"girl beers?"

[cweston]

I brewed a fairly low-gravity brown ale that my wife actually likes.

She's always liked Raspberry beers and is a fan of New Belgium's Frambozen, so I'm going to be taking a crack at that concept some time.

Any other beers that have gone over well with wives/etc who aren't really beer lovers? I'm thinking maybe a Belgian Wit? My next batch is a Saison Dupont clone, so if she likes that at all, a Wit might be a good choice.

I'd really genuinely like to brew things that she'll like--but she's not very sure of her own tastes and preferences because she's never been much of a beer drinker. She despises standard American macrobrews, BTW.

 

[Mindflux]

There's a frambrozen recipe on brewboard.com that I want to try. I can't find it here (frambrozen that is)...

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal):         5.50    Wort Size (Gal):    5.50
Total Grain (Lbs):       13.13
Anticipated OG:          1.059    Plato:             14.49
Anticipated EBC:          31.8
Anticipated IBU:          17.3
Brewhouse Efficiency:       70 %
Wort Boil Time:             60    Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

  %     Amount     Name                          Origin        Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
61.0     8.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row)              America        36.00      4
22.9     3.00 lbs. Munich Malt(2-row)            America        35.00     12
 3.8     0.50 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt                      33.00      4
 1.0     0.13 lbs. Chocolate Malt                America        29.00    690
 3.8     0.50 lbs. Crystal 40L                   America        34.00     79
 7.6     1.00 lbs. Crystal 80L                                  33.00    158

Potential represented as Points per pound per gallon.


Hops

  Amount     Name                              Form    Alpha  IBU  Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.00 g.     Magnum                            Whole   15.00  17.3  60 min.


Yeast
-----
1056 American Ale
 

I would add 4 to 5 lbs of raspberries to the secondary and rack off after
the fermentation stops. Then I would cold condition for 3-4 weeks before kegging.

 

[Walker]

why don't you pick up a variety of beer (single bottles if possible) at a quality beverage store and have your wife try them to see what does and does not suite her tastes? Try to get a representative of several major styles; lambic, porter, stout, nutbrown, wit, hefeweizen, IPA, etc, etc, etc....

After identifying those beers that she enjoys, you'll have a better idea of what to brew for her.

I can't offer much advice here, though.. my wife loves beer as much as I do.

-walker

 

[cweston]

why don't you pick up a variety of beer (single bottles if possible) at a quality beverage store and have your wife try them to see what does and does not suite her tastes? Try to get a representative of several major styles; lambic, porter, stout, nutbrown, wit, hefeweizen, IPA, etc, etc, etc....r

I've done some of this over the years: her tastes seem almost random to me. She'll taste one APA and and she really likes it, but another APA that seems quite similar to me gets a big thumbs down.

She's not much of a drinker overall--I have a theory that she tends to like lower ABV beers or beers where the alcohol is not a prominent aspect of the flavor. She'd sooner die than take a drink of straight bourbon, for example. She hates the hot mouthfeel.

 

[Walker]

I'm guessing that she likes sweeter/fruity tasting beers based on your initial post.

Try a sweet stout or something like Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. Plus, you can throw just about any fruit you want into a light pale ale (my first batch ever was a raspberry pale ale, and it was great.)

Some scottish ales are very malty, which might appeal to her, too.

My wife tends to like hoppy, bitter beer, so I just keep her supplied with India Pale Ale and she's happy.

-walker

 

[david_42]

English Milds are a good idea. Many woman do not like high bittering levels and the high ABVs that go with them. On the other hand, a sweet berry cider can hit 10% ABV and most women love them.

 

[drengel]

from my experience: my girlfriens favorites that i've made included a nut brown, a light american pale ale, most wheat beers, and golden ale, and a pumpkin ale. interestinlgy enough not any of my favorite ones. but she makes wine and the grapes are more her thing.

 

[Toilet Rocker]

Mine loves brown ales, lambics, fruit beers, spiced holiday ales, and a licorice porter we brewed.

There seems to be a common thread in our ladies' beers.

 

[Prost!]

I brewed a fairly low-gravity brown ale that my wife actually likes.

She's always liked Raspberry beers and is a fan of New Belgium's Frambozen, so I'm going to be taking a crack at that concept some time.

Any other beers that have gone over well with wives/etc who aren't really beer lovers? I'm thinking maybe a Belgian Wit? My next batch is a Saison Dupont clone, so if she likes that at all, a Wit might be a good choice.

I'd really genuinely like to brew things that she'll like--but she's not very sure of her own tastes and preferences because she's never been much of a beer drinker. She despises standard American macrobrews, BTW.

Be careful what you wish for. If she really starts to takes a liking to beer, before you know it shell be bogarting all of your home brew.

No, really, that's great.

My wife likes brown ale and amber ale and compliments me on it. But then she also will drink Coors Light. It's kinda like having someone over for dinner and they rave about your cooking skills, but they go out on the lawn and gobble down a dog turd for dessert. It's hard to know how to take that.

 

[dancingbarefoot]

I really don't hate really hoppy beers, but I won't go out of my way to drink one, either. I love bitterness in other foods/drinks, just not beer. The hops are too overbearing, I guess. I like ones where I can taste a range of flavors, not just the hops.

Fruity beers are gross, IMHO. Blech! Fruit has no place in beer. Nut browns, stouts, and anything nice and malty is delicious, though.

That's this woman's take on it, anyway. I second the suggestion to do some taste-testing with commercial beers and find out what she likes before actually brewing anything.

 

[WhatsOnTap]

My wife hates commercial brews, and has never liked beer, period. Until I started homebrewing, that is. I don't know if that's a compliment or what to my brewing skills. She really appreciates the Oktoberfest I did, if that helps you any. I really tried to probe and find out what it was about beer she despised, and it pretty much came down to the hops. She can't stand Bud either, so it can't be just that. Like anything else in life, women are hard to figure out. Looks like you'll have to just keep brewing to find the perfect style, man. Go BANANAS! (I had to do that, sorry).

 

[Brew chick]

Just take a look at my celler stock(below)womans tastes are just as varid as your own,but i don't know any woman that likes very bitter beers eg ipa or full malty flavours in a beer (except me).as for friuty flavours,i think a higher percentage would prefer them.just find a comercial beer she likes and copy it(as said before).
one more point,most people chose a beer on looks first;light or dark,wot about serving temp?some may prefer colder lager(5c) or wormer bitter(13c)

 

[cweston]

Just take a look at my celler stock(below)womans tastes are just as varid as your own,

I should point out that I was being deliberately provocative by choosing the subject line "girl beers," hoping to get as many people as possible to look and respond. Maybe not a very good strategy for a relatively new poster--IRL I'm suitably gender aware, non-stereotyping, blah blah blah.

It seems clear that most of the posters here are men--what I was really looking to get (and did) was what beers people have brewed that were surprisingly enjoyed by folks that didn't consider themselves beer lovers (many of whom are probably women).

 

[Janx]

My wife likes brown ale and amber ale and compliments me on it. But then she also will drink Coors Light. It's kinda like having someone over for dinner and they rave about your cooking skills, but they go out on the lawn and gobble down a dog turd for dessert. It's hard to know how to take that.

OMG that's so funny! I'm laughing my ass off. Cheers