My friends are sheep

I just set up my keezer. I have the set up to tap corney kegs but also a commercial sanke. My wife asked me if my friends bought special craft beers when I went to their houses and I told her of course not. She then said .... well then why are you buying special beer for THEM? As has been said brew what you like.... BUT if you are insistent on making something for them the ideas put forth already are great. I will add that a CENTENNIEL BLOND ( recipe on here) is a very good beer for those who usually drink BMC>

 

+1

 

Absolutely epic post.

 

Thanks for the advice man. Been eyeballing that brown ale kit for awhile. Learned 2 things from this post.

1. Only 1/10 posts will answer your question
2. People aren't fans of humor on his forum

 

LoL

On the humor side of the coin, next time you are drinking with your buddies, drop a hop pellet in their beer.

 

Ha, I try to brew beers my roommates don't like.

To keep them from drinking them all.

It works rather well really, they love IPA's, I do not care for very hoppy beers (or at least very few), they don't care as much for very malty beers, I like many Belgian and high malt profile or very estery beers.

Brew a batch of IPA with them, grumble a bit, appreciate two-three of them, they drink the rest. Then it's my turn next time.

As a side note, I still think you can appreciate the beers you don't like, even the big breweries. Just because the flavor profile may not be desired by you, doesn't mean it is entirely un-desirable to the populace.

 

I was just going to say someting about this!

People who prefer plain foods (chicken, pizza, pasta, etc) and would not try sushi or veal or calamari probably don't have broad tastes and probably don't like strong tasting beers. It's not just college kids who have tunnel vision on how beer is supposed to taste, I've shared good brews with middle aged beer drinking adults who didn't like the complex taste of homebrew.

Some people are simply stuck in their ways of "what works" and there is no converting them over to the dark side.

 

Completely topic dependent. You touched some nerves here. The perceived "beer snob" posts always garner some negative attention. You capped it off with a BMC oriented recipe request, which, unfortunately, also usually attracts some snarky comments.

Glad you got a few answers.

 

It's not so much that people here aren't fans of humor, but how many times can you see the same joke before you're utterly disgusted with seeing it?

On this forum, ragging on BMC is like beating that dead - and pregnant apparently - horse.

I think you'll also find that unlike the lion's share of other internet forums, this one tends to be dominated by those of us who tend to be in a more advanced stage in our lives than the standard poor, broke college student who is discovering great beer and wants the world to know. This is quite refreshing in my opinion, as there are far fewer flame wars and far more useful information shared.

 

To answer the OP's question - yes your friends ARE sheep. And it's annoying. So here's two things I make to appease them, and I enjoy the results as well. It's a happy medium, so so speak.

The first is just a basic cream ale - I like to make this when time is tight and I need beer. I can whip out this extract brew in less than 2 hours. Last guy who had one said "This is ****ing delicious!"
3.3# LME - 60min
2oz crystal 10 - steep for 20min @ 150
2oz carafoam - steep for 20min @ 150
3.3# LME - 10min
0.5lbs corn sugar - 15min

1.75oz hallertauer - 60
0.25oz citra - 60
0.25oz hallertauer - 20
0.25oz citra - 5

Safale S-04

Steep your grains, then add water to 2 gallons and start boiling with the LME. Add the other stuff as directed, then top off with cold water to 5.5gallons, toss in your yeast, and ferment for 2 weeks. Cold-crash for 2-3 days, bottle with 5oz corn sugar, wait a couple weeks, and you're set.

It'll have 22ibus, but very light and clear and not a heavy taste. Friends love it - the citra gives it a bit of a bite, but works well with the mostly mellow hallertauer. Give it a try.

Recipe #2:
This is just a lager I made, but using the same yeast cake as the above. Made this for a hockey tournament - all indications are it's delicious, but the tourney isn't until April 21. It's just conditioning in a keg right now. I keep a lager version of this on tap for guests. It's a crowd-pleaser.

Batch size 5.2 gallons

7.5# 2-row
1# flaked corn
1# munich 10
6oz carafoam (optional)

mash all for 60 min @ 154F

1oz hallertauer - 60min
1oz saaz - 10min

boil it, cool it, ferment with S-04 again. Pretty refreshing, and it'll warm up your friends to homebrew glory.

 

I'm happy that craft brews aren't mainstream (although they are more now than ever before). I also like that I'm the only one amongst my friends that knows anything about beer. If everyone knew what we know about beer it wouldn't be as special to me as it is now.

 

Wow this looks great man! Thanks for the recipe. Going on the brew list for this weekend.

 

I just had to put in a vote for this comment, thanks!

Kosch

 

I also wanted to mention that there is a great recipe in the database here called Cream of Three Crops, which is VERY similar to your light pilsner brews. I have a few friends who were afraid to try any beer I made and before really trying anything, assumed that the beers were horrible. I brewed up a batch of the Co3C, convinced them to try, and they loved it!! Now they've tried more and more brews, both homebrewed and commercial, and one of them has even begun to obsess over IPAs! As was stated earlier, I think many people are just so used to seeing beer as this fizzy yellow brew that they are scared of anything else. Keep trying!!

 

As many others have stated over and over again, cream ale is going to be your best bet. I second the recipe for Cream of Three Crops. Its a fantastic light ale, the corn and rice additions mellow out the flavor a lot. The hop profile is basically non-existent, its not too malty or sweet, and its not heavy. If your friends make a face when drinking this beer, then they must make faces when drinking the beers they love so much because it has to be the most mild beer I ever made. My family members and friends who mostly enjoy BMC beers all said my cream ales I make are the best.

The best thing though is after making a few batches of cream ale, about a month ago I made an APA with a moderate amount of hops--in other words it had a noticeable bite to those drinking BMC type beers or my past cream ales--and this past weekend they all loved it, said it was my best batch yet, and kept wanting more.

So, if for some reason, you are really looking for approval from your friends about your hobby, then start with a cream ale, run them though a few batches and get them hooked, and then slowly move on to something with more flavor. Still, don't discount that this is something you enjoy doing. Who cares what anybody else thinks about your beer as long as you enjoy it? That being said, if its something you wish to share with your friends and an attempt to get them to try new things, start with something as light as they drink, such as a cream ale, and slowly advance towards beers you enjoy.

Also--as others have said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with BMC beers. To many on this forum who are so full of themselves to think otherwise, stop it. You may not like those beers, and that is fine, but its also okay for people to enjoy those beers. Just because its not your style or choice doesn't make it wrong, or that those beers are equal to piss, or anything like that. Nobody is forcing you to drink it. We get it, you have a strong opinion against it, but I would never put someone down or look down upon them for choosing to enjoy those beers. I see it more as a challenge to get them to try something new.

 

Give them a Hopslam or Ruination. Then laugh at them and call them P^$$ys until they get in line.

 

I love Sage Francis. Quite possibly the closest thing America has to Shakespeare in the 21st Century. I put "Got up this morning" on the ole Ipod at a party and I get groans. Why wont they share this experience with me, when it should be obvious to any non-idiot what a genius he is? So I wind up listening to whatever tripe is intended to make buttocks wiggle this month, and I curse their hides the whole time.

Same difference really.

Anyway, seeing as how more people here seem to have received valid brewing advice dealt with humor and a genuine intention to help from Revvy than almost any other source I personally would reread whatever post I made to see if maybe I actually did sound like a douche.

 

You might also wanna try a nice blonde (giggity). On that note, we were at passover dinner on Friday at my aunts friends house. Shes not a beer drink but knows I am and told me there were beers in the basement. So I hit up the fridge and there was a whole case of "Labatt Classic Samplers" which I had never seen before, A blonde, a Rye, a Pils, and a Shandy (which I had never even heard of before but was quickly disappointed that it was pretty much 7up!). All in all they were decent brews, however the Blonde was absolutely fantastic, great flavor profile, mild on the hops, awesome silky texture. It def inspired me to brew up a blonde for the summer months when you want something nice and light but still has some flavor to it

 

A few thoughts on this and every thread like it:

1. Many BMC loyal drinkers will never change there tastes. If they are interested in branching out that is one thing, but forcing stuff on people not open too it will never be successful.

2. Your beer likely is not as good as you think. That is accurate for 99% of brewers. I consider myself a decent brewer and 50% of what I brew is crap, 30% is decent, and 20% is good. I have a very hard time believing anyone who says all their beers are awesome.

3. As suggested above, if you are interested in getting your friends into craft beer, it is very unlikely that your homebrew is the best way to get them started. Just give them great examples of various styles, or arrange to go to a beer festival with them.

4. Just be nice and this whole thing stays fun. Be a jerk and your friends will think you are a douchnozzle.

 

Wise words.