What can I make to please my peeps?

I made some Belgian Wit a while back because I wanted to make something my Labatts-drinking friends would like, and one of them said it was pretty good (maybe he was being nice), but his wife said she didnt' care for the spicey flavors. Granted it does have different flavors than their regular beer, and maybe more than say, Blue Moon, but it's still pretty light beer.

So, I'm wondering what I can make that they might like more? I'm def not going to stop making that BM clone though, cause it was good, and i'm also planning an IPA to put on tap too.

I'm still Extract brewing at this time, but working towards AG. Maybe after 2 more batches I'll have the equipment done up.

A cream ale or a very lightly hopped pale ale would work. Or go for a simple American wheat. I'm not sure if you can do an all extract cream ale though, maybe someone can offer some info on that.

California common, red ale, american wheat (keep what they like about the wit but get rid of the spices?)

Centennial Blonde. It's light and citrusy. Everyone who tried mine (even Bud fans) liked that one. Biermuncher has a extract version, too.

Thought about dropping the spices in the BW, but that really seems to be missing the point of making one. OTOH, it's still a light style beer, and maybe one that they'd like. I thought about making an American Wheat too.

I'm thinking part of the trouble is that they might not like a beer that's darker in color (yes, even my clone was darker than the original, but quite a bit. I used extra light extract too.). They still prefer to drink their beer out of the bottle. I've moved on to glasses, because I like to smell my hops and stuff.

That Centennial BLonde might be a go for the next batch (after another BW!)

American Wheat is a nice style that you can have ready to drink quickly. Give it a whirl.

Offer them a commercial hefeweizen, such as Franziskaner, and see what they think.

Odds are, they will be completely put off by the cloudiness, but if they get past that, hefeweizen seems to be a great gateway beer to craft brewing because it tends to be a little bit sweet and typically has IBU's similar to BMC. Also, they are easy as heck to brew. ;-)

kolsch. See if yooper has her recipe posted.

I would also suggest a Kolsch, or if you have the equipment for lagering do a Pilsner. I had the most favorable comments from an Austin Homebrew Czech Pilsner kit from your typical Busch/Bud drinkers. Which, of course makes sense being that these beers at one time or another were based on pilsners. I wasn't that impressed with it since all the lighter beers I do with LME I think turn out tasting funny, but everyone else liked it, so I may be over-critical with my own beer.

I have SWMBO trained. When I have a guest over who is accustomed to BMC and they make the inevitable comment about it being strong, or having a lot of flavor, or being too bitter, she pipes up and politely offers, "Well, if you want it to be more like what you're used to, we can certainly add some water to it..."

At that point, the drinker pauses for a second, looks into his glass and you can visibly see him thinking about it...

Nobody's taken her up on her offer yet...

Sir Humpsalot said:

I"Well, if you want it to be more like what you're used to, we can certainly add some water to it..."

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That's fantastic! Thankfully none of my friends are BMC drinkers so they generally appreciate my homebrews (even if it's not their favorite style).

As for the OP, I would second motions toward the Centennial Blonde, or an American Wheat. You had mentioned that your extract brew came out darker. You might want to dry a late extract addition. Add 50-75% of your extract in the final 15-20 min of boiling, that should help lighten the color.

I thought everyone liked Wits right now.

bradsul said:

I'm not sure if you can do an all extract cream ale though, maybe someone can offer some info on that.

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3.3 # Briss Golden light Malt Extract
2# Briss 8L Dry Malt Extract
4oz Crystal Malt Steeped at 140 for 30 min.
1 o.z. Generic 7.0 60 Minute
1 o.z. Cascade Hops Flavoring at 5 Minutes


This was mine....It's bottled as of Sunday. No word on drink ability yet.