Hey guys! I've got a classic case of a girl who says beer is gross. I'm tryin to brainstorm here and think of a really light tasting beer that is easy and doesnt have such a strong beer taste. Nothing comes to mind. Any suggestions?
well going for LESS taste is the exact opposite of what you want to do. going for less taste will be going for watered down, poor quality beers. and some people just dont like the taste of malt, hops, yeast and alcohol and simply never will. a lot of people simply prefer sweeter beers, and some prefer sweeter beers flavored to taste like something else. here are a few suggestions.... first of all i'd suggest a fruit lambic. a lambic beer is a wheat beer produced via spontaneous fermentation. in other words, its left in open vats inocculated by a combination of wild yeasts and bacteria. it has only the faintest trace of hops present. they are often made with fruit added to them, and this is the most common form of lambic, at least in the US. lindemans is one of the most well known and widely distributed brand of lambic beers in the US, and while its good it DOES come with a higher price than many beers. they produce at LEAST one unflavored lambic as well as a number of fruit lambics, and in my experience the fruit beers they make taste pretty much like fruit juice. think along the lines of woodchuck hard cider.....only its actually beer. kriek is cherry and framboise is raspberry...these are the two most popular and common. pomme is also very good, and it's apple flavored. cassis is blackcurrant and peche is peach, but i've had neither of these. any belgian beer labelled with one of these words is likely to be a fruit lambic, in case it's hard for you to decipher some of the labels. another good choice would be the quintessential wheat bears of belgium and germany: witbiers and hefeweizens, respectively. witbiers (like hoegaarden and wittekerke) are made with a combination of wheat and barley malt along with hops, yeast, orange peel and coriander. the spiciness and citrus notes of the coriander compliment both the hops and the orange peel that flavors the light, refreshing beer. hefewiezens are the german cousins to the belgian witbiers...they are simply wheat and barley malt, hops, and yeast. the yeast used in the german version produces a lot of delicious "off" flavors such as banana, clove, vanilla, and bubblegum. the hops are often a bit citrussy, and its a bright, light, refreshing beer. many american "hefeweizens" bear little to no resemblance to their german counterparts. this is because they use a different yeast which does not produce the same flavors. michelob bavarian wheat and gordon biersch hefewiezen both have genuine hefeweizen flavors, but are a bit thinner and lower alcohol/malt. widmer hefeweizen and shiner hefeweizen dont taste at all like the better ones. good examples of german hefeweizens are paulaner, ayinger, weihenstephaner, hacker-pschorr, and a number of others. these breweries produce a few other styles, too, so make sure you see "hefeweizen" "weissbier" or something similar. weizenbock or dunkel weizen will indicate darker, maltier examples. a low-hop beer of any sort may be good, though. i'd suggest mcewan scotch ale. its high in alcohol (i think 8%ABV) and very sweet. caramelly....tastes like candy....a great dessert beer, its almost cloyingly sweet. but still nice....a regular beerdrinker may likely find it too sweet, but for someone just getting into better beers, it can be wonderful (or as an occasional treat to the sweetooth in us beer drinkers) if the person in question is fond of dark chocolate, try young's double chocolate stout. its also fairly sweet and rich, but with more chocolaty notes due to the addition of both chocolate malt and authentic dark chocolate. as a stout, its a dense, rich, black beer....but the chocolate and sweetness compliments it well, and theres virtually no noticible presence of hops. worth a shot. hope this advice is of some help, but it all comes down to personal taste really. some people just plain dont like beer, wierd as that is!
A good beer for starters (and people who normally don't like the taste of beer), as well as something fairly common and easy to find at the store, is Magic Hat #9 or Blue Moon. They certainly aren't favorites of mine, but they're big among the college crowd and people who normally don't enjoy the taste of lager. When people say they don't like beer, it's usually because they've only tried the mass-produced swill, which isn't even really beer. If you want a decent-tasting lager or pilsner, aim for Sam Adams, Anchor Steam or Pilsner Urquell.
all good ideas i'll drink blue moon sometimes, and magic hat is ok but i doubt i'll ever buy it again. i tried a sixpack once cause i'd heard so many people say it was really good.... it tasted good, but it wasn't like "real" beer to me....i dunno....it tasted ok, but i really just didnt see it being so awesome.
never had magic hat #9, and many people i know love blue moon; i think it's way too sweet. new belgiums sunshine wheat is an awesome wheat beer that is good for "beginners," but not as sweet as blue moon
