I normally don’t drink beer or ale because I find it too bitter. I have no problems with malt though (I actually think it’s pretty interesting). Would I be correct in thinking that unhopped beer is less bitter?
Also does anyone have any advice for brewing my first ale? I have made fruit wine, mead, and cider before but never beer. I have some kveik yeast and spray malt from other brews that I can use so I am thinking of using that. The closest I have gotten to brewing ale or beer is making bochet braggot so any help is appreciated.
The other thing to consider with bitterness is that bitterness presents differently depending on the other components of the beer, such as the SG:IBU ratio (or IMO the more accurate FG:IBU ratio) - the sweetness of the beer will counteract the bitterness, leading to the beer tasting less bitter or more bitter, even when at the same IBU.
OP, If it is the not the hops bitterness that is specifically unpalatable for you, but the hops flavours, you might be interested in Gruit, as it replaces the hops with herbs for the bittering component, replacing grass, pine and/or resinous bitter notes with spice at the end of the palate, or a Graf, which combines beer with cider, where the Malic Acid in the apples helps to balance the sweetness of the beer, reducing the amount of hops bitterness needed. You could even combine these two styles, making a spiced apple juice beer that does not use any hops to balance the grain sweetness at all.
This is an amazing bit of advice that every home brewer needs to understand. IBU only tells part of the story, and you have to understand that there are other factors that go into perceived bitterness. Many of your darker beers have higher IBU values, but the non-fermentable sugar and the other roast flavors counter the hop bitterness. Adjuncts like lactose can also smooth out some of the sharper hop notes (again, non-fermentable sugars). I found a guide that shows ibu ranges for a bunch of styles and you can see that a lot of heavier beers are rather high in IBU even though you’d never call the style “bitter” or “hoppy”