How to make pale ale less hoppy?

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Alphadawg

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I hope this isn't a dumb question. I got a kit to make a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. My wife hates hoppy beer because of the aftertaste. I am hoping there is an easy way to make this less bitter. Would I simply reduce the hops at the beginning and middle of the boil? Maybe use half of the suggested amounts?
 
My wife hates hoppy beer because of the aftertaste.

Common situation for those who generally don't like APAs, IPAs, NEIPAs, ...

What styles of beer does she enjoy?

I am hoping there is an easy way to make this less bitter.

The words 'aftertaste' and 'bitterness' are pretty general. There's a "next" layer of hop flavors / aromas that may be helpful in identifying what she doesn't like about "hoppy" beer.

In my experience, some people get (and don't like) a lingering piney flavor from Cascade and related "c" hops (as well some high AA 'clean' bittering hops). Noble or noble-like hops (EKG, Willamette) seems to be less of a problem. Beer styles (darker beers) also seem to be less of a problem.

I am hoping there is an easy way to make this less bitter. Would I simply reduce the hops at the beginning and middle of the boil? Maybe use half of the suggested amounts?
That may reduce the undesired flavor to a threshold where it can be no longer be tasted. But you have also made a different style of beer.
 
Common situation for those who generally don't like APAs, IPAs, NEIPAs, ...

What styles of beer does she enjoy?



The words 'aftertaste' and 'bitterness' are pretty general. There's a "next" layer of hop flavors / aromas that may be helpful in identifying what she doesn't like about "hoppy" beer.

In my experience, some people get (and don't like) a lingering piney flavor from Cascade and related "c" hops (as well some high AA 'clean' bittering hops). Noble or noble-like hops (EKG, Willamette) seems to be less of a problem. Beer styles (darker beers) also seem to be less of a problem.


That may reduce the undesired flavor to a threshold where it can be no longer be tasted. But you have also made a different style of beer.
She likes Blonde Ales and lagers (I am not ready for lagering yet). I don't really care if I brew a different style, I just want a less hoppy beer that will still taste like beer
 
The best option would be to get a kit for a beer style that you and your wife like - like a blonde ale. But reducing the bitterness of a Pale Ale kit by reducing the amount of 60 minute hops will give you beer, too.
 
I hope this isn't a dumb question. I got a kit to make a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone. My wife hates hoppy beer because of the aftertaste. I am hoping there is an easy way to make this less bitter. Would I simply reduce the hops at the beginning and middle of the boil? Maybe use half of the suggested amounts?

You can definitely move your hops to later in the boil to decrease bitterness. It might also be useful to shed more light
on what she dislikes. When I first got into craft beer it took years to acquire a liking for bitter beers, especially
west coast IPAs. Don't tell any other homebrewers, but I still can't really drink Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I now suspect
cascade is the sole reason.

Maybe your wife's issue is 'harsh' bitterness which is supposed to be due to co-humulone. A hop substitution for
cascade may eventually do the trick.
 
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She likes Blonde Ales and lagers (I am not ready for lagering yet). I don't really care if I brew a different style, I just want a less hoppy beer that will still taste like beer
My wife similarly tends to not care for bitter beers, however, recently we discovered that she does rather enjoy Saisons (I made her try 4 different ones, all of which she liked). So I would advocate for that haha I actually have one in the fermenter now that I'm making for her.

Funkwerks out of Colorado makes a good classic example thats commercially available.
 
Not a dumb question at all. In the same boat. Your right to reduce the amount of hops early on and over-all. I’d suggest running the recipe through an online recipe calculator to get an idea of where you’ll end up IBU wise.

Made a cream ale with mosaic that the wife really enjoyed as well as some belgians and a saison. I often times take kits and tweak them (sometimes substantially) to preference.
 
Bitterness comes from early hop additions in your boil. So when you add hops and boil for 60-45 min is where the majority of your bitterness comes from. You can adjust the amount of hops at this time or even eliminate them from your recipe. Also look at the types of hops you are using as some add more bitterness than others. If she likes the aroma then use them at the end of your boil or even better whirlpool after your boil is complete.
 
Very interesting discussion. I also am not a fan of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and similar beer. Thanks for the tip about avoiding using Cascade Hops in my beer making to avoid that flavor?
 
Perhaps to tell her to drink more beer, haha :) It can be an acquired taste
I remember when I started drinking beer. I wasn't too fond of the strong hoppy taste either, but as I drank more and more beer and more varieties and styles my appreciation and fondness began to grow for the taste of hops and different styles.
Perhaps check out kits with lower IBU counts. Most of them should indicate the IBU
 
A lot of good advice here, for sure. I guess I would toss in Belgian blonde and Hefeweizen styles for interesting flavors, not necessarily from hops. It would also be interesting to see if she still has the same impression after the ale has aged for a while. My pales get much more mellow and balanced after about 6 weeks in the bottle.
 
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