Save my friend!

[BrewingTravisty]

Ok, so I'm trying to save my friend from the horrors of macro brews :cross: he drinks mostly Coors, or if he feels fancy he'll drink a dos equis. He's enjoyed some craft beers in the past with my help but never enough to break away from his normal. He's going to be visiting soon and I want to send him home with a homebrew. I don't have the equipment or experience needed to feel comfortable with a lager. Do any of you have any suggestions on styles of recipes?

Also, to sum up his beer knowledge, he doesn't like dark beers like IPAs

 

[d3track]

Kolsch, hefe, pale ale, Belgian blonde...

 

[paulolson407]

Whit

 

[BrewingTravisty]

Kolsch, hefe, pale ale, Belgian blonde...

Thanks! I was thinking a kolsch or a blonde but thought I should ask the experts xD he had some interest in homebrewing, maybe this will help convince him to try it and step away from the Coors.

Though I won't lie, I don't mind a dos equis on occasion.

 

[Sailingeric]

I would go with a pale ale, eases him into a real beer.

 

[Sammy86]

I started my macro friends on a nice american wheat...light and crisp with not too much hop bitterness

Good luck!

 

[balrog]

BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde.
FTW

 

[Dixon9717]

I'm in the same situation. My wife's family drinks Bud and when they really feel like living it up they drink Heineken. I ben trying to make a lite ales to ease their palate towards craft beer. They will drink whatever I bring over being a novelty but haven't made a long term interest yet.

 

[unionrdr]

Or a cream ale. If you do a pale ale, make it light colored & no citrusy hops. And maybe use the WL029 kolsch yeast. I do something like that to produce my hybrid lagers. The WL029's sweet spot is 65-69F & produces nice lager-like results.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Can't go wrong with a lightly hopped pale ale or a blonde.

Depending on how hellbent they are on drinking only light beer, you could try making a Pilsner (if you're able). Tasting the same style (sort of) side by side might make a huge difference.

 

[unionrdr]

Check out my German damphbier, or hopped & confused hybrid lager recipes. That should give you some ideas...

 

[soccerdad]

just my 2 cents, but I would beat him up, take his money, throw him in a dumpster and go buy grains, hops and yeast

 

[antony]

+1 on a blonde or kolsch. While I prefer a good pale ale, if your friend is used to pale lagers he may not enjoy the bitterness. Unless you have reasonably good temperature controls, a blonde may be the easiest to brew & the most well received.

Also, there's nothing wrong with a steam beer. Best of luck.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

Thanks guys for all the great replies! I'm probably gonna go for a lightly hopped blonde, I think that will work well for him. Try to make it as good as I can and hopefully make him never want to pick up another Coors xP

 

[kh54s10]

Also, to sum up his beer knowledge, he doesn't like dark beers like IPAs

Blonde ale
Extra pale ale
American wheat
Pale ale

BTW since when is an IPA a dark beer? It can be, but most of them are light!

Probably too hoppy for your friend though.

I like the idea of stealing his money and buying ingredients for what you like.

 

[ong]

How about a California Common?

 

[Zepth]

BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde.
FTW

This. Having many a coworker who swear by their macro of choice and how it's superior to other macros... Topic for another day.

I had been being bothered my most to try some of this home brewed beer. For a Christmas party I brought in a 24 of Centennial Blonde. It was a huge hit. Seems in these parts it is one of the highly recommended "convert people" beer.

 

[feinbera]

Thanks guys for all the great replies! I'm probably gonna go for a lightly hopped blonde, I think that will work well for him.

This is a solid choice. If he's decided he doesn't like "dark beers" (where "dark" is defined as pale amber on up), he's gonna be scared off by a Pale or Cali Common before he even gets close enough to smell it – it's true, we drink with our eyes. Lure him in with something golden blond and crystal clear, just like he's expecting, and don't scare him with too much maltiness or hops too soon – once you've get him to see that there's at least one beer other than BMC that's worth drinking, the rest is just a slipperly slope he'll slide down on his own.

 

[unionrdr]

Thus my suggestion to do one of my hybrid lagers...

 

[BrewingTravisty]

This is a solid choice. If he's decided he doesn't like "dark beers" (where "dark" is defined as pale amber on up), he's gonna be scared off by a Pale or Cali Common before he even gets close enough to smell it – it's true, we drink with our eyes. Lure him in with something golden blond and crystal clear, just like he's expecting, and don't scare him with too much maltiness or hops too soon – once you've get him to see that there's at least one beer other than BMC that's worth drinking, the rest is just a slipperly slope he'll slide down on his own.

Exactly, though what he thinks of dark beers in mostly based on the bitterness, not color. Which I find weird. He loves coffee though so I'm sure he would love a stout of porter even with the color. He just needs some beer education lol

 

[mattdee1]

I know exactly where OP is coming from.

My one BMC friend who has shown the most promise in terms of beer interest was over a few weeks ago, and I poured him a nice cold Centennial Blonde. He pretty much smashed that sucker in 5-10 minutes, but while he was standing there holding the glass, he said “I think you should try brewing, like, some kind of light type beer.”

I just replied “yeah, maybe” and then I thought to myself “huh? What the heck does he think he is holding in his hand right now?”

But then I remembered—to a BMC drinker, Centennial Blonde is nowhere near a “light” beer. Refreshing as it is, it actually tastes and smells like something (beer), and to BMC folks, that taste is challenging at best and offensive at worst.

There was a time when I naïvely thought my enthusiasm for craft and homebrew would be contagious enough to at least get people curious enough to sample different stuff with an open mind, but I’ve pretty much given up and just keep to myself about it now.

My homebrew (and various store-bought craft brews) are always there in my fridge for guests to help themselves if they like, but I’m done trying to proselytize—it’s just too frustrating!

 

[BrewingTravisty]

Can't go wrong with a lightly hopped pale ale or a blonde.

Depending on how hellbent they are on drinking only light beer, you could try making a Pilsner (if you're able). Tasting the same style (sort of) side by side might make a huge difference.

I went with a blonde. I'm not ready to take on lagering quite yet lol though that blonde WAY overshot the target gravity/ABV so hopefully the alcohol flavor doesn't come out too strong.

 

[Gavin C]

Just reading your other thread.

I think serving your friend an 11% blonde ale may not be trick to getting him into enjoying other non-American-light-lager styles.

On the other hand, might be just the ticket.

 

[BrewingTravisty]

Just reading your other thread.

I think serving your friend an 11% blonde ale may not be trick to getting him into enjoying other non-American-light-lager styles.

On the other hand, might be just the ticket.

Yeah I completely agree XD I'm just gonna take him to the growler shop and let him sample a few things and get him one haha I'll save the 11% for myself when I decide to brave it lol

 

[BrewingTravisty]

I know exactly where OP is coming from.

My one BMC friend who has shown the most promise in terms of beer interest was over a few weeks ago, and I poured him a nice cold Centennial Blonde. He pretty much smashed that sucker in 5-10 minutes, but while he was standing there holding the glass, he said “I think you should try brewing, like, some kind of light type beer.”

I just replied “yeah, maybe” and then I thought to myself “huh? What the heck does he think he is holding in his hand right now?”

But then I remembered—to a BMC drinker, Centennial Blonde is nowhere near a “light” beer. Refreshing as it is, it actually tastes and smells like something (beer), and to BMC folks, that taste is challenging at best and offensive at worst.

There was a time when I naïvely thought my enthusiasm for craft and homebrew would be contagious enough to at least get people curious enough to sample different stuff with an open mind, but I’ve pretty much given up and just keep to myself about it now.

My homebrew (and various store-bought craft brews) are always there in my fridge for guests to help themselves if they like, but I’m done trying to proselytize—it’s just too frustrating!

Yeah, I probably won't go too far out of my way lol he showed interest though and we'll see how that turns out. I don't expect much though haha