Quote:
Originally posted by kenshee
Hi I'm planning on brewing myself and I'm wondering are hops really necessary? Thanks
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If you use a hopped extract, no. If you use horehound or marsh mallow or scots pine or heather or grape tannin for bitterness to offset the malt sweetness, then no, but your beer won't stay as fresh as long since hops are a preservative. That's why IPAs are so hoppy; they had to endure a 10 month voyage mostly through the tropics to get to the people who drank them, so high alcohol and a ton of hops were the only way to keep it from turning to vinagre before it got there.
Do you not like hops? Try Froach heather ale or Kelpie seaweed ale. They make a scots pine ale too, but I don't recall the name.