I don't like Belgians, Sours, or Hefs. Am I alone?

I fancy myself a beer affictionado. I love trying new beers and having a wide variety on tap. But for the life of me, I just can't develop a taste for Belgians, Sours, or Hefeweizens.

I don't like that banana-like funky yeast flavour character of Belgians. I find it hangs around in my mouth for far too long and just doesn't taste good. It tastes like melted plastic to me.

Sours, honestly I haven't tried any, but just the thought of "sour beer" doesn't exactly have me reaching for my glass or my wallet. I've had infected batches before, and they were not good, so if that's what a sour is, no thanks.

Hefeweizens, I dislike for the same reason as Belgians. It's the yeast character. I can't get over that in-your-face banana, clove character. Now, *American* wheat ales, on the other hand, I love. Give me a nice wheat ale fermented cleanly with a neutral strain like US-05 and I'll guzzle it all afternoon.

Anyone else have similar tastes? Am I allowed to not like such a broad swath of beer styles and still be in the "beer club?"

Bananas are for monkeys and not for beer, in my opinion. I also don't like the bubble gum thing either.

It took me awhile to get into sours. The first time I had one, I thought it was the most awful thing ever. Then I had another a few months later (no idea why). Now, I've got one sitting in a carboy that's almost ready to bottle at a year.

Still, there are styles I just can't get into. Personal tastes, I guess.

I think that your pallet changes over time. IPA's used to be too strong for me, then I went through a phase where thats all I wanted to drink. Belgian do have a strong phenolic property that can be tough to handle but I like'm, the hefe's aren't really my thing either but the sours are what I'm interested in right now. I don't like them but I'm not ready to give up on them. They're strange, something seems wrong about it and people who aren't beer geeks cringe when they he me order one. I think it's an aquired taste and I'm not there yet but I want to like them. I want to appreciate all things beer. The good, the bad and even the ugly.

You're not alone. There are plenty of other people who just like Bud Light, too.

I assume you're not alone. I know that 2 years ago, if you handed me a Duck Rabbit milk stout (actually I bought a 6 pack) I would have (did) spit it out and dump the bottles. IPAs, no way. Anything really darker than an amber was too much for me. Now there isn't a stout I won't try and I do enjoy IPAs. I actually like pale ales (which I would often turn down) and IPAs when I grill out and such. Just something more refreshing than the stout. Stouts I tend to drink without food.

If you don't like them you don't have to drink them or brew them. I think a lot of people do really enjoy hefes.

I was not a fan of Belgians until I tried making a Golden Strong using Belgian Abbey II yeast and fermented it cool around 65F. It is clean, tasty and doesn't have that banana/clove in the face aroma or flavor and goes down super smooth for something that is 9.5% abv. There is no big beer I enjoy more other than a DIPA.

I am with the OP, and I'll add stouts to the list. I might be the only homebrewer who's never made a stout. I simply don't care for them. I may also be the only person on this forum that made EdWort's Apfelwein and didn't care for it. No offense to EdWort. I love making/drinking his pale ale recipe.

2 years ago, I was all about IPA's. I haven't made an IPA in over a year. I have a 6-pack of various IIPA sitting in the fridge. 2 yrs ago, it wouldn't have lasted 2 days.

Currently, I am all into session beers.

I tend to love all beer styles- except for sours, wheat beers, and Belgians.

I tried to like them, I really did. I even made a tripel in an effort to branch out. It turned out fantastic, and I should have entered it in a competition, but I used a couple of bottles of it for cooking (like in belgian beef stew) and gave the rest away eventually. I can appreciate them for what they are- but I don't like the yeast character of them at all.

I don't like wits, American wheats (although they are better than wheats with Belgian yeast) and I hate hefeweizens especially. The interesting thing to me is that makes me an excellent judge of them in competitions, as I don't need to love the beer style to really pick it apart or appreciate it according to the style guidelines. I prefer to NOT judge them, but I don't ask to avoid them so sometimes I do. I don't like them any better after judging for 7 years, although you'd think I might.

I love a good German hefe on a hot summer day. Weihenstephaner is the best! I dislike Belgians and sours of most kinds though. I went through a major Belgian phase back in 2005-2006 and over did it. Haven't really enjoyed Belgian beers since.

I am kinda on the fence with Belgians. Not a big fan of Weizens, but I'll drink them on occasion if offered. Never had a sour. (Or are Lambics sour? If so, then no, I don't like them.)
Don't like IPAs. Although had a Bell's Two-Hearted the other day and it wasn't terrible. Just don't like having my mouth feel like I've just vomited. And if I want a grapefruit, I'll just eat a grapefruit.

I used to detest hefes because of the in your face clove/banana and occasionally bubble gum flavors and aromas that I picked up. It was usually enough to make me gag. I tried to brewing a hefe last summer and fermented it in the range that Jamil recommends, if I recall around 62F. It turned out fantastic and I surprisingly loved it. It didn't have any banana or bubble gum flavor and instead had a nice fruity and clove aroma/flavor that was pleasant.

Sours are an acquired taste and not my thing either.

kombat said:

I fancy myself a beer affictionado. I love trying new beers and having a wide variety on tap. But for the life of me, I just can't develop a taste for Belgians, Sours, or Hefeweizens.

I don't like that banana-like funky yeast flavour character of Belgians. I find it hangs around in my mouth for far too long and just doesn't taste good. It tastes like melted plastic to me.

Sours, honestly I haven't tried any, but just the thought of "sour beer" doesn't exactly have me reaching for my glass or my wallet. I've had infected batches before, and they were not good, so if that's what a sour is, no thanks.

Hefeweizens, I dislike for the same reason as Belgians. It's the yeast character. I can't get over that in-your-face banana, clove character. Now, *American* wheat ales, on the other hand, I love. Give me a nice wheat ale fermented cleanly with a neutral strain like US-05 and I'll guzzle it all afternoon.

Anyone else have similar tastes? Am I allowed to not like such a broad swath of beer styles and still be in the "beer club?"

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I'm not saying you're wrong, but without giving examples of Belgian beers you don't like, it's about as useful as people who say "I don't like beer." To label the characteristics of these beers that you don't like is a great start, but I'd hate for you to miss out on some amazing beers because of a misinterpretation and over-generalization.

The fact that you haven't even tried a single sour...I'm trying to put this a nice as I can...but it doesn't even sound like you're having an open mind about experimenting with these. Just because they have the name "sour" in them? C'mon. There's many sours I don't like but I can't think of two that I've had that even taste the same. That's why you see so many sour blends.

If you don't like Brett beers or brewing with Brett, you're not cool.

Those are probably my 3 least favorite styles. I still try them from time to time because are some good hefes, sours, and Belgians out there. So sample some when possible and you might find a few you like.

And I'm not implying anything buy if you tried Guinness draught and decided you don't like stouts your robbing yourself. Try an oatmeal stout, The Poet by New Hollands comes to mind or try Bells Special Double Cream Stout.

Happy drinkings

I wish the Brett yeast was the chico strain

I'm with you kombat. If the recipe doesn't use a clean fermenting yeast, I'm not interested. I even dislike some of the super fruity english strains as well. I enjoy most anything fermented with the equivalent of WLP-001, WLP-007, Kolsch, or cali-common strains.

I'm partially on the boat, hef and most hef yeast is just unpleasant to me. Although I love sours (because I considering them refreshing like a glass of fizzy cranberry juice) and enjoy some Belgian, just not the bubblegummy ones. Also with nutty, the fruity English strains kind of bother me too. I've tried to force myself, but it never works.

I detest bubble gum Belgian's. I can't say I've noticed anything banana, but I usually move on to other beer styles than wheats (unless it's a white IPA). But SWMBO loves wheats, and I try her beers too.

But the idea of banana would keep me from ordering one (I'll try your though!).

I can't say a clove taste would keep me far away.

The idea of a sour keep me far, far away!!!

I like just about every other style, as well as some wheats and Belgian's. And I used WLP-320 for our wheats.

Hmmm, maybe some people are more or less sensitive to some flavors, like banana flavor. I was/am a big fan of hefe's, and to me Hacker-Pschor, Paulaner, Franz, none of them seem to have an in your face banana flavor to me. I have had some hefe's that had way too much banana flavor but to me the majority do not.

kombat said:

Sours, honestly I haven't tried any, but just the thought of "sour beer" doesn't exactly have me reaching for my glass or my wallet. I've had infected batches before, and they were not good, so if that's what a sour is, no thanks.

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I love sour beers. I've had infected batches too and they taste nothing like that. They're sour but in a pleasant way. They taste nothing like a conventional beer either.

Give one a try the next time you see one. The worst is that you won't like it.

For me... I love Hefe's, sours, Belgians, banana esters, bubble gum flavors, IPAs, DIPAs, pale ales, stouts, porters, wits, you name it I'll probably drink it. I am not a picky eater or drinker.

kombat said:

I fancy myself a beer affictionado. I love trying new beers and having a wide variety on tap. But for the life of me, I just can't develop a taste for Belgians, Sours, or Hefeweizens.

I don't like that banana-like funky yeast flavour character of Belgians. I find it hangs around in my mouth for far too long and just doesn't taste good. It tastes like melted plastic to me.

Sours, honestly I haven't tried any, but just the thought of "sour beer" doesn't exactly have me reaching for my glass or my wallet. I've had infected batches before, and they were not good, so if that's what a sour is, no thanks.

Hefeweizens, I dislike for the same reason as Belgians. It's the yeast character. I can't get over that in-your-face banana, clove character. Now, *American* wheat ales, on the other hand, I love. Give me a nice wheat ale fermented cleanly with a neutral strain like US-05 and I'll guzzle it all afternoon.

Anyone else have similar tastes? Am I allowed to not like such a broad swath of beer styles and still be in the "beer club?"

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LOL, this is a funny post... I always thought I was weird because I am not a fan of the very bitter beers, like IPA's. [now I know I am weird for other reasons!]
I'm even on the fence when it comes to pale ales. the funny thing is, I was asked to make a double IPA by a friend. I made a 5 gallon batch and he was going to bring me a couple extra cases of bottles and pay for the kit. he ended up not being around when the beer was bottled. I tried one and almost barfed. it was so fruity and bitter that I couldnt finish one. I nearly ended up pouring it al down the drain because I thought I ruined it! I gad a friend try it and he was so stoked that I gave him both cases. he said it was the best IPA II he'd tasted! LOL

now I know. I just dot like IPA

Wheat, blonde, red, stout, and even lagers, i love all those

I get that gnarly acetone flavor in lots of belgians that makes it hard to enjoy. but I enjoy hefs and sours.

I used to find Belgians Weizens and sours intolerable. I loved ipa stout and English beers. A guy in my brew club started making saisons and tripels with heavy handed American hops. That gave me something to enjoy while tolerating the yeast.

Enough pints and I actually began to acquire a taste for Belgian yeast. I started branching out. I had a rodenbach grand cru as my foray into sours and generally like them now. I just started appreciating German weizens.

Wits and American wheat are just too bland for me to enjoy though.

I guess the take away is I used hops as a crutch while I acquired a taste for more yeast-forward brews

There's a whole world of sour beers that taste nothing alike. "Sour" isn't a style of beer, unless you want to categorize "non-sour" as a style of beer, with the implication that all non-sours taste alike. But then you'd just be doubly silly.

The same things holds true, more or less, with "Belgian" beers. How recently have you tasted banana in Stella? Or in a saison, or BdG? Or in Rochefort, or most anything by Fantome? If you think all Belgian beers are banana and bubble gum bombs, you're looking in all the wrong places.

I find much less variety in hefeweizens, but they're much more of a distinct category/style of beer, so that's expected.

I think the point is, if there's an element of certain beers you don't like, try something that doesn't have those flavor elements, don't just write off a whole country's beers. This all strikes me just like a "I don't like hop flavor, so I don't like American beers" thread.

Jayhem said:

I was not a fan of Belgians until I tried making a Golden Strong using Belgian Abbey II yeast and fermented it cool around 65F. It is clean, tasty and doesn't have that banana/clove in the face aroma or flavor and goes down super smooth for something that is 9.5% abv. There is no big beer I enjoy more other than a DIPA.

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I like the idea. The recipe would be a good post.

I read about commercial breweries adding yeast for souring in the secondary to give it some tartness. I tried it and it came out great. I also did the same to make a Pomegranate Beer, which turned out pretty good. There's a lot of new ideas regarding sour beers worth looking into. However, I'm with the OP: I can't get past the banana and bubblegum in some Belgium beers.

Good Post OP

The only thing I'm on board with is not being crazy about the Belgian yeast esters. Granted, my experience with Belgian beers is not extensive but I tend to shy away from ordering them because I always think they will taste like fruit. I recognize that I need to try some more in order to get a more informed opinion (and palate).

Sours, I absolutely fell in love with after trying Rodenbach Grand Cru a few years ago. I almost always order one if I see it on a menu somewhere. Or I'll buy ones that show up at the liquor store. Had a Berliner Weiss last night from The Bruery (Hottenroth) - fantastic. But I can understand how even the idea of a "sour" beer would turn people off. It's too bad because there are so many wonderful and complex flavors in sour beers.

IPA's I've only recently started to enjoy. I used to think IPA=Bitter and that's it but now as my palate has developed more, I'm tasting the differences between hop varieties (still have a lot of work to do on that though).

Everything else is fair game for me - I'll try anything.

GuldTuborg said:

There's a whole world of sour beers that taste nothing alike. "Sour" isn't a style of beer, unless you want to categorize "non-sour" as a style of beer, with the implication that all non-sours taste alike. But then you'd just be doubly silly.

The same things holds true, more or less, with "Belgian" beers. How recently have you tasted banana in Stella? Or in a saison, or BdG? Or in Rochefort, or most anything by Fantome? If you think all Belgian beers are banana and bubble gum bombs, you're looking in all the wrong places.
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Better let BJCP know to get rid of categories 16,17, and 18; Belgians, Sours, and Strong Belgians.

If you like beer but don't like "sours" or "hefeweizens" I guarantee you that there are at least a couple of commercial beers in each category that you would like. The world of beer is huge and getting bigger all the time. The first few hefes I ever tried just tasted really bad to me. I kept trying various kinds until I found some that I really liked.

Yooper said:

I tend to love all beer styles- except for sours, wheat beers, and Belgians.

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+1, although I now have something of a love-hate relationship developing with Belgian beers (I suppose it depends on the yeast strain). Some I've liked, others I quickly marked off the list after just a few sips.

I won't ever touch another Hefe. Blech.

evanmars said:

Better let BJCP know to get rid of categories 16,17, and 18; Belgians, Sours, and Strong Belgians.

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I'm with GuldTuborg. Sour isn't a style. 16, 17, 18 are categories. You can find 16 different styles in those categories and they're all distinctly different.

I also don't understand OP saying he doesn't like something that he has never tried

I visited the Cantillon in Brussels about 2 years ago. I took a tour of the brewery and the first thing they ask you is to try and forget everything you know/expect out of beer because we tend to have a preconceived notion that something that tastes sour has gone bad which can be off-putting if you're not open minded to it. I thought the beer I had that day was interesting but after that visit I started to enjoy and appreciate these types of beers more. I have enjoyed a variety of Guezes, Lambics, and Oud Bruins. The only sour beer I have had that I didn't like was Mo Betta Bretta. I thought that one was terrible. If I had tried that first and proclaimed "I hate sour beers", I would have really missed out on some wonderful beverages.

evanmars said:

Better let BJCP know to get rid of categories 16,17, and 18; Belgians, Sours, and Strong Belgians.

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Oh, man, you got me there. There sure isn't any variety in those categories. I mean, if you can tell a witbier from a biere de garde, or a flanders brown from a gueuze, you must have a super palate or something. Plus, there sure isn't any variety in 16E.

And never mind that nonexistant American Sour Ale category. Doesn't exist anywhere, there isn't a book on the topic coming out shortly, and even if they did exist, they'd all taste exactly like the ones in Belgium, which also all taste the same.

There aren't any IPAs, light lagers, fruit beers, stouts, barley wines, or anything else made in Belgium, either. No sir. Wouldn't go well with all the bananas they're adding to the wort.

The way I see it, I think I LOVE IPA's (like everyone). But of course there are IPA's out there I think are nasty.

I like to imagine the same holds true for all styles. I've not tried a hefe I've fallen in love with yet, however, I remain hopeful that someone brings the symphony of flavors together just the right way to be delicious to me!

Neither do Miguelites, or Kendra. 2 out of three ain't bad.

My brother is the same way when it comes to the banana clove belgium beers but I love em. Actually like all three of these styles the ones I am not in love with are real fruity ones like pyramid apricote and ones with coffee notes but don't enjoy coffee in general. Even though I don't prefer them can't say I hate them and try them every now and then because taste buds do change. My only comment on sours is like a lot of others have said there are a lot out there. You may not like one but love another. If you like wine you should enjoy a sour though IMO. Just keep an open mind and probably don't start out with a la folie from new belgium that is pucker your lips sour. Swmbo loves duchese and it is not as Puckering. Normally easier to find too if you want to give one a try you never know whay you may like.

kf

I had a Weihenstephaner Hefeweissen recently and I have been converted. I WILL be brewing a Bavarian Hef in a month or two (if it ever stops snowing, lol). Like a previous poster mentioned I will likely ferment around 62.

I also enjoy Belgian Dubbels (Ommegang, Chimay), but could do without the blondes such as Leffe. I've always been a brunette/redhead man anyway

I seem to be an odd ball on the other end of the beer spectrum. I really like IPA's, wheat's, hefe's and Belgians in general. What I'm not particularly fond of is stouts and porters.

I don't recall ever trying a sour so I can't comment on that.

There are also different levels of "sour." I prefer the more mild sours.

You are definitely not alone, and your tastes could change in time, who knows. I have gone through lots of phases where I really liked a certain style or hated a certain style. It's not like you have to like every style. Just brew what you like and enjoy what you drink. Personally I don't care much for the Belgian styles and I hate witbiers, but I love me some sours!