Homebrew for your non Homebrew friends

[Transamguy77]

I won’t brew something I don’t like (on purpose anyway) so through the year I’ll brew a rice lager, amber ale, APA and some sort of fruit beer. And all of them are what I give my lite beer drinkers and they always work.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

For Christmas gifts (and sporadically through the year for friends), I do a pale saison and a heffy. Too many non-beer people that see more than 10 SRM and they freak out.

The saison is really generic. I let the yeast (3711) do the talking. No brett, no sour, no weird fruit or spices.

For the heffy, basic 55/45 with MO. i'll add a half pound of carapils per 5 gallons to give it more head and a little more creaminess. Saaz/citra at about 17 IBU as to not shock anyone, but try to balance it out a little. I suggest they try it straight, but an orange wedge if they desire. Call me crazy, but I've found that 3068 fermented quite warm (like 78 or 79) gives a bit of banana, which very few non-beer people identify as banana but they like it. LOL shh!

Not sure if i'll change up this year. Guess its time to start thinking about it.

 

[BrunDog]

I don’t think anyone mentioned it so I will... Cream of three crops. Like others noted it is a cream ale. Mashed at 148 it comes out very dry, and is perfectly light in body for the YPFW crowd. I would recommend it over the centennial blonde which I found to have a bigger bite in both body and hop profile.

 

[balrog]

I don’t think anyone mentioned it so I will... Cream of three crops. Like others noted it is a cream ale. Mashed at 148 it comes out very dry, and is perfectly light in body for the YPFW crowd. I would recommend it over the centennial blonde which I found to have a bigger bite in both body and hop profile.

While I agree with @BrunDog on the bite of CBlonde, it might be one of them confounding personal taste things. The cream ale idea is good, but I've also had situations where folks tried my cream ale (even the one by @Yooper that has late hop flavor) and said "yeah, nice, thanks, but there's nothing to this is there?" and then picked up their Miller Light. For them, then, the CBlonde with a bit of bite would be better. I kinda gave up evangelizing after that. Or was it proselytizing? I did not give up sharing. Because that's cruel.

 

[Droot]

My girl only drinks Mick Ultra. I like IPA and HOPS.

She has tried beer I have out and usually gives a sour face.

She DID like the blueberry wheat from Ellicottville.

I am now trying to replicate it with no guidance. I will be making 1/2 wheat, 1/2 barley light beer with Blueberry essence added to her liking when I bottle it. The other half of the 10 gallon batch will be a blue moon clone.

She likes it that I am brewing for her.

She asked me to brew the Ultra, I said "I can't"

Others have told her the same thing, its a tough beer to copy.

David

 

[BrunDog]

It is not as hard as you might think. You won’t get it exact. The key is to use adjuncts like rice, maybe corn sugar too, to lighten and dry it. Mash at hella low temp like 146-148, maybe even for a long while like 90 mins. Judicious hopping of course.