The question we all dread - “Do you have something light?” So, what to do for your non-craft beer buddies? I continue to be surprised that such folks are happy to drink what I consider a rather flavorless pseudo Berliner Weisse I made a while back. This very light (ca. 3.5%ABV) ale was made with 8% acidulated malt, a 2-row base, a dash of cara-pils and US-05 dry yeast. I find it pretty close to water, but these American light lager drinkers seem to enjoy it. What are your own experiences appealing to their curious palates?
Kolsch, Amber ales, Ordinary Bitter, Steam beers
or really mix it up and serve a big chewy barley wine mixed half and half with soda water.
For my summer BBQ last year I brewed 5 gallons of a light wheat beer for the light beer crowd. They drank all my IPA instead and I was left with 2 cases of beer I didn’t want. This year I’m saying “screw it, you can drink what I have”. I guess I’m lucky that most of my family and friends like good beer. I might get a 12-rack of Harpoon Summer Ale in addition just in case, but I don’t mind getting stuck with that.
I always keep a version for my Pale Ale on tap #1. It’s got an ABV of about 5% or so, an SRM of 10, and maybe 40 IBUs. It’s a good tasty beer, it’s my wife’s favorite (very important point - “If Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”), and it’s not too threatening for the MBC crowd. I think the term “pale” incites some confidence that I’m not going to challenge their palates too much. It’s so well received that I find I have to brew it about every third or fourth brew session so I don’t run out. To keep my interest, I’ll play around with the hops types and mix, but the basic recipe stays pretty much the same aside from that.
I make 10 gallons of Belgian Witbier every year and put poblano peppers on half. Both of these are very popular with friends who wouldn’t ordinarily drink IPA’s. I find the pepper beer a great lawn mower beer, flavorful and refreshing.
Jeff, how do you usually add the Poblanos? Fresh or dried, whole or ground, into the boil or secondary? Sounds interesting!
I totally agree. I brew what I want now for parties and tell everyone to bring whatever beer they like in case they don’t want the style(s) I have on tap. If they like mine (and usually do) then they’re welcome to all they want. Everybody’s happy.
I hate to waste beer on the BMC crowd. Helles, Maibock, Am Wheat, Blonde, Kolsch are all good choices, though.
My neighbor used to be a hardcore Bud lite drinker, but he loves my Berliner Weisse. Sometimes, people surprise you.
I’m lucky to have friends that are pretty beer savvy, with a few exceptions. And a couple of the BMC drinkers have slowly converted to craft along the way.
I have a lot of friends who simultaneously don’t actually like flavorful beer very much and know enough about beer geekery to turn down ambers, blonds, bitters, wits, and wheat beers. They typically drink tecate or PBR or really any BMC-like beer that doesn’t explicitly say “Bud,” “Miller,” or “Coors” on the label. Yes, the bay area really is that pretentious.
I find that Altbier, Oktoberfest, “Red Ale” (which is just what I call Amber Ale for them), and lighter-bodied and less hoppy American Pale Ales are popular with them.
Sometimes older people (40+) and non-beer-drinkers will dislike hop bitterness, but not know what that means, and assume that “light” in color means “light” in bitterness. On occasion, I can get them to try my porter, which is awesome and balanced and not particularly roasty. They usually love it and say “did you put chocolate/coffee in this?” and “it doesn’t taste like dark beer.”
That said, the majority of the people I know who taste my beer are pretty sophisticated beer-drinkers and tend to prefer my IPAs, Black IPAs, Porters, and Trappist Styles. It is fairly rare for anyone to find my Kölsch, Altbier, Bitter, or Amber Ale offensive, as well.
I roast the skin off fresh peppers with a burner, cut them up, seed them, cook them at 200 for 10 minutes to kill anything, and add them either to the secondary or to the keg. 2 or 3 per 5 gallons is plenty for flavor and aroma. I add a half a habanero for heat.
No. 
This spring I made a couple of decent American lagers that are being well received by non-hop-minded individuals. They still have a nice malt flavor to them and barely enough hops to back that up.
HEY!!! 40+ isn’t “older”!
Kolsch for my BMC friends.
Absolutely. And get off my lawn!
I did a California Common once that went over real well. I brought that and a blonde ale over to a company summer picnic, which also had Coronas and another BMC-type beer, and I was pleased to find that my beers were much preferred over the others.
Kolsch and Vienna Lager have been the two most popular of the beers I have on tap with the lite beer people. I am surprised at how some people who I thought were lite beer drinkers for life eventually come around to liking more flavorful beers.
I haven’t found any connection with age and liking good beer. There are from my observation as many youngsters as there are people around my age (59) who are lite beer drinkers. I would guess the average age of people at the brew pubs that I frequent to be around 45. Would be an interesting study though.
Bruce
I’ve really given up trying with my family. There are a couple of my cousins who will try my beers but most are not interested.
I know with my grandmother who is 89, she remembers her daddy making homemade beer, I guess a carry over from prohibition, and she thinks what I make is too strong and compares it to what he used to make.
I just let them drink the BMC and I keep the good stuff for myself. 
A cream ale is the lightest I’ve tried to make so far and it went over well. I think this summer i might make a blonde ale or a farmhouse.
[quote]Sometimes older people (40+) and non-beer-drinkers will dislike hop bitterness, but not know what that means, and assume that “light” in color means “light” in bitterness.
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Ignoring the 40+ thing (I’m 49), I think this raises a good point. What do people mean when they say “light”? Most casual lager drinkers probably don’t know themselves, but it seems it may be any of the following, probably in descending order of relevance: color, bitterness, maltiness, calories, alcohol. One of the things I love most about brewing is the range of possible expression and potential for creativity. Want a straw-yellow, hopped-up, session beer - no problem. How about a black, 15 IBU lager - why not!
It makes me think back on my years in Cologne, ca. 1990. Koelsch was king, of course, but as a beer novice I always found it a bit insipid (but nothing beat hanging out in an outdoor cafe drinking from those tall delicate glasses on a summer afternoon!). Dusseldorf was nearby, but every time I’d order an Alt, I was disappointed by how bland it seemed for a “dark” beer. I know a bit better now, but it helps me realize how confusing it can be to the “non-specialist.”
Thanks for all the great recommendations. I think I’ll have to do a Koelsch soon for old times’ sake and give that poor old Alt a second chance. I suspect the neighbors will enjoy them both, and if they’re lucky, I’ll share the saison.