Recipe Ideas

[SkiNuke]

So my girlfriend wants me to make her a beer, but she doesn't really know what she wants and I have no clue what I should make. I'd like to do something I haven't done already and I have made a Pale Ale, a Scottish Ale, an Oktoberfest Ale, and an Altbier. She doesn't really like hop flavor or too much bitterness, and she doesn't like the coffee flavor of some of the darker roasts (she'll barely come near me while I am drinking my morning coffee).

This kind of leaves me with middle of the road malty beers, but I am having trouble deciding what to make.

 

[permo]

cream ale

 

[TopherM]

Blonde Ale, American Wheat, Belgian Wheat. <-- You could add fruit flavor to all of these.
Red Ale, Amber, Brown?

My GF has similar tastes, and her favorite brew that I made so far is a great Honey Citrus APA. Very crisp, very citrusy, very simple. Not very hoppy, but unmistakenly Citra. Citra hops are in short supply these days, but you can get some from Farmhouse Brewing Supply. Here's the AG recipe:

9.5 lbs Pale Two Row
0.5 lbs Honey Malt
.75 oz Citra Hops @ 60
.5 oz Citra Hops @ 20
.5 oz Citra Hops @ 5
Safale-S05 yeast

I also just did a Wildflower Wheat with wildflower honey and camomile. GF loves the Wolaver's version, so hopefully I made a good clone. Just about to bottle this one this weekend. Let me know if you want that recipe.

 

[SkiNuke]

I like the idea of using the honey malt. It would definately be something different from what I have brewed so far.

what are some other types of hops that give a fruity taste/aroma without being too grapefruity?

 

[Hopsaholic]

What about el dorado leaf hops from Austin homebrew?
Never used them myself but here's the description

This dual purpose hop variety has high alpha acids making it great for bittering. Additionally, it has a tropical fruit, watermelon candy, pear and stone fruit aroma making it an interesting flavor and aroma hop.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_21_93_94&products_id=12928

 

[SkiNuke]

While waiting for my hop experiment batch to finish, I have been looking into using honey malt. I threw together a recipe the other day that incidentally had the same grain bill as the apa above, but it had a very different hop schedule. I was aiming for a less hoppy, more blonde aleish recipe. The recipe would turn out as such:

9.5 lbs 2-row pale malt
.5 lbs honey malt

1 oz kent golding @60
1 oz fuggles @10
1 lb honey @flameout

I was wondering what people thought. Should I bother with the honey, will i get anything out of using it other than higher abv? Also, what do you think of the hop schedule?

 

[Hopsaholic]

Most of the honey "flavor" will ferment out, But I have notice an increase in mouthfeel with the use of honey. Also, depending on the type of honey you choice to use. you have the potential to add floral notes in the nose.

 

[badhabit]

I vote for a wheat...always had good luck with that when serving to folks with less developed beer tastes.

 

[Guidry]

So my girlfriend wants me to make her a beer, but she doesn't really know what she wants .

WOW!! Never heard that kind of description of a girlfiend/wife before!

I'd suggest a blonde ale, and in particular, that Centennial Blonde ale that has a thread about a mile long. It's light, not too hoppy, but tasty enough to not confuse it with some mass marketed rice beer.

 

[ciphin78]

permo - Was your comment,

cream ale

a joke or not? I can't tell

 

[phenry]

Witbier gets my vote.