Beer without hops

[wilmake]

Hello my name is Gerald,

I have a problem when I was 16 I was sneaking around and had my first beer it was a Coors king kan 20oz can. I took a couple of swigs and fainted my throat closed up and caused me to faint I woke up in the hospital, and later found out I was allergic to beer... later that same year I worked with some friends in the Hop farms in Washington state and fainted again followed by spotted rashes. I was sent to the hospital again this time I was told that I was allergic not to beer but to Hops with which beer is made with, followed by many shots and obstaining from beer for many years I am now 37. I would like to know if there is any beer made without hops...and if there is could I go buy it off the shelf?

signed,

waiting to drink my first 6 pack...

(good thing I am not allergic to alcohol)

[fretlessman71]

Welcome to the site. There are very few beers brewed without hops, but I do know of one that is brewed with heather instead - it's a Scottish beer called Fraoch. You might do some research on it - it doesn't come in 6 packs but in pint bottles. Also a google search might be helpful. Best of luck!

[Mill Rat]

Hops are a relatively recent brewing innovation, starting only +/-300 years ago or so IIRC. Many other herbs were used prior to that time for bittering and preservation of the brew, and if you poke around a little you can find references to them. Many of these are still obtainable. If you can establish that you're not allergic to these other options, you might try your hand at homebrewing. Then you'll know for certain what is in (and what is not in) your beer.

[HogieWan]

homebrewing may be the only way for you to safely and economically enjoy beer.

[newportstorm]

Several of the Heather Ale Co. "historic ales" could work:
http://www.fraoch.com/historicales.htm

Though, since they do use hops in their Grozet, maybe a warning like...."Made in a facility that also uses hops" is warranted. :confused:

And I'm certain all of their ales come in smaller bottles (11.2 oz?) - four packs, IIRC.

[hooky]

Jopen Koyt (from Belgium or Holland) is a gruit I've tried. No hops in a gruit, at least there isn't supposed to be. Mill Rat has a good idea about making your own, but then we tell everyone to that our homebrewed beer is better than anything you can buy. :D

You might want to try googling Commercial Gruit or something similar.

Welcome to the site.

[CJ01]

Allergic to hops......god can be so cruel.

:mad:

[wilmake]

thanks all for your comments and suggestions and keep the suggestions coming...although I can't drink beer I have come rather partial to a close friend of beer ....Tequila...lol

[ratman03]

I agree with Mill Rat. There are lots of possibilities if you go the homebrew route. You could be brewing up extract batches sans hops in no time.

However, I did think the widespread use of hops was older than 300 years...???

[fretlessman71]

Yeah... certainly as old as the 1516 German Beer Purity Law, right?

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Yeah... certainly as old as the 1516 German Beer Purity Law, right? That's what I get for posting before the coffee's made it to the brain...

[darylM]

I got the latest issue of BYO and it had a beer recipe 4000 years old. Guess what, no hops! So 1516 is recent I you want to think of it that way.

[chazwicke]

I've had probably 20 different brews made without hops over the years. Some were quite good. Most were spiced with other herbs and such. I too recommmend the beers brewed by the Williams Brothers as others have recommended. And they do indeed come in smaller bottles than bombers.


http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/

[barleyburps]

I got to thinking just a couple of days ago about brewing a gooseberry beer. I'll have to see if I can get my hands on some williams bros to see what the possibilities are. . .