Suggestions for converting a bud lover?

[JustBob]

So I am building a fermentation chamber so I can finally brew a lager/pilsner. I just got the mini fridge home so I have some time but while I am not ripping it apart and stripping wire I wanted to plan ahead for my first brew in it.

I have a few friends that are very supportive but are not craft brew fans. One is a bud lover and the other miller lite. I know, I know but I wanted to make something that I am proud of and hope they might like.

I was thinking a nice pilsner like a Pilsner Urquell would be nice but wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions to help me show these friends the way to salvation!

thanks in advance

 

[SeeAliceBrewery]

I would say even a good extract like the Caribou Slobber from Northern Brewer would be a great start. My wife (that really does not like beer) loves this stuff. It is quite tasty!

 

[JustBob]

Is there an all grain version? Sorry forgot to mention I prefer AG

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Home Brew mobile app

 

[SeeAliceBrewery]

Yes....Northern has an AG version as well! It seems to be their most popular brew...it has over 300 comments...all of which are good. Many folks state they have shared it with their BL and ML friends and everyone seems to like it. It is a darker ale...but the flavors are light...and amazing!

 

[JustBob]

Thanks for the suggestion!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Yooper]

If you are up to lagering, then make a lager! A light lager is a hard beer to make if you're brand new to brewing but if you've made a few batches and have strict temperature control, you can easily make something like an American light lager.

I wouldn't go the Pilsner Urquell route, as that is a great beer but Bud/Miller Light folks won't be into that at all.

I haven't made this, but it looks exactly right: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f57/mgd-sorta-454914/

Or, make Biermuncher's Cream of Three Crops (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cream-three-crops-cream-ale-66503/) and use a huge starter of lager yeast and ferment it at 50 degrees and then lager it.

Both of those recipes will make something lighter beer drinkers will love, and you will like it too.

 

[stpug]

While I think a czech pils would be delicious, it would likely be too bitter for bud lovers. Maybe a classic american pilsner would be more in-line with their tastes; of course, you need to give the beer the proper lagering time to really shine.

On the ale side of things, I think you could knock their socks off with a cream ale, and Cream of Three Crops (in the recipe section under hybrid light) would be a perfect choice. Use a fully attenuative and well flocculating yeast and you'll end up with a bright, clear, straw colored beer anyone can like - especially those bud lovers. I've done several cream ales and they are really easy drinkers - the key is keeping the bittering balanced and on the low end of the IBU range.

 

[SeeMont]

My friends who I have introduced to home brew, at first, have a hard time with anything with to much of a hop bitterness or taste. As I am an Ale guy, I like a light pale ale with a little honey malt and lightly hopped.

 

[FATC1TY]

If they like adjunct laden lagers, then I wouldn't go Czech pils..

Better yet, I'd probably stick to a cleanly fermented ale. Try a cream ale, or a blonde even.

I brew up a blonde for my BMC friends, and they slowly stopped buying that crap, and drinking more homebrew and craft beers. Once they get some good flavor, they are hooked, and then you can up the hops and bitterness.

Do a lager though. Lagers aren't the easiest thing to make. Your skills and short comings will show, much, much easier.

 

[mrduna01]

Two words to search for. Centennial Blonde.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[JustBob]

Wow you guys are awesome!

I appreciate all the great suggestions and will have to try a few of them!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Home Brew mobile app

 

[CUrchin]

Centennial Blondel or Cream of Three Crops

 

[alane1]

A lot of BMC drinkers I know really like ordinary bitter, even my dad who is really old school really likes my summer golden.

 

[SeeMont]

Any beer that you brew with good old malted barley will be so much better than that rice stuff. I love to serve up beer other that BMC . Good luck and your friend are lucky that they have a friend that shares.

 

[dpatrickv]

I make a cream ale that my brother really enjoys(Hardcore bud/bud light drinker).

8 lb American - Pale 6-Row
1 lb American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt)
1 lb Flaked Corn
1 lb American - Caramel / Crystal 20L


Hops

0.5 oz Saaz @60
0.5 oz Saaz @30
0.5 oz Saaz @3

Mash @ 148ish, ferment with 1056 around 60-64 degrees.

 

[Peam]

This thread is definitely reassuring of the Blonde Ale I'm about to fire up the burner for. As I'm sure all of us do, I too have some poorly educated beer drinking friends. I bought another keg just so I can leave it at friends places to force them to drink quality.

 

[stpug]

This thread is definitely reassuring of the Blonde Ale I'm about to fire up the burner for. As I'm sure all of us do, I too have some poorly educated beer drinking friends. I bought another keg just so I can leave it at friends places to force them to drink quality.

Um, I'll be your friend

 

[CUrchin]

Um, I'll be your friend

Oh yeah, sign me up also....Friend

 

[TallDan]

If I may suggest to anyone here, do not attempt to "convert" anyone to any kind of beer. This isn't the crusades, it's about enjoying things we love. American Light Lager is a beer style the same as any other, and there is nothing about it that makes it less of a beer.

Bud Light, Miller Light, Coors Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Keystone Light, Michelob Light, what do all of these have in common? That's right, they've all won medals at GABF in their category. Also, all of those breweries crank out more beer and more CONSISTENT beer than any of us homebrewers could ever dream of.

Personally, I don't drink any of those beers on a regular basis, but I'm fairly certain I've tried them all. I don't think ANY style should dominate the American beer market as much as the American Light Lager has in the US since prohibition. Even if I like some styles more than others (i do), what i really love about craft beer is the variety. That includes popular and unpopular styles. Styles of beer that i drink very regularly and very rarely.

So, if you're friends favorite style of beer is American Light Lager, what's wrong with that? He can cheaply and easily pick up a case of it for the price you'll pay for single bottle of some craft beers and he'll do it with a smile on his face. Cheers to him.

Now, if you enjoy a wide variety of beer, or a different style than your friends, by all means, share what you enjoy with them the same way that they would share what they enjoy with you. If doing so broadens the beer horizons of your friends, even better! Just don't be condescending of their choices, regardless of how well informed they may or may not be. That makes you come off as a snob and is a disservice to the craft beer community as a whole.

Don't be a beer hater, be a beer lover.

 

[iijakii]

Personally I've never known any BMC person to dislike the better quality lagers - they just don't come in 24packs for $17 so they get passed up . I wouldn't feel compelled to stick to adjuncts and light americans. Brew up a pils, helles, kolsch whatever you like.

 

[TxBigHops]

If I may suggest to anyone here, do not attempt to "convert" anyone to any kind of beer. This isn't the crusades, it's about enjoying things we love. American Light Lager is a beer style the same as any other, and there is nothing about it that makes it less of a beer.

Bud Light, Miller Light, Coors Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Keystone Light, Michelob Light, what do all of these have in common? That's right, they've all won medals at GABF in their category. Also, all of those breweries crank out more beer and more CONSISTENT beer than any of us homebrewers could ever dream of.

Personally, I don't drink any of those beers on a regular basis, but I'm fairly certain I've tried them all. I don't think ANY style should dominate the American beer market as much as the American Light Lager has in the US since prohibition. Even if I like some styles more than others (i do), what i really love about craft beer is the variety. That includes popular and unpopular styles. Styles of beer that i drink very regularly and very rarely.

So, if you're friends favorite style of beer is American Light Lager, what's wrong with that? He can cheaply and easily pick up a case of it for the price you'll pay for single bottle of some craft beers and he'll do it with a smile on his face. Cheers to him.

Now, if you enjoy a wide variety of beer, or a different style than your friends, by all means, share what you enjoy with them the same way that they would share what they enjoy with you. If doing so broadens the beer horizons of your friends, even better! Just don't be condescending of their choices, regardless of how well informed they may or may not be. That makes you come off as a snob and is a disservice to the craft beer community as a whole.

Don't be a beer hater, be a beer lover.

Sorry bud, the OP asked for recipe suggestions, not a lecture. Just because the GABF has a category for fizzy yellow horse pee doesn't mean there aren't lots of other beers that his friends might like if given the chance to taste them. Ever heard the expression The prettiest girl in an ugly girl contest is still ugly? A quality handcrafted beer in a style that stays light bodied and low on the hops will wake them up to a beer flavor they may not have known existed. And if they don't like it, no harm. There will always be plenty of cheap award winning American light lager to drink.

To the OP, I second (third?) the suggestion to search for Biermunchers Centennial Blonde. That's the first beer I made for my BMC drinking friends and family, and they can't get enough of it.

 

[JustBob]

TallDan - did you need a ladder to get on that high horse? Just kidding, honestly. I understand the gist of what you are saying. While I used the word "convert" in my post, if you read into my post I am not really trying to change them but change my repertoire so I can make something they would enjoy. I take a lot of pride in what I make and I would like to have something for my bud and miller lite drinking friends too. We just have different tastes. As a testament to my needing advice I have been steered away from what I was going to do and have been given some nice suggestions. My fermentation chamber is almost done. All the electronics are working and tested but I need to make a small collar for the door. I cant fit the buckets in it just the 5 gallon better bottle secondarys.

Right now I am leaning towards the Cream of Three Crops Cream Ale and then try the Centennial Blonde. Both have come so highly recommended. I will follow up to let everyone know how they were received.

thanks again all