Beer for my bro...

[burton178]

I am 48 hours into my first homebrew (I've been reading about it for a few weeks)...

I can't wait to try and make all kinds of different brews...

I think it would be a neat idea, being that I don't have a lot of money, to give my brother some of my homebrewed beer as a Christmas present. While I have a wide range of tastes when it comes to beer, my brother is a Bud Light guy (corona sometimes).
I'm a little intimidated to try and venture into the world of lagers at the moment. Is there an ale I could make that would be "light" enough that he might enjoy it.
He thinks I'm nuts when I drink Newcastle or Guinness for that matter.
Any suggestions?

 

[bradsul]

An american wheat would be good, it's nice and light coloured and doesn't have a lot of hops flavour or bitterness. Likewise a hefeweizen is what I always used to convert my BMC friends. You might want him to try one before you make a bunch for him though, some people didn't care for the banana notes (though they were definitely in the minority).

If you want something more traditional you can't go wrong with a nice ordinary bitter in my opinion.

 

[Chad]

You might look into a nice crisp cream ale or koelsch. They're ales so they are easier to deal with than lagers but have many lager characteristics that appeal to those accustomed to mass market beers.

Chad

 

[IndyPABrewGuy]

here's my Extra Light Pale Ale (Bottled Water Ale) recipe. It's been a HUGE hit with craft brew fans and non-craft brew fans alike. Batch twois coming up after the new year.

6 lbs Muntons Extra Light DME
.5 lbs. Crystal Malt (60 L) (less if you want the color to be light. This turns out more like Yuengling)
.5 oz. Hallertau (60 min)
.5 oz. Hallertau (10 min)
Wyeast 1056

Go to town. It's like a cream ale-ish kinda thing, but not overly hoppy with a nice malt charater.

Cheers,

 

[burton178]

thanks for both replies.... Appreciate it!

Keep the suggestions coming!

 

[malkore]

I'd vote for a Kolsch. its on the cooler side of ale fermentation temps, especially using Wyeast's liquid kolsch yeast.

its a very light, crisp style of beer. its a style I've decided to keep on tap all the time now (or bottled).

 

[jrecords]

I like the American wheat idea. Every Budlight drinker I know seems to like a "wheat beer". It's all Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat around here.

 

[Evan]

i made a Blond Ale a month and a half ago. they are pretty common to find on any recipe site. though i haven't done it, i've since heard you can add some malt extract at the start, but add the rest like the last 15 minutes...there is more to it then that, you will have to adjust some things in the recipe first.

note: my blond was a little darker then a budweiser. i've also had friends who are BMC only people that had one of my beers from the bottle, and didn't say anything, but the next time they are over i put it a glass and its "oh thats to dark, i wont like it". its the same darn beer! lol. i've never been able to understand why you wouldnt try a beer because of the color. if you try it and dont like, fine...but not all beers the same color taste the same lol. some people!

 

[shunoshi]

+1 on the American Wheat idea. I just recently brewed an Easy Street Wheat clone and it turned out great. Craft beer drinkers and BMC drinkers both liked it.

 

[RoaringBrewer]

All the ideas mentioned here are good - However, I'm going to +5 or 10 or whatever we are at the American-style wheat beer... I would stay with an American wheat though using the Safale S-05 (1056) or Wyeast 1056. No banana flavor to possibly turn off the Bud drinker.

I recently brewed an American wheat recipe (see Citrus Weizen thread in the Recipe forums) with wheat DME and some (1lb) honey - I hopped very lightly (12IBU - right in Bud range probably) with Northern Brewer and some Cascade and fermented with American Ale Yeast strain. I added the skins of 4 lemons/oranges near the end of the boil and it has given the beer a nice, clean, refreshing citrus kick at the end, but its very smooth. About 5% ABV and 12 IBU as mentioned... If you were to brew this for your brother, I might recommend cutting the citrus kick back to 2 skins each. It's not bad with 4 each, but you want to keep this as neutral as possible for your Bud-drinking brother, I'm guessing. You could also probably replace the skins with a little more cascade near the end of the boil as these are known to have some citrus qualities, or even a pinch of crushed coriander seed as its known to give a lemony flavor. Whatever you do as far as citrus flavoring goes though, definitely do it in moderation... Don't want to overdo this.

I've had a few BMC drinking uncles try this and love it... and I really enjoy it to.

 

[burton178]

great responses... The American Wheat sounds like the winner this time! I'll give it a shot and see how it goes. If all goes well, I should be able to taste by early to mid December and see if it's something he'd like as a Christmas gift.
If not... It's off to home depot for some kind of tool! That would be ok, because it would mean more homebrew for me!!!

 

[RoaringBrewer]

Oh, for your reference - I fermented my citrus weizen for about 2 weeks in primary and then went to bottles... After 2 weeks in the bottles its pretty darn good... still think it will improve with another 2-4 weeks, but you could definitely get this style done by Christmas.

One other note on my recipe, so you aren't dissappointed, the beer looks nice and light and clear when warm, but once chilled, it does get a chill haze. I know this is normal with most weizens, but if your brother is afraid of cloudy beer, maybe a weizen is not the answer... In which case I would suggest the Kolsch or some light lawnmower pale ale... If he doesn't mind a little chill-haze, I say the american weizen all the way...

There is probably some way to combat chill haze in wheats also (maybe irish moss or something?) but I didn't add any other 'additives' to mine other than the wheat malt, honey, and hops... oh yeah and the citrus peels at the end.