb Crystal 20L

.25oz Heathers Tips @60
.25oz Heathers Tips @30
.5oz Chamomile @5

Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager

I haven't tasted mine yet, but what they had in the LHBS was pretty good for a no hop beer.

I'm planning a similar beer.

A lil lemongrass (little goes a long way)
And Ginger

I would also have her clarify the whole allergy reaction she told you. A lot of folks claim or believe they have an allergy to something and they are simply experiencing normal side effects from whatever they had ingested. For example, people tell me they are allergic to narcotics, I then ask what their reaction is, they then explain that they get nausea and that is why they cannot take narcotics. That is a normal side effect to narcotics, and pretty much everyone has that reaction. It's not an allergic reaction. Alcohol side effects include vasodilation which will induce headaches for example. She may be sensitive to certain components however it doesn't sound like a true allergy. She may just have to try out different kind of beers that may not cause a similar effect. I get headaches from cheap beer as well.....however that's still not an allergy. I learned to drink better beer.

beerloaf

I had read (correct me if I am wrong) but hops are a critical part of beer nowadays because they act as both a preservative and an antibacterial component of beer, allowing it to be shelved for longer (more then a week or so) without risk of infection.

I was planning to brew a 'gruit' or medieval style beer a couple months ago but abandoned this brew due to the fact that I could not find any of the herbs (such as bogwort) and decided that an infection/low shelf life was not worth it.

If its safe to brew beer (and keep it for a long time) without hops, I would love to know because a medieval ale is something I have been aching to try.

dude i live in boston where is this homebrew happy hour that you speak of. and im pretty sure that all beer is hopped so for her to love beer and be allergic to hops is pretty weird she must like a certain kind of beer and im sure it has hops myabe not alot but it must have some. how would she know what beer tastes like? does she drink non-hopped beer? and im pretty sure you get put to death of you dont use hops in your beer. maybe just lie to her and tell her there is no hops in it !

My son claims to be allergic to baked potatoes and broccoli ... but he's not allergic to french fires ... hmmmm

Flywheel said:

My son claims to be allergic to baked potatoes and broccoli ... but he's not allergic to french fires ... hmmmm

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Bahahaha.. Been down that road with my kids...

someone posted a thread a while ago asking for bittering substitutes and I flipped through my "homebrewer's garden" book and posted a list.



Alecost - used to bitter ales back in the 1600s. "the leaves are very bitter so they should not be used in combination with lots of hops. use anywhere from one sprig of leaves to 1oz

bee balm/bergamot - add at the end of boil for a bitter, minty flavoring and menthol aroma

Betony - "the bitter leaves were once used as a tea substitute. use one sprig to 1oz at start of boil for bittering

Blessed Thistle - "Historically the leaves of blessed thistle were used as a hop substitute to bitter ale in Europe. Use 2oz to 1lb (58-454g) of fresh, cleaned plants early in the boil for bittering."

Chamomile - "This traditional tea herb is said to be one of the secret ingredients in Celis White. Although mild when steeped, it becomes surprisingly bitter when boiled... Use 1/4-2oz (7-57g) at the end of boil for an apple-like flavoring and aroma or at the beginning of the boil for bitterness.

Dandelion - use between 2oz-1lb early in the boil for bittering

Gentian - Gentian roots have long been used in Sweden to bitter beer. Unlike many other brewing herbs, the flavor of gentian does not mellow over time. We recommend using a maximum of 1tsp (1/8oz or 3.5g) of dried root early in the boil for bittering.


Heather - Heather imparts a spicy, complex bitterness and a deep purple color to beer. Use 1-5cups of flowers late in the boil for flavoring and aroma, add 1cup of flowers dryhopped for a purple color and a strong heather flavor.

Horehound - This fresh herb is very bitter. It adds a warming, almost menthol finish to beer. 2oz of fresh leaves and flowers at start of boil for bittering, cut quantity to 1oz if dried horehound is used.

Milk Thistle - bitter flavoring used historically in many European beers to offset the sweetness of malt. 2oz of the seeds or fresh leaves and stems early in boil for bittering.

Nettle - Use 2oz of dried nettle leaves or up to 1/2 lb of fresh nettles at start of boil for bittering.

Yarrow - Yarrow leaves and blossoms were widely used to bitter beer before hops became popular. Use 1/2oz of fresh leaves or blossoms early in the boil for a mild, sagelike bittering to your beer.

Thanks PolishStout! That is some good info. I know I can buy bulk Chamomile from almost any natural store but the rest are going to be very tricky...

Coriander, orange peel, any citrus fruit peel (lemon, grapefruit, etc...).

Ever since I've been adding hops to my beers, I've noticed they all taste waaayy better. Better mouthfeel, better balance, better reception. Without some hops, beer wouldn't be beer anyway I would try to add some of the ingredients from the above list though, seems like he did his (your) research!

Your right, without hops its not considered 'beer' anymore, but a gruit. I mentioned earlier in this thread that I had read hops are important because they act as both a preservative and an antibacterial component of beer. Personally I have never made a gruit before but it is on my to-do list, though I still have some concern about shelf-life and potential infections without the hops.

Lemon Balm, heather, and Coriander are 3 I have found I enjoy. (in conjunction with hops).

Homebrewer's Garden is a great resource.

Have you considered doing a mead?

starrfish said:

Lemon Balm, heather, and Coriander are 3 I have found I enjoy. (in conjunction with hops).

Homebrewer's Garden is a great resource.

Have you considered doing a mead?

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That actually brings up a good point. I have made several meads and a dozen ciders and not once had an infection or worried about shelf life. Though they are different creatures all together, using honey or fruit to get your fermentables rather then grain. To hell with it, I am going to make a gruit next week.

I have a hopless olde (gruit) ale using mug wort, yarrow, heather, and juniper berries aging for a long time in a secondary with a intentional brett infection going. Should be ready to bottle now. should be interesting to say the least. Plan on carbing with champagne yeast as at last check it was over 12%. last tasting the juniper was very present.

starrfish said:

I have a hopless olde (gruit) ale using mug wort, yarrow, heather, and juniper berries aging for a long time in a secondary with a intentional brett infection going. Should be ready to bottle now. should be interesting to say the least. Plan on carbing with champagne yeast as at last check it was over 12%. last tasting the juniper was very present.

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Recipe please

I didn't think you could eat bread of any kind if you were allergic to yeast... Any truth to that myth?

agurkas said:

So one of our employees is allergic to hops (she gets headaches)...

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Take some hops in to work and try get her to eat them and see if she gets a headache. Is she sure she is getting headaches and not hangovers

mattd2 said:

Take some hops in to work and try get her to eat them and see if she gets a headache. Is she sure she is getting headaches and not hangovers

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It just seems implausible, doesn't it? I've never heard of this phenomenon. Maybe it is the yeast or the excessive carbonation?

Bradinator said:

Recipe please

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Old English Ale
10 lbs. pale malt (2 row) (substitute 8lbs light dry extract for partial mash)
4 lbs. Marris Otter
1 lb. crystal malt (60)
2 oz. black malt
12 oz. molasses

Bitter with
2 oz mugwort, 2oz yarrow, 2oz heather, 1grm sweet gale, and 50-75 juniper berries. (not sure yet on juniper berries, may back down some)

Started with US 05, added 9097 Wyeast Old Ale Blend when OG 1.089 (may have been higher couldn't get a good read as it was a topped off partial should have hit at least 1.103 dropped to 1.021, been working on the brett infection ever since (about a year now). last check it was 1.008 which gives me an ABV of 11.09%. brett seems to be still going though. When it does stop, I'm going to add about 1/2 a cup of corn sugar and a pack of Champagne yeast.

Sorry I don't have better addition times, I need to find my bittering schedule. I know heather went in late. 25 juniper berries went into dry hop. along with some sweet gale. If you don't plan on bretting this and going for a quicker version I may cut the herbs Way back. they where intense but I knew this was going to be a long road.

I may suggest scaling this to a 1 gallon experimental. It may not be everyones cup of tea.... this heavily herbed gruit is "unusual" at best and the grain/herb bill is pretty pricey.

Thanks starrfish. I think I will skip the brett infection and go the quick root on the olden style ale. I know I can get heather, yarrow and juniper from the local markets here, but sweetgale/bogmrytle and mugwort are going to be tough to source without going online.

I had to go online for mine. back down on the herbs if you don't plan to age it out for a long time mugwort is pretty intense (actually this whole herb blend is intense.)

I do have some sweet gale left I may add to something like a wee heavy in the near future.

Papazian has a recipe for a spruce beer in his book...

Hello. I just got my first batch of beer going,and it appears to be working. I also have a kit from Northern Brewers,a Dunkelweizen, that just came in. this kit came with two small jugs of LME, and doesnt call for any sugar to be used.I want to add one pound of DME to the mix to up the alcohol content a little. I did call the company,and ask a few questions about this. The man said that it would make the hops bitterness different,or something to that effect,and affect the sg?but I forgot to ask him when do I add the DME? also,if I use brown sugar as a primer for bottling,how will this effect the taste of the beer? any answers would be appreciated as im new to this but I do love me some good beer. Thanks in advance.

I would think that a beer with an ABV of 12% would keep pretty well without hops if the sanitation was spot on.

I would consider brewing a hopless beer maybe with 30% honey to lighten the body and minimal herbal bittering. hhhmmm....

I've always wondered if Japanese green tea would work for bittering since it definitely is quite bitter as a tea. Might add a unique flavor too

Some of the reading I did (for what net-knowledge is worth) stated that anything that is bitter could be considered antiseptic. Not sure how much truth there is to it, but I brewed up a Gruit last week anyway.