Brewing for the misses

[Alamo_Beer]

Hey guys... Hows it goin?

I just Brewed up my first beer...did a couple of ciders awhile ago but decided I wanted to try a beer. I followed the byo.com advise for your first brew and picked 2 cans of amber extract and 2 oz of fuggle hops. It's in primary right now (brewday was Wednesday) but I'm thinking of what to do next.

My fiance says that she'd like a pale ale or something lighter...but she doesn't like really hoppy beers. I chose the amber extract bc I thought it might be kinda nice to have something kind of out of the ordinary but that we'd still like. I think she'd like something some what dark if it tasted good an all that. I say this bc she likes shiner bock a lot but says she only likes pale beers....

I'm kinda thinking about a christmas/holiday ale bc we're thinking of doing that for gifts next year and it would be kinda cool to try but I'd still like something that I want to drink kinda daily when I got home from work.

Any suggestions?

Something pale-ish would be good but not a must and something that is i guess normally hopped.

A brew kit would be cool but again not a must...I could put together the ingredients of someone else's recipe.

Ok Thanks guys.

-Andy

 

[cweston]

Here's my advice...

Brew what *you* like, unless you're very confident that you know what she will like.

If you're not sure (and/or she's not sure) what styles she likes, go to a store that sells singles or mixed sixers and get several bottles of good examples of various styles and try them with her.

You might even want to hide the color somehow (blindfold her? Could be kinky, too--that's a little bonus). I think the color preference is more about preconceived notions than about actual taste, in most cases. In my experience, women are more likely to like malty-rich tasting beers, and darker beers are actually more likely to taste malty rich.

5 gallons is a lot of beer if no one really likes it. My wife was all pumped for me to brew a raspberry beer. I did it this summer, and more than half the batch is still in the basement. She says she likes it, but the fact is she's just not that much of a beer drinker.

 

[Bobby_M]

When she says pale, she really means "light" I suspect. If you brew a pale ale, it's probably not going to be as sweet as she expects. I find that the ladies tend to like light colored wheats. Try a simple low alcohol wheat, maybe with some honey. 3lbs wheat DME and a pound of honey, 1/2oz cascade hops for 60 mins. As long as you don't tell people you brewed a hefe, you can live with a dry ale yeast.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

right on..some good advise Thanks guys..

Yeah I think your right that she has some preconceived notions about lighter beers.. and I don't think she'd like a pale ale even though thats what she says she'd like...

It's funny really though bc she's the one who got me to drink beer...before I met her I really didn't drink much beer.

I like the idea of the sorta hefe...I might give that a try..

What's your opinions on holiday beers with cloves and cinnimon and all that? seems like it could be good or really bad..

what about a coffee stout maybe?

I don't know..kinda confused on what I want as well..

Thanks guys

 

[Ize]

Mine likes beer, but definitely make sure it's something you like as well, because in the end, my SWMBO doesn't like beer nearly as much as I do.

That being said I had her try the Hefeweizen's ChillHayze sent me in our beerswap and she really liked it. So I'm going to do a Honey Weizen up for her. I even gave her the choice between a Bavarian and the Honey and that's the one she chose. The good thing is, I know we'll both end up drinking it, me prolly more than her, but hell, I can always make more.

Ize

 

[Ol' Grog]

Mine likes the sweeter, or maltier, stuff. She is definently NOT a hop fan, and same here. My first actual brew was a American Amber from a Brewers Best kit and low and behold, it's still by far, her favorite. That particular recipe had 3.3 lbs of plain amber malt extract and 2 lbs of plain amber DME with 8 oz. of crushed 60L and 1 oz. each for bittering and flavoring hops of Willamette. I even liked it. Since then I've tried Pilsners, wheats, steam style and micro style pale ales. They were all too hoppy. Whatever you brew, pay close attention to the IBU's. If she doesn't like hops, I wouldn't go over 25%.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

25%....thats a good number I'll make sure to look out for that..

the wheat beer sounds good...I like shiners hefe...so does she...we didn't like the Sam Adam's one too much though

I'm sure whatever I brew I'll like. She's not the type to want a raspberry beer or anything sorta weird like that. If it's got malt hops and yeast i'll drink it..

I just got off the phone with her actually and she said she didn't care about the color as long as she'd like it..

Thanks guys..

 

[sgtusmc_nc]

My wife use to be a bud drinking untill I started making homebrew, she really likes the fruit beers " I know I know MAN LAW" bla bla bla but my fav brew pub makes a great blackberry wheat, so I made one for her and she loved it. next I made her a tripple berry not only did she love it but all my cop and marine friends loved it as well LOL man law down the drain....

If anyone has any advise on making berry beers with real fruit " frozen " I would greatly apprciate it. ive ben using concentrate.

 

[Yooper]

Some of my friends weren't into craft beers at first, so I won them over by making "milder" (less aggressively hopped) beers like the BB English Brown ale kit. (Tastes like Newcastle) One of the kits that everyone really liked was a BB Octoberfest kit. It really wasn't a true Octoberfest, as it was an ale, not a lager, but it was a big hit. It was malty and medium colored and medium bodied, if I remember correctly. I have the recipe around here somewhere, if you're interested. Now, my friends try all my beers even if they're not sure about it. They absolutely loved the Fat Tire clone, and I've made that twice.

I don't like fruit beers, wheat beers, or hefe's as a rule. At least, I've never had one that I liked. So I'm not any help there.

Lorena

 

[rdwj]

...I know I know MAN LAW" bla bla bla but my fav brew pub makes a great blackberry wheat

Anyone that mass produces piss water has business telling us what "men" can put in their beer. I've had plenty of good beers that have fruit in them. I originally made my Cherry Wit for SWMBO, but it turned out to be a huge hit with the guys.

 

[MariaAZ]

I would suggest looking up a few recipes for beers that your fiance enjoys and pay close attention to the bitterness units. Most recipes I've found online or in books (I have one of Papazian's) show what the IBUs are. Once you get an idea of the bitterness range she likes, it might be easier to find recipes that she would be more apt to enjoy.

It is my understanding that American pale ales tend to be a bit hoppy, so picking a pale ale recipe for someone who doesn't care for bitter flavors may not be the safest thing to do without looking at the IBUs.

 

[SteveM]

This is slightly off in a different direction, but as far as light color and flavor, these can be achieved pretty easily. As others have noted, the name "pale ale" is misleading, since they are not necessarily particularly pale.

That said, I make very light colored and flavored beers for use as a base for a Raspberry Ale that I brew once a year (for the holidays - it is almost a tradition after only three years).

It is simple. I use a light extract (I like Cooper's) for half the fermentables, and the other half, I use rice solids. I don't use any steeping grains at all.

The lack of steeping grains means that it has to be in the bottle longer to get a decent head, but this is a good idea anyway since in my experience rice solids yield a cloudy beer unless they have a lot of time to settle.

For my Raspberry Ales I use a light hop load and I guess if I was trying to make a "light" beer I would do the same.

I think about trying this every once in a while, and I know it is a nice gesture to try to brew something that someone else will like. But I think (as others have mentioned) you are better off just making what you like. Chances are, you will not have the heart to make something so light and bland that non-micro or home brew beer drinkers will like it anyway. And if you do, you could be left wondering what was the point, since you can buy something like that easily enough.

 

[sgtusmc_nc]

I just finished ageing a cherry stout, and it turned out great. my fav. beers to make are english or scottish ales. I would like to eventially make some laggers but I just dont have the equiepment yet to cold age. All grain is also in the future, currently im compiling parts and supplies for a mini home brewery with kegs... cant wait to get that up and running.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Right on guys...

I've been thinking along the same lines of "brewing what I like" I mean..thats what I started doing this for in the first place.

I'm starting to think a fruit beer might not be so bad anyway....sounds kinda interesting..I've been thinking of a cherry stout maybe. Do stouts or cherry stouts in particular take longer to age?

I'm heading up to Austin (home town) in a few weeks and I'm probubly going to stop by AHB and pick up a kit or two.

Thinking a Cherry stout and a Brown ale

A little off subject but.....

I'm getting ready to rack my first beer (not sure what to call it) to secondary and I'm wondering what it'll taste like...

6.6LB Amber extract
2 oz Fuggle hops

I didn't use any specialty grains...

Think it'll be weird or just kinda basic?

Also what would you call it? An Amber ale or a psuedo-stout?

Thanks guys..
This forum rocks

 

[Ize]

I'm getting ready to rack my first beer (not sure what to call it) to secondary and I'm wondering what it'll taste like...

6.6LB Amber extract
2 oz Fuggle hops

I didn't use any specialty grains...

Think it'll be weird or just kinda basic?

Also what would you call it? An Amber ale or a psuedo-stout?

Thanks guys..
This forum rocks

Sounds like my first brew.

I named it "Triple F Pale Ale"
6 Lbs. Gold Northern Malt Extract
1 Oz. Fuggles Boiling Hops (boiled for 60 minutes)
1 Oz. Fuggles Finishing Hops
1 6 g. package of Munton's Active Brewing Yeast

Of which I still have 2 bottles of. They're almost 10 years old, but what the hell, I'll give them a try at some point...

Ize

 

[Alamo_Beer]

well good...

glad I didn't brew up poop water..

Thanks

I'm guessing it was pretty good then

Hey I'm thinking about taking advantage of the cold weather while i've got it (Corpus Christi Tx gets REAL hot and muggy)

I was thinking about giving my beer the usual 2 week secondary and maybe 1 week out in the garage where it's about 45-55 degrees to help the yeast drop out..Good Idea or Bad Idea?

 

[RoaringBrewer]

What's your opinions on holiday beers with cloves and cinnimon and all that? seems like it could be good or really bad..

It's not really the holidays, so these will be far 'out of season' by the time they are ready if you brew now. However, if you are going to brew one of these (I have and it turned out pretty good for only being my second brew) plan well inadvance. The spices take a bit to mellow, so you don't want to brew this 6 weeks before Christmas-time and expect it to be ready. I'd recommend 3-4-5 months in advance for a heavily spiced ale. Mine was brewed about 2 months in advance of Christmas this past year and although it was drinkable by the holiday, some of the spices (namely the ginger I used) are just starting to mellow now (1 month after the holiday).

So, plan in advance for spiced ales...

 

[Ize]

well good...

glad I didn't brew up poop water..

Thanks

I'm guessing it was pretty good then

Hey I'm thinking about taking advantage of the cold weather while i've got it (Corpus Christi Tx gets REAL hot and muggy)

I was thinking about giving my beer the usual 2 week secondary and maybe 1 week out in the garage where it's about 45-55 degrees to help the yeast drop out..Good Idea or Bad Idea?

Yeah mine was good. Whether or not it still is remains to be seen!

Not really sure if it will make any difference to leave it cold the extra week or not. Are you bottling it or kegging? I think you'll need to make sure you still have some yeasties in there if you're bottling for carb purposes so you may just want to skip it.

Ize

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Huh good advice SilkkyBrew....I wouldn't have thought of that..

Your right it would be a bit out of season right now but I'm thinking about giving it away for christmas this year (man I'm thinkin like my girlfriend! "never to early to start thinking!")

I'd like to try one before I gave it away bc I'm not sure if my family would like it...

Only beers I've ever seen my dad drink
Miller Lite (Every Freakin day, he'd die without it)
Corona (Only in Mexico)
and
Shiner (VERY RARE-says it's too think for him)

Anyway I'm sure they'd apprechiate it but not sure if they'd like it....Might try a mild brown ale for that

BUT what the hell do I care now...I've got a full freakin year to perfect my brewing and see what I like.

Thanks guys

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Yeah I'm bottling...

I know it's not mandetory or anything but just figgered I'd try and take advantage of the weather...BUT that means 1 more week i'd have to wait to drink it anyway..

Probubly won't it was just an idea though

 

[ECOdork]

Greenhornet, I'm a native of South Texas myself and did some work down in ol'CC for a spell.

I'm still a novice, so maybe someone more wise can chime in, but I'd be worried about the temp flux in your CC garage messing with the beer. I know from experience that you can go from 35*F to 90*F in a day or two.

As far as the "brewing for the misses" thread is concerned, 'tis one reason I'm brewing the Raspberry wheat...but in my defense I (we) lived in NOLA and would drink Purple Haze back when it was only available in keg. I find that it lost a little something in the translation to bottle.....

Yeah I'm bottling...

I know it's not mandetory or anything but just figgered I'd try and take advantage of the weather...BUT that means 1 more week i'd have to wait to drink it anyway..

Probubly won't it was just an idea though

 

[sgtusmc_nc]

IMO I have almost perfected my tripple berry wheat beer I orig. made it for my GF because she likes stuff like that, but when I first tased it WOW im hooked, my cherry stout was a kit and it was pretty good. im still working on my own stout recipe and an ale recipe I would like to keep about 3 of my own beers on hand and brewing at all times. I think its going to be alot more fun when I can switch to AG.

does anyone else make a fruit wheat beer?

 

[Jim Karr]

Greenhornet, you questioned a simple recipe. My signature pale ale is just 6.6 pounds of Muntons LME, 1 ounce of Centennial pellets added into cold water, LME at beginning of boil (of course the flame is turned off when adding), boil for 48 minutes, then add 1/2 ounce of Chinook for aroma at flameout.

I love it!