I think I am allergic to hops, I know if I touch them my skin breaks out. I like to drink a beer in the afternoons but after a few days I get this weird tired feelling that only comes with the beer. So I am researching brewing to see what might be made without the hops. It turns out the hops are not there to make the stuff better tasting, it is there to make the brewing more reliable, brewing without the hops is harder but the hops mess up the taste. I also learned that technically speaking, Ale should be made without the hops, that was the definition of Ale at some point in history. I googled a little bit and found these Ale reviews all talking about the hops therein. My question is this: where can I find some brew that is made without hops? What would the brand names be? I'm jonesin for my afternoon beer here big time, can somebody help me out? [and please don't ask me which way I came in]
Interesting, I have a problem with certian beers and didn't make the connection for quite awhile. Miller's Genuine Draft, and a couple of Hacker Schoor(sp?) products cause my hands and feet to swell up and I get a headache almost immediately. I don't know if it is the hops, but it would seem odd they would be the same hop type in both.
Doesnt look like there are many commercial ones, re; traditional ales-maybe pilsener varieties for a start, they claim to use aromatic hop varieties, ie, less hops generally. This is interesting, you need a "gruit" from the sound of it. http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/styleseries/gruit.php Looks like boutique beer either way. Edit-these guys seem to know what their talking about, some brands and stuff too. http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/261395
I wonder if the various by products of the process are'nt more important than the hops, themselves. Some brand's of stout will give me a cracking, skullbuster headache in no time flat, 1-3 beers , never figured out why.
Red wine will give me a horrendous sharp pain in the head before I am even done drinking it. I learned that there is allergy to a certain oil in it and the same oil is in chocolate. I cut out the wine and chocolate and no headaches since. That gruit beer/ale sounds like the ticket, wakes you up and gets you intoxicated, sounds like fun. I am on a shopping quest, shopping never seemed like that much fun but this could be different Maybe I can grab some Christmas presents while I am at it.
My god man, you must be in hell. No chockies, no red wine, AND you have to christmas shop????? Noooooooo......dont you live, like in the middle of death valley or something, as well? Maybe you could order in The "Jopen Koyt" off the "beeradvocate" site sounds a good bet, at the very least it seems to be made commercially, most of the stuff i saw was bar/bistro micro breweries, No good at all in the ..ah baja, or .................you know, i wish i had a memory on occasion. Did you catch the home brew recipes there? They seem good, i was surprised most of the "herbal " ingredients for non-hops beer were actually available at all, its encouraging-i was thinking mead was the only option, and, it just isnt beer. Hope you dont mind my rambling, i just couldnt handle the idea of someone wanting a beer, and not being able to tuck into a frosty "tastes like beer " beverage, certainly not approaching the Xmas season. BTW, till now, i wondered why beer can have that effect......... Its a marvelous substance; normally, it provides a "buzz" for the first few, and then........on a hot summer day........ Sleepytime. Hops, is a sedative.....hmmmm. As ive suspected for a long time, uh....what was i saying....oh, yeah, homebrew is the cure; put your own gear in, learn it, do it, it is WORTH it. Support open source, Maxpi, if you arent already , get youself a mega-basement brew kit. Oh yeah. Herb-style, desert filtered mega brew, sweeeeet.