Advise on Equipment and simple recipe

[Progfan2010]

I have been reading and watching all I can about home brewing for weeks now. I will take a course to learn how to home brew. I want to have my beer on tap and two questions come to my mind.

My wife is almost as excited as I am, but she drinks only (or mostly enjoys) light, clear looking, almost flavorless kind of beers. She says she wants us to do at least one kind of light, clear beer for her to drink with lime (..Yeah, ...I know). So I want to please her and keep her interested in brewing.

I know you have to ferment lager beers at low temperatures, in a refrigerator.

My question is: Is there any kind of clear looking, light, simple beer that doesn´t have to be fermented in a fridge?. Like a Pale Ale?, or an IPA?. Some of them look brown, and some of them look light.

I would like to know because I need to buy my Kegerator equipment before I go back to Mexico. Part of that equipment would be a Temp controller to "lager".

The other question. And probably the only I should have asked:

Do you know of a very simple recipe for a (repeating) light, clear looking, almost flavorless beer that doesn´t need to be fermented in low temperatures, that is cheap and consist of no more than 2 kinds of malts and no more than one kind of hops?.

If you have any suggestion, would you simplify it to basic malts?. In Mexico the culture for home brewing is small and suppliers offer only Base Malt, Caramel, Chocolate, Munich, Roasted, Wheat, and that´s it.

And yeasts: SAFALE US-05, US-04, SAFBREW S33, Nottingham, Windsor, SAFBREW T-58.

And I guess we´re ok on Hops, at least a good basic variety.

But no fancier or too specific kinds of Malts.

Best regards.

 

[Pharkan1]

Clear tasteless beers are difficult to brew. Even very tiny flaws and off-flavors will shine through.

If you are into IPAs I would recommend that you'd start with one of these. They don't require a complicated malt profile and they are fairly easy to make.

Maltprofile:
80-90% base malt or munich
10-20% Caramel

Hopprofile
Add a little hop in the beginning of the boil
Add a lot of hops at the end of the boil.

And then buy some coronas for your wife

Good luck,

Klaus

 

[unionrdr]

There are many cervesa kits on the market,brewed as ales. Those would be the easiest in the light color/flavor category. Even Cooper's has one or two. The OS lager,brewed with provided ale yeast,is light. But it needs a little bit of hops to balance it,imo. My wife loved that one,so I came up with a SA summer ale-ish brew for her to make. It uses the cooper's OS lager as a base,since it's close anyway.

 

[tdogg]

i would try a "cream ale", with cascade hops (or similar) and S-05 yeast. tasty enough for beer drinkers, light enough for the BMC crowd.

 

[Yooper]

I have a cream ale recipe posted she may like. My dad, who only drinks Genessee Cream Ale, likes it.

Keep in mind that even ales should be fermented in the low-mid 60s, so you may need temperature control regardless of what you're brewing. I bet you don't have too many rooms in your house when the ambient is 62 degrees!

 

[tdogg]

you mentioned that your choice of ingredients is limited, will you be brewing all grain or extract?

 

[Progfan2010]

you mentioned that your choice of ingredients is limited, will you be brewing all grain or extract?

Thank you all for your kind answers.

My objective is to brew from All Grain. The course I´m planning on taking is about All grain. It seems maybe a little bit pretentious given that right now I haven´t even touched a yeast pack, but I´m reading the "How to Brew" and have been watching videos and reading lots of forums, so, why not?. My wife cooks some dishes that seem way more complex in the process, than the AG brewing. Even though she barely likes strong Beers, she could tell the flavor of the yeast in a Unibroque´s Trois Pistoles.

I guess I´ll just buy the controller anyway. 55 Dlls. could make a difference later. And I´ll try those recipes you mentioned earlier.

Yes, the ingredients are limited in Mexico, but I´ll have to settle with that. Do you think I can make a Strong Ale or a Stout with that?. Not with the same Irish profile I guess, but still a "Black" Ale. I´m so excited about brewing I can´t wait.

 

[tdogg]

nothing wrong with starting with all grain, just a couple more steps.

 

[BryceL]

I have a cream ale recipe posted she may like. My dad, who only drinks Genessee Cream Ale, likes it.

Keep in mind that even ales should be fermented in the low-mid 60s, so you may need temperature control regardless of what you're brewing. I bet you don't have too many rooms in your house when the ambient is 62 degrees!

+1 to the cream ale. These tend to be very light and easy to drink. Plus, you can't go wrong with one of Yoopers recipies