What do I brew for my girl?

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Thegundog

Thegundog

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In general she’s not much into craft beer and can’t even smell a good IPA without turning her up her nose….

She likes the commercial lights, Coors and Mich Ultra.

What can I make for this woman?….

Nothing is an option, but I hate to see my keezer space being taken up by a commercial product.

Sorry, she’s my sweetie and I can’t exchange her.

Any suggestions?
 
Thegundog said:
She likes the commercial lights, Coors and Mich Ultra.
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Does she actually like them or does she just drink them because they're low in calories and carbs and don't taste like much of anything? There's a Michelob Ultra "clone" recipe on Brewer's Friend. I put clone in quotes because it has 134 calories and 13 carbs, while the real thing comes in at 95 and 2.6; it's also close to 30 IBU which is probably 3x to high. So on second thought, she'd probably hate it.

I second the idea of getting her to try some fruited beers and see if any of those tickle her fancy.
 
When a person doesn’t care for citrus hop, use Nobel hops. Saaz, Tett, etc. American Crystal and Liberty would also avoid the grapefruit aroma and pith as well as the UK varieties. Many options are available.
My spouse isn’t a fan either, as soon as he smells grapefruit he’s making a face. I gave him something with mosaic which to me has no pith in the flavor/bitterness but he would not take more than a sip.
 
Last edited:
Thegundog said:
In general she’s not much into craft beer and can’t even smell a good IPA without turning her up her nose….

She likes the commercial lights, Coors and Mich Ultra.

What can I make for this woman?….

Nothing is an option, but I hate to see my keezer space being taken up by a commercial product.

Sorry, she’s my sweetie and I can’t exchange her.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Try all pilsner malt, maybe 1.030-1.035 OG depending on the desired ABV, 10-15IBU from noble hops at 60 minutes, and use glucoamylase in the fermentor to chew up the carbs, FG should be around 1.000. Lager yeast, fermented cold, with a month or so of lagering time before serving.
 
Easy - don't bother. Take it from a guy who's been married 100 yrs.

Spoil her with what she likes.

Jewels: I don't know why these are important to them, but they are. Deal with it. Buy loose gems from a jeweler. Tanzanite is a good one (purple). Let them pick out the setting ( jeweler will give you pamphlet maybe).

She's so Special: spa treatments. You might have a local place where she can be treated like the princess she is. Consider secretly contacting one of her friends (or friends husbands) and making it a girl's day at the spa. Hot spa, nails, etc. I really don't know what they do there lol,

Warm: for sure, when all else fails, get your baby warm. They love it. socks/blankets/nighty clothing, etc. If it's fluffy and thick and makes them warm, you win.

I've seen a lot of revolutions around our sun. A LOT. I'm pretty sure about the things above.
 
Gundog, can you brew lagers with your setup? I think making the rounds of lagers might work. Consider cutting them down to 3.5-4% ABV if she drinks light beer. I would think most bud drinkers could stomach a helles. A session marzen isn't out of the question.
 
I agree with several above. Try with lagers, or maybe even narrow it down to pilsners. Some of my favorite brews during the years have been SMaSH pilsners. A bonus is that you can throw in just about any leftover hop you have laying around at home - Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, Magnum, Nelson Sauvin, Saaz...
 
I agree with the idea of a lager or something like that. Helles is another I found to be a bit lighter and not nearly as bitter. My wife is the same way, but with any beer. I am trying a seltzer now that smelled pretty good. Gonna fridge a few bottles and see. Mom is a white wine drinker and she enjoyed the last batch of seltzer I did, but it wasn't very good in my opinion. LOL.
 
I keep a keg of hard selzer on tap for my gf. I take the easy way...mix vodka & water to your desired abv and add some lime or lemon juice plus a small amount of salt and sugar.
 
Bring her to Antwerp and get her a fresh Duvel. I’d suggest cloning a Duvel, but that’s a pretty tall order, to even get close.

Failing that, a Belgian table beer or a Trappist-style single. Hefeweizen. Australian Sparkling Ale.

Also don’t fall into the dark-beers-are-intimidating trap. Dry stout. (English) Porter. Dunkelweizen. Schwarzbier.

++ on the cream ale. Use a Kolsch yeast, carbonate high, and aroma hop at moderate levels with First Gold.
 
Thegundog said:
In general she’s not much into craft beer and can’t even smell a good IPA without turning her up her nose….

She likes the commercial lights, Coors and Mich Ultra.

What can I make for this woman?….

Nothing is an option, but I hate to see my keezer space being taken up by a commercial product.

Sorry, she’s my sweetie and I can’t exchange her.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
My wife hates the taste of hops, so most beers are out. However, we found she likes sour ales, especially Flanders reds. White ales like blue moon are tolerable, as are heferweisen. Small batch experimentation is key.
 
Thegundog said:
In general she’s not much into craft beer and can’t even smell a good IPA without turning her up her nose….

She likes the commercial lights, Coors and Mich Ultra.

What can I make for this woman?….

Nothing is an option, but I hate to see my keezer space being taken up by a commercial product.

Sorry, she’s my sweetie and I can’t exchange her.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
I had the same dilemma 20+ years ago. I talked my wife into doing a "World Tour de Brew", i.e. trying several different varieties of beers one at a time. Firts up were the Hefeweizens. I got a 6-pack of mixed German Hefeweizens including Paulaner, etc. She loved them and never went further on the tour. I keep her flush with Hefeweizen now🙂
 
Let’s face it. Most gals just aren’t into beer. I know you can find a few who are, but for the most part they aren’t. I really wouldn’t waste your time brewing for someone who only marginally drinks beer, and she does so mostly to please you. Save your brewing sessions for something YOU enjoy!

If you want a fun date, take her to a brewery and order a couple big flights of beers. Pay attention to what she can tolerate or likes.

Go buy a selection of similar commercial beers to the ones at the brewery she liked at Bevmo or Total Wine. Keep a few around for her. Chances are she’ll prefer Zinfandel wine or Seltzers though, they mostly do!
 
Beermeister32 said:
Let’s face it. Most gals just aren’t into . I know you can find a few who are, but for the most part they aren’t. I really wouldn’t waste your time brewing for someone who only marginally drinks beer, and she does so mostly to please you. Save your brewing sessions for something YOU enjoy!
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And this idea (emphasised above), if confirmed to be reasonably accurate, might offer insights and have implications for the hobby industry that supports the individual hobbyist.
 
As far my experience goes, there is no correlation between gender and breadth of taste preferences.

Most gals don't like beer... Maybe most gals aren't as susceptible to peer pressure and pretending they enjoy BMC and overly hopped 'craft' beer. "Wow, gents, that tastes like crap. I'll take something that actually tastes good, thank you." That very same gal might be quite happy to tuck into a well-crafted beer.
 
I'd say start with a straight, low ABV American wheat beer. If that's not quite enough, you can experiment with purees and flavorings by the glass until you hit the right combination. I made a grapefruit wheat with the puree passed out by Amoretti at NHC-Providence, and it remains one of my wife's favorites.
 
gaviga said:
FWIW, our homebrew club's president is female. She's been the president since the early 1990s. And she's a damn good brewer!
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Back when I was active in my club (RIP), I saw the same thing. I've worked with excellent female engineers. I'm not convinced that the plural of anecdotal is data, but I'm a hobbyist (and not in the hobby industry).

Back on topic, consider using only true noble hops. Sours are also an option.
 
Thegundog said:
She likes the commercial lights, Coors and Mich Ultra.
Click to expand...
So make something like that...you never know where it will lead. My LHBS opened in the nineties and here in Ontario, Canada, beer was taxed to death around that time so when all the "Blue" and "Canadian" mass-consumers drove down one of the busiest routes in town and saw the huge lettering in the windows: "BEER! - Brew it Here!" and word spread that you could go to this place that had a row of kettles and, following the provided live instructions, make a batch of about 2 cases of beer in the style of "Blue" or "Canadian" for less than the cost of one and it actually tasted 'better', it led a number of folk to explore their own taste buds and start brewing newer styles. It broke the old "it's an acquired taste" mold for people that woildn't have given non-mainstream beers a second thought.
Just start out with some clones, but 'better'.
:bigmug:
 
AlexKay said:
Also don’t fall into the dark-beers-are-intimidating trap. Dry stout. (English) Porter. Dunkelweizen. Schwarzbier.
Click to expand...
Agreed! My wife was never a big fan of my beer until I convinced her to try a sip of my Irish Dry Stout. Now, that’s all she wants me to brew. It’s good that it’s my favorite as well. 😁
 

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