Unbittered "beer" (or, I apparently enjoy drinking starters)

Before I get run off HBT, let me preface this with by saying I have apparently done an experiment and am not advocating blasphemy.

I made a starter 9 days ago using enough extra-light DME to hit 1.050, and pitched in a pack of Belgian Strong Ale yeast. I decanted off most of it and pitched the slurry, then let the decanted wort finish fermenting and saved *that* slurry. For the fun of it, I tried a taste of the final non-slurry (which came to an FG of 1.015).

I was pleasantly surprised how good it was (or how thirsty I am, maybe). I don't think I'd serve this to others (I'm sure the shelf life would be awful) but it *does* remind me of Miller High Life (but with more flavor). It's got a little bit of grain taste to it, and it's a tiny bit tart (like half-strength lemonade), but there's still some maltiness and a pleasant fruitiness (both taste and aroma) to it.

I suppose a series of experiments like this would be a good way to really pick out the flavors developed by a particular yeast, kind of like making hop teas.

Since this is the recipe forum, I'll post this:

Boil volume: 3 qts water

Grain: 12 oz of extra-light DME

Boil time: 5-10 minutes, or until the hot break subsides

Chill and pitch one pack of Belgian Strong Ale yeast. Oxygenate for 30 seconds.

Primary fermentation: 48 hours at 66 F, then cold-crash for 12 hours. Use settled yeast as you see fit; I recommend disposing into a batch of high-gravity wort.
Secondary fermentation: 7 days at 66 F. Dispose of yeast again (perhaps as bottling yeast for the aforementioned beer).

Cold-crash for 24 hours and drink, if you must.

It's a great way to see the yeast character. Belgian Strong Ale (1388, right?) is a great yeast (Duvel).

I often taste the leftover wort that I decant off.

I would imagine the Belgian yeast is adding a lot in ways of flavor to the "beer", so that may be a big reason you like it so much. Not sure how good it would be with less flavorful yeasts.

I'm going for my pitch fork and torch!

The truth is I've been wanting to experiment with a extremely low hop beer just for grins and giggles. I hadn't really considered what yeast but your post has given me something to think about.

There are over a hundred low-bitterness beer styles. Pity some of them are so hard to find.

In addition to the tastiness provided by hops, they also preserve the beer. Some of the lambics or fruit beers use stale (year-old) hops that have basically no bittering power left, but still keep the beer from spoiling so quickly. That may be one way to give the beer some shelf life without adding much hop characteristic.

The BMC's of the world pasteurize some of the beer to avoid spoilage without having to worry about the other effects (like flavor) of hops.