Here goes ... need opinions on types of beer for virgin palate

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Kialya

Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2012
Messages
22
Reaction score
0
As the thread title states: I am married and brew mainly for my husband's enjoyment. I would actually like to start drinking/tasting beer for myself too however ....

Every beer I have ever tried tastes ... well, like .. beer? To say I am not crazy about the taste is mild to say the least. Every one I have tried makes my face screw up like an old woman. The last time I tried a sampler of craft beer styles was 2 months ago at BJ's and the blondes were barely acceptable(still did not take more then one drink of each) and the darker styles undrinkable period. My local home brew shop owner says I just have not found the right beer yet. So .... any ideas where to start? I have a sensitive palate apparently. (Like my food mildy spiced, etc.)

The only beer I ever remember finishing an entire glass of was literally 20 years ago in Germany; it was a Dunkelweizen. Even then, I remember having to force most of it down. I feel pathetic just posting this but not sure whom else would have the knowledge where to begin. :eek:
 
What I highly suggest is a lightly hopped beer, I share in your pain that I think the bitterness in a ton of craft beers is gut churning.
I highly suggest the great divide samurai and yeti. They are both not quite so bitter.

I also have a fondness for mildly hopped irish reds.

The bitterness in even lighly hopped beer takes some getting used to, kind of like unsweetened green tea.
 
Try a hef...
It's lightly hopped and its mostly wheat...
My wife loves my hef's...
Igotsand
 
Today's American craft beers are often overly alcoholic and hopped. I personally think American craft beer is getting carried away with this concept. I can only make guesses based on your symptoms.

You are saying your face screws up...Is that a puckering from the bitterness? The beer taste you describe sounds like you don't like what craft brewers are doing. I call it hop tea...double IPAs, pale ales, and dark hopped up garbage.

BJ's is a commercial operation that makes lackluster, boring ales. Try a bottle of Gouden Carolus. Now commercial brewery in America has been able to replicate a solitary semblance of belgium. They try but fail.
 
What 'style' of beer is the Samurai and Yeti?

samurai is a unfiltered rice and malt beer, it has a great taste mouthfeel and is easily drinkable
yeti is a stout, its one of the few that i dont find to god awful bitter, and pretty tasty to boot
 
Since I am not yet advanced to do partial mash or full grain, I would be looking for extract kits at this point.
 
I always keep a case or two of mildly hopped ( about 10-12 IBU's ) nut brown ale on hand for a few friends who don't like the bitterness of high IBU brews. I also keep the ABV at a little below 5%. Basically it'a a version of New Castle with lower IBU's and more malty, nutty flavor. Give New Castle a try and see if adjusting it might fit your tastes. Lots of kits out there that could easily be modified.

OMO

bosco
 
My wife used to say she doesn't like beer, it turns out she hadn't had very many different styles. When I got into brewing she discovered a lot of styles she hadn't ever tried that she really liked.

Try Wit, Hefeweizen, Stout or Brown Porter, Saison, Belgian Dubbel. With the exception of the Stout or Porter these styles all have a complex fruit-type flavor from the yeast that gives it a very different taste than most other beer styles.
 
Beer face?
bitter-beer-face.jpg


SWMBO (NO, that is NOT her in the pic...) is like this too, does not enjoy beers in general. I think it is the bitterness from the hops that makes her cringe, since she does enjoy really smoky single malts.

One type of beer that she CAN drink though, is Japanese styles like Sapporo and Kirin. Kirin in the US is contract brewed, so it may be quite different from what you can get here in Sweden.

I doubt that there are many kits for this type of beers though, but if you feel up to the challenge, I found a extract/grain recipe on Northern Brewer's forum:
"
1/2 lb carapils

4 lbs pale or extra light malt extract
2 lbs rice syrup solids

1 oz Czech Saaz (60 min)

1/4 oz saaz (15 min)
1/4 oz hersbrucker (15 min)

1/4 oz saaz (1 min)
1/4 oz hersbrucker (1 min)

Wyeast 2007 Pilsen Lager yeast

It's a good base recipe similar Kirin and if you need rice syrup solids NB carries them, with all that other stuff too. Cheers!"
 
Yup my wife doesn't like beer...

Nope not true at all. That's what she though until she started drinking my beer.

She will drink (or steal right from my freaking hand) anything I make that's not stupidly hopped.

fruit might help, or chocolate

commercial beers she will drink more than one of are Granville Island Brewery's Raspberry Ale and Young's Double Chocolate Stout. GIBs Raspberry is not bitter at all, its well balanced and slightly tart. Malt up front, on the tongue with a raspberry nose. Clean crisp finish. Young's is bitter but mostly from chocolate and grains not from hops.

also she thinks the mild i just did smelled like a caramel chocolate blondie while it was mashing so she will probably really like that one.

others i have made she liked: best bitter, blackberry porter, and honey brown
 
Maybe try a Lindeman's, in either the cherry or raspberry styles. These are sweet, intensely fruity beers that many beer haters love immediately. These days I love and brew all kinds of styles, from milds to IPAs, but years ago, Lindeman's was my "starter" beer (I didn't drink anything until my late 20s). Lots of lambic enthusiasts sneer at them for being sweetened, but that beer is a really amazing fruit bomb.
 
As the thread title states: I am married and brew mainly for my husband's enjoyment. I would actually like to start drinking/tasting beer for myself too however ....

Every beer I have ever tried tastes ... well, like .. beer? To say I am not crazy about the taste is mild to say the least. Every one I have tried makes my face screw up like an old woman. The last time I tried a sampler of craft beer styles was 2 months ago at BJ's and the blondes were barely acceptable(still did not take more then one drink of each) and the darker styles undrinkable period. My local home brew shop owner says I just have not found the right beer yet. So .... any ideas where to start? I have a sensitive palate apparently. (Like my food mildy spiced, etc.)

The only beer I ever remember finishing an entire glass of was literally 20 years ago in Germany; it was a Dunkelweizen. Even then, I remember having to force most of it down. I feel pathetic just posting this but not sure whom else would have the knowledge where to begin. :eek:

What bridge do you live under??
 
Search for yuri's thunderstruck pumpkin ale. Low ibu, smooth tastes, extract, easy to brew.
 
I'd go the other way, and say if you've been brewing and tried various beers, and don't like them, then you don't like beer.

That's ok.

Make wine, mead, or cider for yourself.

It sounds crazy to people who think beer is like heaven, but I believe that some people simply don't care for it.

Some people love cilantro, some don't. Some people love beer, some don't. That's fine.
 
I'd go the other way, and say if you've been brewing and tried various beers, and don't like them, then you don't like beer.

That's ok.

Make wine, mead, or cider for yourself.

It sounds crazy to people who think beer is like heaven, but I believe that some people simply don't care for it.

Some people love cilantro, some don't. Some people love beer, some don't. That's fine.

I agree that you should not eat or drink what you do not like. That said it is worth trying it every once in a while to see if your tastes have changed.
 
I would try a youngs chocolate stout. It's barely a beer it's like drinking a desert.
 
Where do you live? I think instead of trying to brew 5 gallons of beer you may like, perhaps you should try 12 oz of well made beer.

You may not like beer, you may not have had the style of beer you like. My personal experience with my girlfriend who was a complete beer neophyte who only drank bud light typically with tomato juice. She is now a huge hop head, she has no interest in drinking anything but hoppy beers. Who knows, that could be you.


So where do you live? We can suggest a multitude of well made styles in your area before you commit to 5 gallons.
 
Yooper said:
I'd go the other way, and say if you've been brewing and tried various beers, and don't like them, then you don't like beer.

That's ok.

Make wine, mead, or cider for yourself.

It sounds crazy to people who think beer is like heaven, but I believe that some people simply don't care for it.

Some people love cilantro, some don't. Some people love beer, some don't. That's fine.

I agree Yoop, but a lot of styles outside the mainstream tend to get overlooked even by brewers. There are so many beer styles out there that taste nothing like what most people think of as "beer" that it's worth experimenting before writing it all off. Nothing wrong with pursuing wine, mead, or cider though. I've made a batch each of apfelwein and skeeter pee and they both came out great, so I'm thinking of trying out some more fruit wine styles.
 
I agree Yoop, but a lot of styles outside the mainstream tend to get overlooked even by brewers. There are so many beer styles out there that taste nothing like what most people think of as "beer" that it's worth experimenting before writing it all off. Nothing wrong with pursuing wine, mead, or cider though. I've made a batch each of apfelwein and skeeter pee and they both came out great, so I'm thinking of trying out some more fruit wine styles.

Yes, but if she's already brewing I assume she's had some experience with beer. If each offering in a sampler is too "beer-like" than I have to make the assumption that beer is the issue. If there has never once beer a beer that can be finished, then I assume it's "beer" and not the style.

There are some non-beer like beers, of course. But some people just don't like beer, just like some people don't like coffee.
 
If you are bent on trying beers I will suggest trying:

Bell's - 2 Hearted and Hoegarden

Have you ever tried a sour beer? I have been getting into these lately and do not think they taste like normal beer at all. For these I would suggest:

Timmerman's
Monk's cafe
Leiffemans in the Blue paper

Then if you still do not like beer why not try to make some cider, mead or wine? I would say try Ed Wort's Apfelwein recipe and Skeeter pee (www.skeeterpee.com) and a JOAM. If you dislike beer don't force yourself to keep trying it, find something you do like!
 
Lord 3 pages since I was out.. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions. Yes, my tastes run sweet/nutty. Not sure about sour. I will pick some and throw em in the keg. I know my husband is good to drink anything I don't like.

And btw, not crazy about wine either but the fruitier ones are easier to drink then beer. My drinks are the fruity stuff as you would expect. Cider sounds interesting. Apples yummy.

I just wanted to give beer a fair shake and not write it off because I did not try many styles.
 
Timmermans IS a sweet/fruity sour (sounds strange) but I bet you would like it.

The Skeeterpee is a sweet lemon wine and sweet meads are great too. (Also why I suggested to make up a JOAM.) ;)
 
My wife is much the same way. I've made exactly two beers she hasn't abhorred, and those were both only "not terrible". One was a Kolsch, and one was a saison that, in my opinion and everyone else's as well, was so heavily over-spiced that it was completely out of balance. She can drink an occasional light lager, but won't finish it. That tastes too much like beer to her as well. And everything she tries, it just tastes like "beer" to her. She can't drink wine because it gives her a headache (not just reds as is usually the case, but whites too, genetic probably cause her mom's the same way). She likes cider, but I haven't been able to get one right yet, and I might have to try a mead eventually and see if she likes that.

So yeah, I'm with Yooper. Some folks just don't like beer.

If you find a style you like, great. But I'd definitely take a whack at cider or mead.
 
well sounds to me like you may be a cider gal... Run out and find angry orchards ginger spiced hard sparkling cider... I'll be waiting for you thanks lol
 
I would add a vote for Lindemans raspberry (framboise) lambic. Managed to get my parents to thier first beerfest ever a few years ago and my mommie, who overall still doesnt like beer, ended up with a cup in each hand in the line for Lindemans rasbperry lambic, til they were out of it. I also enjoyed a raspberry ale during my first introduction to "other than bud, coors, hamms, millers" etc. Tried an amber black rasberry right after, and at the time it was way too dark for me. Love double IPA's, porters, stouts now though.
 
See if you can get hold of a bottle of Morland Brewery's "Old speckled hen". Probably one of my favourite commercial beers at the moment. Well, that and "Old crafty hen" which is a stronger version.


Sounds to me like it might appeal to your tastes. Sweet, nutty, biscuity, caramel, malt forward with a mellow hop character.
 
Back
Top