my wife hates beer...any ideas???

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
F

fred_zepp

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Messages
103
Reaction score
0
title says it all. she doesn't mind me brewin... she even buys me beer. but she can't stand it herself. i wonder if she's ever even had a whole beer in her life.

i'm thinking of brewing something really mellow to help her get started. everytime she tries something i make i get the "bitter beer face". she does drink, but usually just mixed drinks (loves margaritas, but top shelf only) or mike's cranberry/pomegranate lemonade.

any sugestions? i'm tired of drinking my brew alone.
 
Why do you want her to drink beer if she doesn't like it? My wife is the same way. She won't even try my beers any more because she doesn't like ANY beer. As long as I'm not getting a hassle for brewing and drinking the relationship is working fine.
 
Try a mild ale.

The last one I made was malty with a bit of sweetness, and it isn't really bitter at all. It's not meant to be really bitter, and is a very easy drinking beer. The only thing that your wife might not like is that milds are quite dark coloured. They aren't a heavy beer at all, as the OG is somewhere around 1036 or so.
 
I think the only real solution here to to leave her, preferably for a younger, hotter beer drinker... Or you can just make her a mojito when you feel like having a beer. I do that sometimes when SWMBO doesn't feel like beer, though that's rare. I do have friends that don't do the beer thing (very few) and I do the same for them. Ultimately I brew for me. It's great when the SWMBO enjoys it, but that's not always the case, and I'm ok with that...
 
Let her come around in her own time. After a while, she may decide she wants to try one of your brews...

It sounds like she likes froo-froo stuff (fruity drinks). Maybe Sam Adams Cherry Wheat beer might be a good one for her to try. (It has major cherry taste in it, not good for some but tastes good for others...)
 
mine is the same way. I made a cream ale that she loves along with a cranberry beer. Find something that she likes and throw it into the beer. She also loves Magic Hat #9 which is why my current batch is exactly that.
 
I am thinking it would be best to make a fruit enhanced version of apfelwien. That way you both win: she likes it and you like to make it. No sense trying to change her. Let her get curious on her own. My 2 pennies worth. :)
 
If she likes fruity stuff try a fruity beer on here, but maybe just go buy a bottle instead of making a whole batch. Then you can go from there if you want.

My gf doesn't seem to like anything over 20 IBUs, but she says I should work her into that stuff, so at least she wants to try.
 
i like the idears posted so far.

to clarify, its not that i want to force her to drink beer. i just think she's missing out... we are both very into food. but she was/sorta is a very picky eater (paradox, i know)...but i've got her to try a lot of new things (different cuisines, etnic food) over the years and she's actually cool with lots of stuff now...

ah well...
 
Yep, I've found myself in the same boat my friend..... I was going to link you to a thread I started which was asking the exact same thing, but I see someone beat me to the punch!

However.... I have found recent redemption.... a friend of mine (who started brewing at the same time I did) recently made a very light beer for his wife which she really enjoyed.... I got a six pack from him and let my wife try it.... she LOVED it..... not tolerated...not liked.... LOVED it.... So I'm making her a batch of the exact same beer today.... very simple recipe.....

3.3 lbs Muntons pre-hopped light liquid malt extract and 2 lbs of light Dry malt extract... he only did a 15 minute boil of all ingredients and let it age in primary for one week, then transferred to a secondary for two weeks... (Though I personally feel the transfer is unnecessary) three weeks in the bottle, two days in the fridge...and drink!

Good luck my friend!
 
My wife used to hate beer. Now she is will try anything I ask her to (I don't ask her to try IPAs or bitters) and she will tell me if she likes it or not. If she wasn't worried about the calories she'd actually drink my stouts now.
 
I suggest trying to get her into beer buy purchasing good commercial beers. Try a bunch of different styles, maybe she will like one. No offense, but it is likely that your homebrew is not as good as the best commercial examples. If you want her to start liking beer, give her the best that is available in easy styles.

Beer is an acquired taste for most people, and many people do not have a desire to acquire new tastes. If she doesn't like trying new food or new things in general, I find it highly unlikely she will ever like beer.
 
fred_zepp said:
i like the idears posted so far.

to clarify, its not that i want to force her to drink beer. i just think she's missing out... we are both very into food. but she was/sorta is a very picky eater (paradox, i know)...but i've got her to try a lot of new things (different cuisines, etnic food) over the years and she's actually cool with lots of stuff now...

ah well...
Click to expand...

Sounds like she may be willing to try different things and may come to appreciate some beers. However I would not brew something for her you do not want yourself, you will likely end up with 5gals of a beer you will feel obligated to drink. Brew what you like and let her try them. If you go pick up a variety of different beers over time and let her try them you may find something you both like. Or you may not, don't stress over it.

My wife doesn't like many beers and seldom drinks. If she does it is sweet wines or Blue Moon or Margaritas. She occasionally tries my wines and meads but I don't think she will ever drink a significant amount of anything I make.

Actually take that back. She used several bottles of my red wine to make Sangria for herself and friends over the holidays. Like i said, sweet fruity wines. :rolleyes:

Craig
 
My GF will not drink beer, the most she'll do is smell it(I ask her sometimes to see what she thinks).

However, she LOVES wine and she also likes going to the lhbs with me. So one day she saw the wine kits over in the corner and decided that she wanted to try a kit for fun.

Move forward 6 months, all my carboys are now filled with wine, we have two 6 gallon Hungarian oak barrels filled with wine (I get one for beer after she's put a few batches through it!!), and there are racks filling up in the basement.

She's also getting into cheese making....So I guess what I'm saying is, not everybody likes beer but there is always some sort of "homebrewing" you can get people interested in.
 
I don't have a GF, but I would agree w/ the idea that you don't need to force her to like beer, I think you probably would more enjoy her "liking something you made" if that is really the case, try some mead or make some apfelwine, Cider, etc. Those don't have the bitterness that some don't like in beer, but still are home made. I love apfelwine and mead as well as beer, I make all three. The ladies ALL liked the apfelwine and mead... so I don't have to make them taste the beer if they don't like it. Sadly these ladies are all other friends/families significant others... But its still the female pov.
 
my wife hates beer too. but she likes wine. so we can drink together.

she will tast anything new I make,just to see.but then makes the nasty face.

she dose like the tast of the Duchesse De Bourgogne. she said it dose NOT taste like beer. :tank:


and I get to keep all the beer for me. :rockin:
 
My wife claims to like beer-and she likes some lighter ales, sweet lagers, and BMC...but she is far from a beer enthusiast. I've made beers with her in mind, but she still rarely drinks them--'empty calories' blah, blah, blah. I really think that she just doesn't want to give me the satisfaction, given the fact that my friends-including other girls-have given my beer a good deal of glowing reviews. Some people are 'beer people' and some are not...I've resigned myself to the fact that she is not-and I'm fine with it. But I bet she ends up digging the Dortmunder when it's ready.
 
Choose your mistress more wisely?:D

Yooper's post in the other thread is spot on imo though. She doesn't have to like beer...she just should respect your hobby (and you hers). I actually prefer for me and the SWMBO to have a hobby that the other isn't really into.
 
buy a nice lambic, maybe a frambois if she likes raspberries. See if she likes that. Then maybe move to a peche which won't be quiet as much a juice. If shes still interested move to something a little less fruity like a good blueberry ale, maybe wachusett or sweet water or something comparable depending where your at. From there I'd step it up to a wheat beer with a nice slice of fruit in it.

If that doesn't work to turn a mikes hard lemonade drinker into a beer drinker, nothing will.
 
Try telling her how "hot" you'll look to her after a couple of pints!

"Beer, helping ugly people hook up since 1894." :D

My SWMBO doesn't like beer either but will try anything I brew to give an opinion. Some she likes and others she hates. Bottom line though is she's just not in to beer. And since she indulges me in this hobby I couldn't ask for more.

Good luck.
 
At a party, a friend's wife had said that she doesn't like beer at all. That was before I goaded her into tasting the WILLIAM'S HONEY CREAM ALE I'd brought to the occasion; which she consumed two pint glasses of before it ran out. Perhaps women don't like the taste of Hops as was previous posted.

I've always said there were 'Chick Drinks' that women love (Amaretto, Bailey's, various 'Phoo-Phoo' liqueurs, etc.) and I think there may just be some ales that fall into bed with that line-up (forgive the pun).
 
My wife isn't a beer drinker but I've been having her taste different styles, she seems to really like the darker full body beers. Good thing I just brewed one, I hope she likes it. Makes me love her that much more!
 
In the same boat, but finally found something the wife likes: apple cider made with no added sugar, with 3068 weizen yeast.
 
i wouldnt worry to much about it, my wife hates beer to. I normally think of it as more beer when i buy expensive beer lol
 
gplutt said:
My GF will not drink beer, the most she'll do is smell it(I ask her sometimes to see what she thinks).

However, she LOVES wine and she also likes going to the lhbs with me. So one day she saw the wine kits over in the corner and decided that she wanted to try a kit for fun.

Move forward 6 months, all my carboys are now filled with wine, we have two 6 gallon Hungarian oak barrels filled with wine (I get one for beer after she's put a few batches through it!!), and there are racks filling up in the basement.

She's also getting into cheese making....So I guess what I'm saying is, not everybody likes beer but there is always some sort of "homebrewing" you can get people interested in.
Click to expand...

Now if you can get her into ammunition re-loading. Marry her.
 
My GF hated beer when we started dating. Of course we were in college, and the only exposure to beer she really had was Busch Light from a keg. I completely changed her mind about beer with EdWort's Bavarian Hefe of all things. She absolutely loves Hefeweizens. Even more suprising is that she prefers Hefes to American Wheats.

Fast forward to now. She had the "ah-ha" moment that beer could actually be good. While Hefes are her favorite style, she will drink anything I put in front of her. A few weeks ago, I had a pack of Bell's Hopslam. I asked if she wanted to taste mine before I opened one for her. That stuff is $20 a six pack. I'm not wasting a drop. She said shed take a whole one. I reluctantly poured her one. She took a sip, her face lit up and she couldn't stop raving how good it was!

The moral of the story: I made my beer hating girlfriend a hop-head craft beer drinker. Anything is possible.
 
My wife hates beer. She hates all alcoholic drinks. People would cajole her into trying things and she'd say things like "it's okay but it has that alcohol taste". She's actually decided that she's never going to drink again. She's never enjoyed it and she'd rather spend the cash on clothes or shoes. All power to her I say.

She likes the smell of the mash - that's the closest I think she'll ever get to drinking beer. She leaves the house when I boil because she finds the hops revolting, while I'm standing over the kettle breathing it in.

However, I do believe that for many people, there is an 'in' into beer drinking - that one beer that someone likes that can lead to an appreciation of other beers that they previously couldn't stand. When I lived in England I achieved this with Greene King Abbot Ale on cask with three different people.

Good luck on your quest

Phil
 
I'd just ask her to try some mild styles and if she doesn't like it, then who cares? But I know some people who aren't big on beers also don't mind some of the stronger styles. You just can't tell.

I know I'd hate it if my wife made wine and tried to get me to like it all the time. I'd sure be willing to taste it and make her happy at least though.
 
Start making ciders, i tried for years to get my wife to like my beers and once in awhile i get lucky and she will drink one. So i started making ciders as well as beer and she LOVES them.
 
have you tried making her wine coolers? I'll be damned if I do it (would challenge my manhood) but a buddy said all you do is make an IPA and add Kool-Aid
 

Similar threads

Clint Yeastwood
Flavorful Beer for Women?
Replies
39
Views
2K
PashMaddle
PashMaddle
Dgallo
Yup…My wife now has validation that I am an Idiot
Replies
37
Views
2K
user 298779
U
orionol73
Fellowship of the Drink XXIX: Doug E. Fresh(beer) - Every Body Got 2 Get Some
3 4 5
Replies
163
Views
9K
Thorrak
T
E
Advice on brewing low-alcohol (i.e. <3%) beer?
Replies
16
Views
2K
hottpeper13
H
tkdgeek
New from the Carolinas
Replies
4
Views
147
Pappers_
Pappers_
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top