IBU hater from Missouri

[762frmafr]

SO...I am new to homebrewing. I mostly started with fruit wines meads ciders and grain mashes. I figured I would try my hand at beer. If I am being honest, I never really liked the taste of beer. Now that I know what goes in to making beer, I have figured out that it is the hop bitterness that I don't like. I can drink an IPA with a meal and it doesn't really bother me, but if I am just going to sit down and drink a beer, even the lowest IBU beer I can find doesn't taste good to me. Don't get me wrong, I can finish it, but if I am being honest, I don't really enjoy it. So, that being said, any recommendations on what style of beer I should try? I tried Moose Drool yesterday because I wanted to do a batch of Caribou Slobber, and it was the same thing. At 24 IBU, the bitterness was all I tasted. Thanks in advance and I look forward to learning a lot on this forum.

 

[b-boy]

Belgians, Scotch Ales, and sours are probably low IBU beers in general.

Here's a website with IBUs listed by style. http://islandbeerclub.com/ibuchart.htm

Maybe you can try a few styles to help you decide what your threshold is.

Honestly, I didn't care for bitter beers at first, but I developed a taste for them after a while. Same thing with Belgian beers.

 

[Horseflesh]

How you taste IBU depends on what else is going on in the beer. A stout with high IBU can taste less bitter than a pale ale with the same IBU.

I'd try a bottled hefeweizen... Paulaner or Weihenstephaner. Good chance you may find them palatable, and that style is easy to make.

 

[skraeling]

what beers and stouts are always good go to's.

im also in missouri and im not the biggest IPA fan anymore either.

 

[ChelisHubby]

I would make a simple Blonde and use williamette hops at 60 minutes and try for about 12 ibu with a 10.55 grain bill. or instead of all the hops at 60 minutes you can add them at 180 degrees as your heating up the wort this will make the bitterness smoother. This is assuming that you are doing all grain. I would also use a ale yeast. any thing that ferments clean , Nottingham if you have good tempature control and Bry 97 if you struggle to control the fermentation temps, it is more forgiving if it gets above 70 degrees.

 

[billl]

"Don't get me wrong, I can finish it, but if I am being honest, I don't really enjoy it. "

So.... why do you want to brew beer? There is nothing wrong with preferring wine etc

Before you start, I'd highly recommend you try a range of commercial beers and actually find some you like. I know it's a tough homework assignment, but it sounds like you need to go drink a whole lot of different beers.

check out the style guide and start tying ones you haven't before.

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf

 

[Temptd2]

Same here! Been brewing for over 3.5 years now and finally decided, to heck with what everyone ELSE likes - gonna make beer *I* like!

Now I aim for IBUs in the 15 or so range. I have a brown ale that I love, and many blonde or amber ales are great too. Nottingham is the best yeast for the beers I like and I almost always use it.

Maybe try something like Yooper's Fizzy Yellow Beer or Biermunchers Centennial Blonde. You can drop the IBUs to something you like - look up an IBU calculator to figure out which hops and how much of it to adjust the beer to something you'll enjoy!

 

[jcav]

You also might want to brew an English Mild. Nice an malty and low IBU's. The German Hefeweizens like Paulaner, Franziskaner etc are also pretty low and like the other posts advise make it like you like it, and go low on the hop additions if that is what you like. It may be hard to buy an English Mild here in the states though, you will probably have to make your own.

John

 

[Cyclman]

Have you had a good German lager style?

 

[762frmafr]

So from what I am hearing, I need to try some different styles. That is what I have been trying to do. But buying a 6 pack of something I end up not liking is kind of a waste. I will try and find a place that sells individual bottles or mix and match 6 packs. Thanks for the recommendations and keep them coming please.

 

[Homercidal]

The nice thing about homebrewing is that you can brew what you want, how you want it. There are very low IBU styles, but you can adapt any recipe to have lower IBU very easily.

If you look up BJCP Guidelines, they list the stats for every style including the IBUs. You should be able to get detailed descriptions of those beers and see if anything looks interesting. Buy a few different ones at the store and see what you think.

I think you might do well with Blonde Ale (reduce the hops) English Mild, Scottish Ale, Witbier, etc. Just get a few from the store and see if you like the taste. When you find something you like, brew it, but reduce the bittering hop addition and see how you like it.

 

[mongoose33]

Here are two I think you might like:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=24243 Ferment at 65 degrees, not the 60 listed. This is a delicious porter; I added a little vanilla to it, and it's a hit. Not bitter as in hoppiness, and not burnt as in stout.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=66503 A cream ale, very smooth drinker.

I've brewed both of these, and they're excellent recipes. I also brewed a SMASH that has Maris Otter malt and Styrian Celeia hops, and it's...almost a lager, even though it's an ale. Wonderful hop flavor without all the excess bitterness.

I'm not a big hop-head in the sense of bitterness, but I like the flavor and aroma of hops. Like you, I don't particularly care for really bitter beers, so mine are never likely to be high on IBU.

And: welcome!

PS: Your palate is what it is. Different people like different things, and you can't say someone is wrong in what they like. They like what they like. I think you can find some beers you'll like that aren't overly bitter, and even relish drinking them. But don't feel you have to apologize for not liking bitter beer--your tastes are your tastes.

 

[GHBWNY]

So from what I am hearing, I need to try some different styles. That is what I have been trying to do. But buying a 6 pack of something I end up not liking is kind of a waste. I will try and find a place that sells individual bottles or mix and match 6 packs. Thanks for the recommendations and keep them coming please.

Many marketplace brewers offer variety 6- and 12-packs. This time of year you get some great fall, Oktoberfest, pumpkin, spicy, sweeter style offerings, many of which are on the low-IBU side. I am kinda like you, gravitating toward the mellower end of the IBU scale when it comes to beer (genetic predisposition, I'm sure). I like a good Belgian Tripel. Recently, I had both a Southern Tier Pumking and a Sam Adams Oktoberfest, each of which in their own style were good, stand-alone beers. It could also be a matter of developing a taste for some flavors you had previously rejected. Also, if a beer has a strong up-front hop aroma, you might find it more objectionable "taste"-wise since smell + taste = "taste".

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Try some scotch ales, doppelbocks, helles & dunkels. Try some Belgian styles too, especially the fruit lambics like kriek, cassis & framboise.
Like you mentioned, try to find a place that sells single bottles, oftentimes, a store will sell you single bottles if you ask & explain why.
Hope that helps! Regards, GF.

 

[skraeling]

Second the Scottish ales. Super mild

 

[Temptd2]

Not sure where you're located or what stores you have available, but Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's both have beers that they sell in singles. Check with liquor stores too, I know that
BevMo sells some beers in singles.

 

[skraeling]

Friartucks and dierbergs both as well

 

[Aristotelian]

What you should check out is sour beers. They have very low IBU because hops inhibit lacto fermentation, and they taste unlike any conventional beer you have ever had. More like wine than beer, especially when mixed with fruit. Get yourself a Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere, then read up on fermenting sour beers.

 

[Kent88]

Try some scotch ales, doppelbocks, helles & dunkels. Try some Belgian styles too, especially the fruit lambics like kriek, cassis & framboise.
Like you mentioned, try to find a place that sells single bottles, oftentimes, a store will sell you single bottles if you ask & explain why.
Hope that helps! Regards, GF.

I'll second this.

Have you tried berliner weisse? It is a light, sour beer with little or no hops used to brew it. The great thing about it is that you can make some and it will be ready really quickly (but improves after a couple months of bottle conditioning), while other sours can take ages before they're ready. And berliner weisse, like other sours, is supposed to be really good if you want to try adding fruit to beer.

German lagers (and lager-like ales) make for good low IBU brews.

Wasting a 6-pack to find out if you like a style is way better than wasting a day brewing (and the opportunity cost of your fermenter's time) a beer you don't like.

 

[GHBWNY]

Second the Scottish ales. Super mild

Third this. Especially French Broad Brewery's (Asheville, NC) "Wee Heavy-er". Other-worldly.

 

[kristiismean]

also try an ESB if darker beers are not to your liking.

I know, I know, it has bitter in the freaking name, why would he recommend this, .. well. a Good ESB is not bitter, if that makes any sense at all.

It's malty, doughy like (like rich crackers, etc)