Beer without Hops

I have toyed around with the idea of home-brewing a beer but the problem the occurs to me is that I don't really like beer . I think that my main problem with most beers is the flavor of the hops so a hop-less beer seems like a good idea. The question that I have is, can I just take any beer recipe and remove the hops from it. Case in point, I have a book of recipes that has some nice sounding fruit beers but they all have hops. Also my I wonder how long these beers without hops will keep. I don't drink that much (perhaps if this tastes good, I will start) so I need to know how much I am going to have to give away. Thanks in advance for your sage-like advice.

~Neumann

Well, the purpose of hops is to balance the malt (sugar) in the brew. So without hops, you'd have a sweet malty drink.

If you like fruit, but not beer, how about a fruit wine? Just a thought.

Or you could brew a heather honey ale like the Picts did before the Romans got to town


5 gallons brew

1 tsp Gypsum
Light LME 3.3 lbs
Light DME 3.25 lbs
Honey 1 lbs (Clover or wildflower)
Crystal Malt L 60 4 oz
Heather Tips (4 oz)
Irish Moss 1 tsp

3/4 cup of Corn Sugar

White Labs Irish Ale Yeast in a 2 liter starter made 36 hours in advance of brewing.

Brewing Directions
Add 1 tsp Gypsum to boil water.
Steep grains in 1 gallon of 150 degree water for 20 minutes,
sparge with 1/2 gallon of 150 degree water and bring to boil.
Remove from heat and add DME and LME and 1 oz of heather blossoms.

Use grain bags for the heather blossoms.
bring to boil.
boil 45 minutes then add 1 tsp Irish Moss and 1 oz of heather blossoms.
Boil additional 10 minutes then add 1 oz of heather blossoms boil for 5 minutes. At flameout add 1 oz of heather tips and 1 lb of wildflower honey let steep for 1 hour.
Cool to 80 and strain into fermenter add water to 5 make gallons
pitch yeast.


Brewed in Scotland since 2000 B.C. heather ale is probably the oldest style of ale still produced in the world.

Hop flavor depends on the type of hops, quanity, and many other factors. You might research the different types of hops and see what they have to offer. Better yet, try some commercial beers of varying styles see what appeals to you, and then brew clones of those beers.

Check out these guys:

http://www.gruitale.com/recipes_en.htm

Cheers

I did an apple wine last year to rather good results but I don't want to do another wine out of impatience. It takes too long to realize the fruits (no pun intended) of my labor. I have tried several commercial beers and the result is always the same. I just can't get into them. So without the hops, the beverage would be undrinkable or just not very beer-like?

I'm not sure that it would technically be beer at all. Though I don't feel like doing the research to back that up so take it with a grain of salt. On the other hand you would have a nice malt beverage that you could add various flavours (fruit?) to. In the end, if you like it it's a good drink.

Also if you don't like the taste of hops, don't add flavour additions to your beer. I think you will find that you need the bittering additions to help balance the malt flavour, but nothing says you need to use hops after that. When I make my hefeweizen I only use a small amount of bittering hops and nothing else. All the main flavours come from the yeast.

Isn't beer with hops called ale, if you go back in time 600 years or so ?

I think hops are a welcom addition to beer, if they are balanced correctly.

I bounce between very hoppy and very malty beers. I think it establishes a balance.

If you stay in one spot, you are an easy target (you get bored). Variety is the spice of life. Keep your body and taste buds guessing and off guard.

Oh, yeah. Eat a green thing every day.

Apparently I have been acquiring a taste for the hoppy. SWMBO told me to brew a beer that 'regular' people would like because I like them too bitter. That stuff tends to grow on you I think, but it needs to come gradually.

Well, either that or I've gotten a taste for brewing beer that discourages others from sucking at my brew teet. Could be... There's only five gallons in that keg and if you like the cheap ****.....

neumann said:

I have toyed around with the idea of home-brewing a beer but the problem the occurs to me is that I don't really like beer . I think that my main problem with most beers is the flavor of the hops so a hop-less beer seems like a good idea.
~Neumann

Click to expand...

I never thought I liked beer either but then I started home brewing and realized that it wasn't that I didn't like beer, I just didn't like that bitter watery liquid sold as beer from the major beer companies.

By making my own brews I discovered that I could pick what I liked and what I didn't like. I don't like a hoppy flavor, however, I believe that hops are too important to beer to be left out.

With a little studying of hop charts you can use and get the benefits of hops but end up with a un-hoppy beer. I tend to use a lot of Mt Hood, Willamette, Tettnang and Fuggles in my recipes because of their low alpha acid and I usually use no more than an ounce in the boil and another for aroma.

I would suggest you try one of those recipes you've been looking at but instead of leaving the hops out completely, you adjust the quantity and/or type of hops. The fun part of brewing is experimenting and finding what works best for you.

Have you tried beers like German Bocks, Belgian Dubbles, or some Stouts. These beer styles have some hops bitterness to balance the sweetness of the beer but little hop flavor or aroma. If these still don't appeal to your tastes then there is also the gruit (non hopped beer), lambics (sour beer) and a few other styles. It maybe that you don't care for the malt flavor more than it is the hops.
Just removing the hops from a beer recipe is not likely to produce a very drinkable beverage. That is why before hops were used beer was flavored with many other spices, including heather, spruce, etc.
Another suggestion is to make some Apfelwein (look in the wine making section). It is very easy to make, is drinkable in 2 months or less, and is definately not beer.

And unhopped beer is still beer as it was for centuries before someone thought of using hops. Infact the fermented stock for producing grain alcohol (whiskey, vodka, ethanol fuel) is called beer.
Craig

neumann said:

...I don't really like beer...

Click to expand...

Ummmm. That glass in the upper left corner of your screen??? Ummm. That's a beer. This is...get ready...a beer site.

I was thinking of getting a homosexual lover so we could watch sports and drink beer all day, but the problem is that I'm not gay. Do you think I could find a guy with a vag!na?

Fingers said:

I was thinking of getting a homosexual lover so we could watch sports and drink beer all day, but the problem is that I'm not gay. Do you think I could find a guy with a vag!na?

Click to expand...

LMMFAO I am with ya pal..
Brother if BEER isent your bag have you ever thought about WISKEY!!!:rockin:
JJ

Thanks to everyone for your input. I think I am going to make a small batch (1 gal.) as opposed to a full 5 gallon batch with at least some hops. That way if I don't care for it, it will be easier to give to friends.

Beer without hops is

malt liquor

not that there's anything wrong with that.




BTW:
Malt Liquor is BJCP Style 23:
http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/Category23.html#style23A


Also AHA:
http://www.beertown.org/events/gabf/06winners.htm
Category: 22 American-Style Specialty Lager - 19 Entries
Gold: Mickey’s Malt Liquor, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Icehouse, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: HG 800, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI